Therapeutic jurisprudence: Facilitating healing in crime victims.

Source: (2013) Phoenix Law Review. 6:1017-1038.

Much of the distress experienced by victims in the criminal justice process
relates to their failure to understand how the process works and why. If prosecutors
and courts take the time necessary to make the victim fully aware of the
process and listen to the victim’s concerns and feedback, it is likely the victim
will achieve some level of healing. By contrast, when victims feel that their
sense of voice, validation, and dignity have not been respected, they are more
likely to resent the outcome in the process and to hold on to their feelings of
anger, vengeance, and anxiety; 33 this outcome is decidedly anti-therapeutic.
Victims may, and often do, encounter resistance by prosecutors and courts in
finding the assistance they need to heal. (excerpt)