Victim Assistance Program - Annotated Bibliography Example

Chandler, S. M. And Kumaran, M. (2012). Strategic plan for victim services for the department of the attorney general. College of Social Sciences Public Policy Center, University of Hawai`i at Manoa. Retrieved from http://hawaii.gov/ag/cpja/main/gp/sspvs.pdf The authors developed a strategic plan for working with specific victims who come to Hawai`i. The plan outlines strategies, and specific actions to assist victims of violence. This is a tool that can be used to provide an understanding of how to build strategy for a victim’s assistance program in any state. This strategic plan one example of how one could create a strategy to develop a new victim assistance program. Folkerth, K. (2012, October 11). Victim Assistance marking 40 years. West Side Leader. Retrieved from http://www.akron.com/akron-ohio-community-news.asp?aID=17244 This article provides an in-depth look at a particular victim assistance program, that has been supporting victims for 40 years. The importance of this article is to provide a resource to talk with who can provide insight into constructing such a program. This is a real life example of the issues that work and those that have not worked. The intention is to call this individual and find out more about his program. There may be forms or literature that they are willing to share that would benefit the current startup program. Lanza, M., Schmidt, S., McMillan, F., Demaio, J., & Forester, L. (2011). Support our Staff—A unique program to help deal with patient assault. Perspectives In Psychiatric Care, 47(3), 131-137. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6163.2010.00282.x The authors provide an understanding of a program where staff who work with abusive clients can cope and react to the abusive. In thinking about this article, it seemed that it could provide preventative measures for staff and volunteers who work with victims of violence. There could be challenges with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or other problems that could make victims of violence lash out at staff. This article provided information about a program that was set up to help staff. This article has information that can be used to create aspects of the program. Merisalo, L. J. (2012). Creating an expert pre-service team. (2012). Health Care Registration: The Newsletter for Health Care Registration Professionals, 21(6), 1-12. This article provided information on how to create a team. The article states that the organization must start by creating an assessment of the current situation, create goals from the assessment, and supplement the plan with good management and assessments as the program continues. This article gave a basic understanding of how to begin a program and how to keep it going. It had specific ideas of how to make the program work on many different levels. McCarroll, J. E., Castro, S., Nelson, E. M., ZiZhong, F., Evans, P. K., & Rivera, A. (2008). Establishing and maintaining a volunteer victim advocate program to assist victims of domestic violence in the U.S. Army. Military Medicine, 173(9), 860-864. The program that will be created will be a program that accommodates many different types of victims. This particular article will provide information on advocacy for domestic violence that can be translated into an advocacy program for any type of violence. The article also provides information about a military operation, but suggests that it could be changed to work in a civilian community. This is important information when thinking about helping victims because the person running this program will need volunteers also. An advocacy program could work well with a first responders program. Oregon Department of Justice. (2010). Victim assistance toolkit. Crime Victim’s Services Division. Retrieved from http://www.doj.state.or.us/victims/pages/toolkit.aspx This website provides everything that a startup victim’s assistance program would need. Although it is based in Oregon, it is a toolkit that could be adapted to any state. There is a detailed template for confidentiality, and there is specific information about what to expect, release of information and various scenarios that can be helpful in thinking about starting a program. Also, the information is important toward starting a new victim assistance program. Although there are only a few resources presented, there is enough to create ones own forms. Shoemyer, W. (2009). Address confidentiality programs: Helping victims of abuse feel safe at home. American Journal Of Family Law, 22(4), 214-216. Safety is a major issue in any violence assistance program. When an individual leaves an abusive situation, they need to have a place to go where no one can find them. Although the program that is created will not deal directly with domestic violence, it should provide information that can be used to help victims of crime stay safe. One of the points that this author makes is that many women who are victims of violence do not want to live at home (if the violence was committed at home) because they are afraid that the abuser will come back. This thought is important to understand when dealing with people who have been violated. Shubs, C. H. (2008). Countertransference issues in the assessment and treatment of trauma recovery with victims of violent crime. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 25(1), 156-180. doi:10.1037/0736-9735.25.1.156 Victims of violent crime have many issues that are important to discuss. This article provided information about how to deal with the victim of trauma and how victims relate to therapists. The author provides a strong understanding of countertransference issues and how they can be detrimental to the individual and to the therapist. Because there will be a need for some victims of violence to go to therapy to understand the problems, this articles will be good for creating the program. There are many different types of therapy that could be used, but it is essential that the program can refer victims of crime to specific therapists in the community. von Peter, S. (2009). The concept of 'mental trauma' and its transcultural application. Anthropology & Medicine, 16(1), 13-25. doi:10.1080/13648470802425922 International issues may be a part of the program that is created. Americans are not the only ones who are victims of violence as one can tell by reading the newspaper or a magazine at any given time. However, it is important to understand that people from other countries may have a different way of viewing violence or trauma than Americans do. This article provides an understanding of mental trauma and how it is perceived by different cultures. This is particularly important because the center may deal with a variety of different people, and it will be important for the volunteers and staff to understand how different people perceive trauma and violence. Whitted, K. R. (2005). Best practices for preventing or reducing bullying in schools. Children & Schools, 27(3), 167. doi: 10.1093/cs/27.3.167 There are many different types of victims and the issue of bullying provides one type of victim. In looking at creating a victim assistance program, it is important to decide whether the program will be geared toward adults, children or both. This articles is important to making that type of decision. The information on bullying provides information about the emotional and cognitive challenges that victims of violence have and how to effectively deal with it in a bullying program. Read More