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Social Work Speaks Abstracts

Crime Victim Assistance

Roughly one in seven U.S. residents age 12 and older were victims of crime in 1998 and between 1992 and 1998, 2.6 million of the 10.2 million victims of violent crime were injured as a result. Unfortunately, victims of violent crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assault, and hate crimes often describe their encounters with the criminal justice system as “revictimization.”

All social workers should have basic knowledge of the effect of crime on individuals, the rights of crime victims, and the services available to help them through the criminal justice system, and ultimately, to healing. More broadly, NASW supports increased funding to assist crime victims, particularly underserved populations and those that have been oppressed historically and may be targets of hate crimes. In addition, NASW prefers restorative justice practices to retributive justice, both for its healing effect on victims and potential for changing criminal behavior. At the same time, NASW encourages extreme caution in responding to requests for mediation in cases of severe, violent crime and strongly discourages routine use of mediation in cases of domestic violence. Furthermore, NASW recognizes the risk of secondary trauma for social workers and other advocates who work with crime victims and supports agency policies that address its possible consequences, such as burnout, high turnover rates, and inconsistent services to clients. Finally, NASW encourages universal screening of clients to determine whether an individual has been or is being victimized (for example, efforts to gain recognition for all same-sex and heterosexual domestic partners of crime victims in compensation and other assistance programs).