Victims and Corrections
The majority of the victims’ rights have centered around victims at the front end of the CJS. Starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there began to be a call for victims’ services within corrections. In 1997, the Association of State Correctional Administrators established guidelines for correctional agencies to implement, to strengthen the role and rights of victims within corrections. Important guidelines include creating a position within the prison to do the following:
• Notify victims of prisoner status. • Notify victims of upcoming hearings. • Develop victim impact programs to help offenders understand the effect their crimes have on their victims, communities, and families.
• Ensure that victims have an advocate within the agency, including correctional employees who are victimized.
From these guidelines came programs such as the victim-offender dialogues, which coordinates meetings between victims and offenders and works with victims of violent crime to be prepared for this process. The goal of these meetings is for victims to be able to tell the offender how the victimization impacted them and come to some closure. Some states, like Vermont, have also set up homicide victim support groups for family members. Many other states have set up crisis lines for victims to get help as well as offender apology letter programs, where offenders, if they so choose, can write a letter of apology to their victims.
All 50 states have crime victim compensation programs, according to the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Board (NACVCB). These programs are most often run through the state, and much of the revenue comes from offenders, who have to pay fees and expenses in prison for extra goods and services. This type of program started in California in 1965 and spread to all states, although the details of compensation vary by state. The amount of compensation depends on the crime, type of loss, and needs of the victims. Victims can seek money to help with medical expenses, mental health services, and wage loss because of their victimization. According to the NACVCB,
Statistics show that victims of assault comprise about half of the claimants for compensation, with more than a third of those claims being paid to domestic violence victims. Child sexual abuse victims comprise 29% of the victims helped by compensation programs. About 10% of benefits overall are paid to families of homicide victims, and 8% goes toward sexual assault victims. (n.d.)
Even with these compensation programs, victims are often underfunded, and many need help. If one of the goals is to help victims, these programs represent a step toward achieving that goal.
In most states, victims are able to have some input into the release and parole process. Victims can ask for certain conditions on the release of an offender,
although there is no guarantee that this will occur. They can write a statement, appear before the release board, or both.
The goals of this section were to introduce you to the three main parts of the criminal justice system and to discuss how victims are included in that system and how their role has evolved over time. The next section will look at key laws and cases that have allowed victims to become part of the CJS.