Source: (1999) In God and the victim: Theological reflections on evil, victimization, justice, and forgiveness, ed. Lisa Barnes Lampman and Michelle D. Shattuck, 217-234. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; and Neighbors Who Care: Washington, D.C.
As executive director of a victim assistance organization, Marlene Young has significant experience in victims’ issues and needs. In this essay she describes the traumatic effects of victimization and the kinds of services necessary to respond to victims’ needs. A victim of crime often experiences complex and powerful reactions: disorientation; helplessness; fear; anger; frustration; guilt; shame; humiliation; grief; and more. Effects of victimization are often immediate and long term. Hence, appropriate and skilled responses are vital in aiding crime victims. With all of this in mind, Young identifies key components of aid that victim assistance services should be able to provide, both in the short term and long term. The aim, as Young puts it, is to develop a “continuum of careâ€? for victims of crime.
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