THE REDISCOVERY PROCESS IN ACTION, STEP BY STEP
The rediscovery process is more than just a well- intentioned humanitarian undertaking, media cam- paign, or example of special pleading. It has far- reaching consequences for everyday life, and the stakes are high. Injured people who gain legitimacy as innocent victims and win public backing are in a position to make compelling claims on government resources (asking for compensation payments to cover the expenses they incurred from their physical wounds, for example). People who know from first- hand experience about the suffering caused by illegal acts also can advance persuasive arguments about reforming criminal justice policies concerning arrest, prosecution, trial procedures, appropriate sentences, and custodial control over prisoners. Finally, redis- covered victims can assert that preventing others from suffering the same fate requires a change in prevailing cultural values about tolerating social con- ditions that generate criminal behavior. Victims even can make recommendations that are taken seriously about the ways people should and should not behave (for instance, how husbands should treat their wives, and how closely parents should supervise their chil- dren) and even the proper role of government (such as how readily the state should intervene in “private” matters such as violence between intimates).
The process of rediscovery usually unfolds through a series of steps and stages. The sequential model that is proposed below incorporates observa- tions drawn from several sources. The notion of devel- opmental stages arises from the self-definition of the victimization process (Viano, 1989). The natural his- tory, career, or life-cycle perspective comes from examining models of ongoing social problems (see Fuller and Myers, 1941; Ross and Staines, 1972; and Spector and Kitsuse, 1987). The focus on how con- cerns about being harmed are first raised, framed, and then publicized arises from the constructionist approach (see Best, 1989b). The idea of inevitable clashes of opposing interest groups battling over gov- ernmental resources and influence over legislation comes from sociology’s conflict approach. The realiza- tion that there is an ongoing struggle by victimized
groups for respect and support in the court of public opinion is an application of the concept of stigma con- tests (Schur, 1984).