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Working with Victims of Crime: A Manual Applying Research to Clinical Practice
1.0 Introduction
This manual is mainly designed for those who deliver front-line services to crime victims. This quick
reference resource should help front-line workers to provide better services by giving them access to recent
research and theory related to crime victims. For the purposes of this manual, front-line workers are broadly
defined as those who come into contact with victims in any role, from reception staff to clinicians to support
workers. Although the focus is on clinical intervention, readers should note that any contact with victims can be
healing. To this end the term "worker" will be used throughout the manual as a catchall term to mean
professionals, paraprofessionals, volunteers, support staff, administrators and anyone who comes into contact with
victims with a focus on helping.
The manual is set up to focus on how research findings might be linked to skills development. Each section
focuses on common experiences of crime victims and other important issues. "The Importance of Self-Care" section
focuses on advice to workers in taking care of themselves as they work within this challenging and rewarding area.
The "Model of Victimization and Recovery" section presents a model of how people become victims and psychologically
adjust to their victimization. The section entitled, "Common Reactions to Crime", reviews the common reactions
people can have after criminal victimization, the issue of previous victimization and reaction severity. The next
section "How Do Victims Cope?" focuses on coping strategies often used by victims and the issue of self-efficacy.
The "A Model for Client Change: The Stages of Change" section presents the Transtheoretical Model of Change
(Prochaska, DiClemente & Norcross, 1992) and describes how it might be used to help victims to increase their
motivation in getting help. Finally, the "Pulling it Together: Concluding Remarks" section summarizes the key
findings and can be used as a quick resource to remind readers of the research in this area. The end of each
section also has a quick reference sheet called "The Basics" which summarizes the key points of the section.
Each section in the manual covers issues related to victims, but also provides suggestions for how workers can
improve their skills and abilities.
Throughout this manual, a crime victim will be defined as a person who has directly experienced and suffered
because of a specific illegal act. These people are the main focus of the research reviewed for this manual.
However, workers must remember that crime affects everyone. For example, front-line staff recognize that crime
often injures loved-ones and support people to the victim). These people may also suffer psychologically,
socially or financially and may deal with many of the same issues as the victim. The clinical skills and
information provided in the manual may be of help to these potential supports as well.
Finally, a quick note on pronoun use: to avoid the cumbersome use of "he or she", the manual text will
alternate between the use of "he" and "she".
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