Advocating for Victim Services, assignment help

Application: Advocating for Victim Services

Only about 9% of serious violent crime victims received direct assistance in terms of help or advice from a victim service agency from 1993 to 2009 (U.S. Department of Justice, 2011). Although social scientists and mental health professionals have done a great deal of work to identify victims’ needs and develop treatment strategies, in the majority of victimization cases no services are provided, either because they are not available or the victim does not seek help.

This week you assessed the needs of victims and researched services that might help their situation. The next step is for you to write a letter to your governor or local lawmakers, articulating those needs and services to policy makers in such a way that they can and will develop a plan of action to make modern victim services a reality. You can use real life examples of victim’s sufferings, a cost benefit model, or both, but your letter should make a convincing case on behalf of victims.

For this Assignment, consider your response to the Discussion this week. Then locate the two sample letters in the Learning Resources and consider the most effective arguments you can use to persuade lawmakers to support victim services.

The Assignment (2–3 pages):

• Explain the services currently available in your state for the victim you selected in the Discussion.
• Explain services not available in your state that might be beneficial for the victim, or recommend revisions or enhancements to existing services.
• Using the sample provided, create a letter to the governor of your state or local lawmakers explaining what services should be available and explain why.

Readings

• Davis, R. C., Lurigio, A. J., & Herman, S. (Eds.). (2013). Victims of crime. (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Chapter 1, “Sexual Violence Victimization of Women, Men, Youth and Children”
• Chapter 10, “The Key Contributions of Family, Friends, and Neighbors”
• Cheung, M., Leung, P., & Tsui, V. (2009). Asian male domestic violence victims: Services exclusive for men. Journal of Family Violence, 24(7), 447–462.
      
• Potocky, M. (2010). Effectiveness of services for victims of international human trafficking: An exploratory evaluation. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 8(4), 359–385.
      
• Sims, B., Yost, B., & Abbott, C. (2005). Use and nonuse of victim services programs: Implications from a statewide survey of crime victims. Criminology and Public Policy, 4(2), 361–383.
      
• Sullivan, C. M. (2011). Evaluating domestic violence support service programs: Waste of time, necessary evil, or opportunity for growth? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16(4), 354–360.
      

• Coalition Letter of Support for the Student Nondiscrimination Act. (2011). Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/03/28/coalition-letter-support-student-non-discrimination-act
• Sample Letter of Support from a Partner Organization. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2015 from http://www.fcla.edu/FloridaVoices/docs/pdf/sample_support_letter_partner_organization.pdf

Media

• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Victim services. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Two or three pages with at least three references….

It is important that you cover all the topics identified in the assignment. Covering the topic does not mean mentioning the topic BUT presenting an explanation from the readings.

To get maximum points you need to follow the requirements listed for this assignments 1) look at the page limits 2) review and follow APA rules 3) create SUBHEADINGS to identify the key sections you are presenting and 4) Free from typographical and sentence construction errors.

REMEMBER IN APA FORMAT JOURNAL TITLES AND VOLUME NUMBERS ARE ITALICIZED.

MULTIPLE USE OF INTEXT CITATION