Healing the Harm to Secondary Victims of Crime Using Restorative Justice Practices.
Often, secondary victims on the offender side of a criminal event are overlooked. They too suffer as victims from the consequences of that event. Victimization may include being stigmatized by such an event, being defined solely by an event which did not involve themselves, becoming isolated from friends and community, receiving overt attention from the media and municipal figures, recriminations, feelings of guilt and shame by the families and, accusations and animosity between both families. If incarceration is involved. families may be not able to visit their family member due to distance, time, or financial restrictions. Using restorative justice practices, healing the residual effects of nonviolent or violent crime on secondary level victims of both the victim’s family and the offender’s family is possible. This becomes most important when both sides are known to each other. Even after the incident has been dealt with by the criminal justice system,
these secondary individuals will need to resolve their own differences at a hometown/neighborhood level.
Healing the Harm to Secondary Victims of Crime Using Restorative Justice Practices.
Often, secondary victims on the offender side of a criminal event are overlooked. They too suffer as victims from the consequences of that event. Victimization may include being stigmatized by such an event, being defined solely by an event which did not involve themselves, becoming isolated from friends and community, receiving overt attention from the media and municipal figures, recriminations, feelings of guilt and shame by the families and, accusations and animosity between both families. If incarceration is involved. families may be not able to visit their family member due to distance, time, or financial restrictions. Using restorative justice practices, healing the residual effects of nonviolent or violent crime on secondary level victims of both the victim’s family and the offender’s family is possible. This becomes most important when both sides are known to each other. Even after the incident has been dealt with by the criminal justice system,
these secondary individuals will need to resolve their own differences at a hometown/neighborhood level.
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