Victim Assistance

Programmes that offer support and assistance to crime victims.

Penn State victims/offenders restoration and healing

Hi Lisa. I completely agree that victims' needs must be a major consideration in any RJ events. I also need to remember though that the [...]

Penn State victims/offenders restoration and healing

Hi Lisa. I completely agree that victims' needs must be a major consideration in any RJ events. I also need to remember though that the [...]

RJ is the way!

Lisa I want to begin by saying this is a very interesting article. When I read the opening paragraph I was not at all shocked [...]

Penn State and the victims

Laura, interesting response to my column. As an advocate of restorative justice for 20 years I embrace RJ and believe it is applicable to all [...]

Penn State child.abuse issue: last.sentence.of my earlier reply

Forgiveness has no statute of limitations but until it happens we are all and will remain victims.

Penn State child sex abuse

Hardly a restorative approach to condemn in this way. Almost all abusers have also been abused as well in their early years. Forgiveness offers everything [...]

Penn State's response to child sexual abuse: What about the victims?

by Lisa Rea As the story comes out in more detail about the alleged sexual abuse of children by Jerry Sandusky, former assistant football coach at Penn State, the coverage of the story seems to be more about the actions of veteran coach Joe Paterno--his resignation or the university's decision to fire him.

The offer of restorative justice to victims of violent crime: Should it be protective or proactive?

from the study by Jo_Anne Wemmers and Tinneke Van Camp: The victims in our sample suggest generalizing the offer of restorative justice to all victims. Themselves victims of very serious crimes, they experienced the beneficial impact of participation in a restorative intervention. However, while they believe that all victims should be informed about restorative opportunities, they emphasize that victims have to feel ready to participate in such programs.

Victims' Commissioner highlights financial costs for families in the aftermath of murder

from the blog entry on Justice: Families who have lost loved ones under terrible circumstances are facing costs of £37,000 on average as they struggle to pick up the pieces, according to figures released today.

Victim's daughter meets IRA bomber: An interview with Jo Berry

by Lisa Rea On October 12, 1984 an IRA bomb planted by Patrick Magee demolished Brighton’s Grand Hotel in Brighton killing 5 people including Sir Anthony Berry, MP for Southgate and a member of the Thatcher government. The bomb hit on the last day of the conservative party conference held at the hotel. The IRA bomber Magee was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He was released after 14 years under the negotiated Good Friday agreement. The following is an interview Lisa Rea conducted with Jo Berry, daughter of Sir Anthony Berry. She did this interview from her home in Macclesfield UK. Jo Berry chose to meet with Pat Magee in November 2000. Today the two work together on many initiatives including addressing peace conferences, giving workshops in prisons, and speaking at universities. Q. How did the meetings happen? What was the process? Were you, and Pat, adequately prepared to meet? Walk us through what happened.

Justice or Unfair and Unjust for the majority

This article highlights the many issues that we all face whilst the criminal justice does the same today as it did yesterday. The hurt that [...]

The hardest kind of justice

from Bendert Katier's article on United Academics: In countries throughout the world prisons are about to reach capacity, or more commonly, are completely overcrowded. Of those that do manage to get out of prison, in the case of the UK and the US for example, the rate of recidivism hovers around 50 and 60% every year since the mid-nineties. Meaning more than half of all former prisoners never get rehabilitated, never deal with issues of responsibility, trauma and emotion. Furthermore, legal systems are flooded with cases creating a bottleneck that causes even the smallest of cases to last far longer than they should. When you add to this situation the astronomical costs of the average criminal justice system, it is easy to see that increasingly, governments have reached a breaking point. On the other side of the coin are the victims. Between the judges and the lawyers the average victim has a limited role in the very trial that is supposed to provide them with some sense of resolution and justice.The trauma that comes with the pain and suffering can last a lifetime.

VICTIMS NEEDS

THE VICTIMS NEEDS SHOULD BE ADDRESED AS WHOLE ,THE COMMUNITY THEIR LIVING IN SHOULD OLSO PROVIDE FOR THE VICTIMS NEEDS .

VICTIM'S RIGHTS

Think I lost something in translation at the end. Guess what I was trying to say is that I don't blame the judge but my [...]

Lacey interview: the needs of victims

I was not sure what I thought of this interview. I noticed that there was little mentioned about restorative justice, for instance. But more glaring [...]

VICTIM'S RIGHTS

I read with great interest your comments regarding how victim's are routinely ignored throughout the process. As a victim myself I can relate to the [...]

Interview with Professor Nicola Lacey

from the interview by Kim Workman of Rethinking Crime and Punishment: Professor Nicola Lacey is a Senior Research fellow and Professor of criminal theory at All Souls College, University of Oxford. She was in New Zealand recently to give the 2010 Shirley Smith Address on the subject of the Politics of Punishment. We took the opportunity to pick her brain. ....Rethinking: Someone said something to me the other day about how if we are going to put the requirements of victims in this process it should be their needs, rather than their wants. NL: Exactly. You need to have the debate about which needs can legitimately be met by the criminal justice process.

clergy abuse and restorative justice

Thank you for your comments, Katie. You are right that cases of molestation of children happen in many venues---sadly. I continue to work for restorative [...]

Abuse in L.A.

 I am a practicing Catholic, and those of us who remain so, have long ago wanted Roger Mahoney to be dismissed as our Bishop and [...]

Redeeming the Wounded: New book features new vision for victims’ justice

from the press release at PRWeb.com In 2008 approximately 16,262 people were murdered in the U.S., leaving family and friends to grieve the loss. (Source: NCVRW Resource Guide) Many faith-based organizations want to help but do not know how. Due to budget cuts, funding for rehabilitation and educational, faith-based counseling programs for prisoners and crime victims has suffered in almost every locality. A new way to handle these problems is discussed in Redeeming the Wounded by Rev. Dr. B. Bruce Cook (www.xulonpress.com and www.cvaconline.org under “crime victim resources”). Cook’s new vision of victim justice involves a concept of fair and equal treatment for crime victims and prisoners based on principles of restorative justice and restitution. ....Cook’s call to action includes: