Victim awareness
| Author | Jacky Burrows |
| Published date | 01 December 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550513502250 |
| Date | 01 December 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Victim awareness:
Re-examining a
probation
fundamental
Jacky Burrows
Avon and Somerset Probation Trust
Abstract
‘Ensuring offenders’ awareness of the effects of crime on the victims of crime and the
public’ is one of five stated aims of the National Probation Service of England and
Wales and specifically undertaking victim awareness work is an expectation of the
service’s work. The nature and putative value of such work appears to be rarely
questioned however. It is argued that ‘victim awareness’ is a confused concept in terms
of its rationale, definition, and empirical basis as a criminogenic need. These issues
are evaluated and the practice implications discussed. A possible model of victim
awareness work is described.
Keywords
empathy, inspections, interventions, practice, probation, victim awareness
Introduction
This article seeks to assess the rationale for, and the nature and value of victim
awareness work with offenders, with a specific focus on the probation service in
England and Wales. In doing so it will consider the legal and moral imperative to
undertake such work, as well as the theoretical and empirical literature regarding
victim awareness and related concepts such as empathy. These issues will be dis-
cussed in relation to probation practice and conclusions will be drawn.
Corresponding Author:
Jacky Burrows, Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, Glogan House, 59 Taunton Road, Bridgwater,
Somerset TA6 3LP, United Kingdom.
Email: jacky.burrows@avon-somerset.probation.gsi.gov.uk
Probation Journal
60(4) 383–399
ªThe Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/0264550513502250
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The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
The legal basis of victim awareness work
The impact of crime can be substantial and may include physical and emotional
harm, financial loss, and lasting changes in everyday behaviour for the people
affected, yet historically victims have had little voice within the criminal justice
system (Grey, 2002; Williams, 2007; Wolhuter et al., 2008; Zedner, 2002). This
position was increasingly challenged by a variety of sources which have sometimes
been collectively termed ‘the Victim’s Movement’, and resulted in a culture shift in
which victims were increasingly seen as consumers of the criminal justice system
(Zedner, 2002; Williams, 2007). The 1990s saw the Government introduce two
Victims’ Charters and this was followed in the next decade by a new code of
practice for victims of crime and the ‘Justice for All’ white paper, all of which led to
substantial changes in practice (Criminal Justice System, 2005, 2007). For the
probation service in England and Wales, these changes included the start of stat-
utory victim contact work (legislated for in the Criminal Justice and Court Services
Act 2000) and the expectation that victim awareness work would be undertaken
with offenders as part of their sentence (Home Office, 2000). Alongside protecting
the public, reducing re-offending, the proper punishment of offenders in the commu-
nity, and the rehabilitation of offenders, ‘ensuring offenders’ awareness of the
effects of crime on the victims of crime and the public’ remains one of the five aims
of the service (National Probation Service, 2003). Additionally, victim awareness
work has been an important part of recent inspections by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate
of Probation and is a factor taken into consideration by parole boards; it is not, how-
ever, something the service has necessarily undertaken well (HM Inspectorate of
Probation, 2005, 2006a, 2007, 2009, 2012a, 2012b; Parole Board, 2012).
The Government’s general expectations are therefore specified. The Govern-
ment’s rationale for these changes is less well articulated however. It is possible that
it was simply trying to achieve a moral ‘rightness’. It is also possible that the ratio-
nale was rooted in wanting to further reduce offending, or more cynically that it was
a populist step aimed simply at vote-winning. It is interesting that during these
changes victim awareness and empathy appeared together in probation service
strategy as a value rather than an objective (National Probation Service, 2001).
Whilst increasing victim awareness appeared as an objective when the Offender
Management Model was articulated in 2006, it appeared as a restorative interven-
tion (‘making good the damage done’), rather than a rehabilitative one (NOMS,
2006: 36), although it was stressed that Offender Managers were expected to
increase an offender’s victim awareness over and above any restorative require-
ment. It is arguable therefore that whilst the legal basis of victim awareness work
is apparent, there remains some ambiguity in what such work is supposed to
achieve and whom it serves.
The moral basis of victim awareness work
There is an intuitive appeal for victim awareness work. Dominey (2007: 320), for
example, suggests it may be ‘a good thing in itself’, and given the historical public
384 Probation Journal 60(4)
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