The Bureau of Justice Statistics was formed in 1979 and it falls under the Justice Systems Improvement Act of 1979 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, n.d). It is a component of the Office of Justice Programs in the Department of Justice in the USA. The National Crime Victimization Survey is found under the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Through the NCVS, the BJS is able to carry out annual surveys in more than 100,000 households in the USA in relation to any involvements they may have faced as crime victims. The BJS also scrutinizes procedures of more than 50,000 agencies that are found under the USA justice system (Bureau of Justice Statistics, n.d). The BJS offers more information in relation to the persons who are under correctional observation and any criminal offenders who have been convicted and the cases that are still in progress in the USA courts. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program and the National-Incident based Reporting System coordinates with the BJS when collecting the data on crime (Bureau of Justice Statistics, n.d.). This is an indication that the BJS has credible information regarding crime in the USA as compared to other sources such as non-governmental websites and individually run websites.
Through the NCVS, the BJS is able to get information associated with the magnitudes, incidence, and physiognomies of criminal victimization in the USA. The data collected from the survey includes that of non-fatal individual crimes such as individual pilfering, simple and aggravated robbery, sexual assault and rape (Bureau of Justice Statistics, n.d). Other crimes include household property crimes. The BJS collects information that was counted and not reported to the law enforcement agencies in the country by the people. During the survey, the respondents are bound to give information on their gender, age, sex, income, educational level and marital status. For the crimes, the survey gets data on when it occurred (time and place), economic magnitudes of crime, weapons used, nature of any injuries, whether it was forwarded to the law enforcement agencies and if not why it was not brought forward and how the victims feel the country’s justice system is working in relation to the crime control (Bureau of Justice Statistics, n.d).
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The emotional and physical ordeal that is linked with a crime is widely known to leave scars in the lives of victim some of which can become permanent (Green et al., 2010). The goals of the program will ensure that the victims have an improved treatment and consideration when it comes to the community agencies. The program will ensure that it offers the victims direct services and make a referral for them to the respective agencies. The program will ensure the victims have support and guidance when they are cooperating with the criminal justice system. This is due to the fact that, a victim of crime is bound to suffer from mixed feelings most of which are negative (Green et al, 2010). The program recognizes that such feelings are a normal response in relation to any crime the victim is subjected. At such a point, a victim will find themselves having to handle various matter such as people and procedures in the criminal justice system and for some they are new to such factors.
As such, the program will ensure that it provides advocacy services to the victims to reduce any frustrations or confusion as they deal with the criminal justice system. The program will also offer programmed cellphones that will be used for 9-1-1 call specifically to any victims who might lack access to a phone. The program will also look forward in compensating the victims of crime who might incur medical expenses or funeral expenses for victims who might die as a result of the criminal activity. However, the compensation program will have to adhere to strict rules that will be made available to the general public and victims who will become part of the program.
In offering services to different victims of crime, the program will ensure everyone is part of the program regardless of their race, age, financial stability, nationality, gender, color, religion and other demographic factors that define people. The rape crisis centers will ensure that the victims are offered therapeutic and counseling services associated with sexual violence (Campbell, 2008). It will not just target the victims but also the parents, families, partners and other supporters they may have at the time. The sexual violence crisis centers will offer services to the victims whereby victims aged 16 years and above will have a different session from those below 16 years old. Through the counseling services, they will offer the victims a chance to allow them to accept and explore the past experiences so that they can move on with their lives positively (Campbell, 2008).
For any crime inflicted upon the victims, the program will offer advocacy services to the victims. It is to ensure that the victims have been familiarized with the criminal justice system procedures and any follow-up requirements they will need so that they can get justice. In crimes such as aggravated robbery, their defenses are at times difficult to defend in the court unless a wrong individual has been identified as being the robber. Lack of evidence linking the offender to the crime can also see the offender walking free. As such, the program will ensure that victims of aggregated robbery have the right information so that they can easily get justice.
In crimes that might result in the death of the victims or an injury to the victims such as aggravated robbery, compensation will be offered to the individuals. This will see the victims getting funds to help them to cater for some of their medical expenses and also funeral expenses for those who might lose their lives in the process. Victims of motor vehicle theft will become assisted through helping them track their vehicles and ensuring it is returned safely. Capturing of the perpetrator will also be part of the process so that they can be brought to justice.
References
Bureau of Justice Statistic (n.d.) Data collection: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Office of Justice Programs . Retrieved on 15 May 2017, from https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (n.d.). About The Bureau of Justice Statistics. Office of Justice Programs . Retrieved on 15 May 2017, from https://www.bjs/gov/index.cfm?ty=abu.
Campbell R. (2008). The psychological impacts of rape victims. American Psychologist, 63 (8), 702
Green, D. L., Choi, J. J., & Kane. N. (2010). Coping strategies for victims of crime: Effects of the use of emotion-focused, problem focused, and avoidance-oriented coping. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 20(6), 732-743
