FROM PAIN TO POWER:
CRIME VICTIMS TAKE ACTION

SEPTEMBER 1998


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) would like to thank Victim 
Services for their hard work in the development and writing of this 
document.  Specifically, OVC would like to acknowledge the following 
individuals for their dedication and time in producing this publication.


Lucy N. Friedman, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Victim Services
2 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York  10007
(212) 577-7705

Since 1978, Dr. Friedman has served as the Executive and Founding 
Director of Victim Services, the largest victim assistance provider in 
the nation. Dr. Friedman has worked to incorporate victim services 
into all system components that come into contact with victims - 
including schools, hospitals, and the courts. Among her innovations 
are a domestic violence program that teams police officers with 
counselors to reach domestic violence victims; New York City's 
first school-based mediation program, which teaches young people 
non-violent conflict resolution; the country's first domestic violence 
service program in a public housing setting; and a counseling program 
for families of homicide victims. Dr. Friedman is a 1994 recipient of 
the President's Crime Victim Service Award.


Susan B. Tucker, J.D.
Director of Policy and Research Development
Victim Services

Susan B. Tucker is Director of Policy and Research Development 
at Victim Services, where she has directed projects on the costs 
of domestic violence, anti-bias education for immigrants in ESOL 
programs and crime victim activism. She has written and spoken on 
a variety of victimization and violence prevention issues including 
domestic violence, workplace domestic violence and victim assistance. 
She previously taught and practiced law in New York City.


Peter Neville
Program Assistant
Victim Services

Peter Neville is Program Assistant in the Policy Office at Victim 
Services, where he works on a broad range of crime, victimization 
and violence prevention topics. Previously, he worked at the Bush 
Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University, 
focusing on public policy in the areas of early education and family 
services. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction:  Two Stories    1
The Trauma of Violence Leaves Its Mark  3
Community Involvement Since the 1982 Task Force Report 7
The Impact of Crime 9
Benefits of Community Involvement  11
     Rebuilding Low Self-Esteem    11
     Reducing Isolation  12
     Regaining a Sense of Power    13
     Dealing with Fear and Anger   13
Examples of Community Involvement  16
     Victim Assistance   16
     Victims' Rights Advocacy 16
     Violence Prevention 17
Caveats Regarding Victim Activism  19
Barriers to Involvement  22
Victim Activism Recommendations    25
     Recommendations for Victim Service Programs  25
     Recommendations for Government     26
Conclusion     29
Appendix:  Victim Involvement in Action 31
     Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)    31
     Parents of Murdered Children (POMC)     32
     P.O.W.E.R. (People Opening the World's Eyes to Reality)     33
     Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID)   34


Introduction:  Two Stories

In 1985, Ralph Hubbard's 23-year-old son was shot and killed in 
New York City. After years of feeling angry, frustrated and powerless, 
Hubbard resolved to help other families work through their suffering. 
In a Victim Services support group for families of homicide victims 
in New York, he began to speak out, telling his family's story to the 
police, criminal justice officials, social service providers, and the 
public. He found that telling others what his family had gone through 
helped him cope with his pain and anger and inspired other victims 
to address their feelings. He started a self-help group for men who 
had lost family members to violence. He also became an adviser 
to New York's Crime Victims' Board, vice president of Justice For 
All, a victims' rights advocacy group, and a board member of the 
National Organization for Victim Assistance. A leading spokesperson 
for victims' rights in New York State, Hubbard feels no less compelled 
to be an advocate for victims ten years after his son's murder: 
"It's something I need to do. This is therapeutic for me."

Survivors from the 1993 Long Island Railroad massacre were 
determined to prevent similar atrocities from happening to others. 
Colin Ferguson's shooting spree transformed a number of those 
who were either on the train or lost family members into outspoken 
advocates for gun control and victims' rights.  Today, they speak at 
vigils, rallies, on television talk shows, and with legislators about the
personal impact of the event, and they lobby for a ban on assault weapons, 
including the model used in the shooting. Tom McDermott, who was on the 
train that evening, believes he was spared in order to join the fight 
against gun violence. "I'm a radical now," he often says. "I'm a radical 
for the safety of us all."1 


The Trauma of Violence Leaves Its Mark

Long after the physical wounds have healed, many crime victims con-
inue to feel overwhelmed by the psychic pain of loss, powerlessness, 
low self-esteem, isolation, fear, rage-feelings that often are shared by 
their family and friends, as well as by the extended community.

From the ashes of criminal violence, victims and their families are 
struggling to rebuild their communities, as well as their own lives. 
Through community activism, individuals like Ralph Hubbard and 
Tom McDermott are transforming their pain into power, helping 
change society, and healing themselves in the process. Moving from 
the personal to the political, they work to correct causes of crime that 
are systemic, such as poverty, racism, sexism, the culture of violence 
and easy access to guns; to hold those who commit crimes account-
able; and to enact victim-sensitive reforms and programs. As the 
crime victims' movement enters its third decade, advocates should 
look for ways to nurture victims' desires to help others by providing 
educational and organizational opportunities for community action.

Without intervention, victims can become chronically dysfunctional-
afraid to venture out at night, unable to work productively, alienated 
from neighbors and friends, distrustful of police and courts, and 
overly dependent on social services. Their withdrawal from life hurts 
their families and weakens the fabric of the community.

Individual counseling and practical assistance help people deal 
with the psychological aftermath of crime and reconstruct a sense 
of equilibrium. When crime victims move from their personal experi-
ences to a broader social analysis and to activism, they can also aid 
their own recovery from the trauma of victimization. Recognizing or 
addressing the social conditions that lead to violence and victimiza-
tion is important. Helping other victims, working to change laws, 
or mobilizing violence prevention initiatives can help victims and 
survivors regain a sense of control and channel their fear and rage 
into efforts for reform.

The history of grass roots efforts in other movements shows that 
community activism can be a powerful catalyst for social change. 
Individual stakeholders-those whose lives were directly affected 
by the movement's cause-have brought about landmark reforms. 
The movements for civil rights, elder rights, welfare, environmental 
protection, and AIDS research and treatment have been spearheaded 
by those directly affected by the issues. Like crime victim activism, 
each of these movements arose from victimizing conditions of neglect,
 persecution, or marginalization; and the involvement of "victimized" 
individuals legitimized the cause.

A crucial step toward activism may be the individual's self-
identification as a member of a group victimized by particular social 
conditions. Yet within the crime victims' and battered women's 
movements, the "victim" label remains controversial. Some believe it 
is a stigmatizing label that hinders recovery and reinforces society's 
perception of victims as helpless, hopeless, and dependent. Others 
see it as an empowering identification that promotes connection with 
others and spurs community involvement.

As Crenshaw points out, "[I]dentity-based politics has been a 
source of strength, community and intellectual development [for 
many individuals and groups], African-Americans, other people of 
color, and gays and lesbians, among others."2  The individual's self-
identification as a victim-as a temporary and active condition, as 
opposed to an inherent or static one-may be both a step toward 
recovery and a source of empowerment. Mahoney's framing of 
the controversy with respect to battered women may be equally 
applicable to other crime victims: "[F]irst, the abuse of women and 
its consequences must be explained without defining the woman 
herself by the experience of abuse; second, the woman's perceptions 
and the context of her life must be explained-defending the reality 
of this woman's experience-in a way that locates her experience 
within patterns of systemic power and oppression."3  By acknowl-
edging themselves as victims and survivors, some people achieve 
a more realistic understanding of blame, realize a connection with 
other victims, and mobilize to address the social conditions that 
contribute to victimization.

The impetus for community involvement and political 
empowerment often comes from victims themselves or from 
their families and friends. Victim Services' Families of Homicide 
Victims program initially offered individual counseling. By talking 
with each other, participants found they were not alone in their 
suffering and could give each other valuable affirmation and support. 
They formed a self-help group, which provided the first real sense of 
community since their tragedies. When members wanted to become 
more politically active, the group spun-off as an independent organi-
zation. Those who wanted to help other survivors were trained to 
work with Victim Services staff as group co-facilitators. More recently, 
members have become involved in crime prevention. One participant 
who lost three sons to violence started an afterschool program for 
at-risk youth.


Community Involvement Since the 1982 Task Force Report

The journey from victim to advocate taken by Hubbard, the 
Long Island Railroad victims, and participants in the Families of 
Homicide Victims program followed a line of recovery that was largely 
unrecognized when the 1982 Final Report of the President's Task Force 
on Victims of Crime was written. The report only indirectly touched 
on victim involvement in communities, addressing "involvement" 
primarily in terms of permitting victims to participate in their own 
court cases. Many of the 1982 recommendations for judicial reform 
have been enacted, including provisions for victim impact statements 
and victim allocution. In addition, 29 states have enacted some kind 
of constitutional amendment to guarantee victims the right to be 
involved in the prosecution of their cases. Many of these successes 
were attributable to the efforts of crime victims. For example, 
Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Parents of Murdered Children 
played a key role in moving the 1988 amendments to the 1984 
Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) that expanded the kinds of victims 
eligible for services supported by the legislation.

Victim leadership and activism can be credited with many of the 
substantive public policy and legislative achievements that have 
been won over the past 20 years. Aside from its trauma healing 
benefits, victim involvement is important because it helps maintain 
the direction and integrity of the movement.

This paper expands the original focus of the 1982 Final Report of the 
President's Task Force on Victims of Crime by considering how victim 
activism can help speed the individual's recovery from trauma, reform 
the criminal justice system, and promote crime prevention through 
addressing some of the underlying conditions of violence. Recognizing 
that community activism is not for all crime victims, it also explores 
the potential risks of activism and outlines considerations to guide 
activist efforts.


The Impact of Crime

Crime victims often suffer a broad range of psychological and social 
injuries that persist long after their physical wounds have healed. 
Intense feelings of anger, fear, isolation, low self-esteem, helpless-
ness, and depression are common reactions.4  Like combat veterans, 
crime victims may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, includ-
ing recurrent memories of the incident, sleep disturbances, feelings of 
alienation, emotional numbing, and other anxiety-related symptoms. 
Janoff-Bulman suggests that victimization can shatter basic assump-
tions about the self and the world which individuals need in order to 
function normally in their daily lives-that they are safe from harm, 
that the world is meaningful and just, and that they are good, decent 
people.5  This happens not only to victims of violent assaults but also 
to victims of robbery and burglary6 and to their friends and family.7  
Herman has suggested that "survivors of prolonged, repeated trauma," 
such as battered women and abused children, often suffer what she 
calls "complex post-traumatic stress disorder," which can manifest as 
severe "personality changes, including deformations of relatedness 
and identity [which make them] particularly vulnerable to repeated 
harm, both self-inflicted and at the hands of others."8 

The emotional damage and social isolation caused by victimization 
also may be compounded by a lack of support, and even stigmatiza-
tion, from friends, family and social institutions, that can become a 
"second wound" for the victim. Those closest to the victim may be 
traumatized by the crime in ways that make them unsupportive of the 
victim's needs. Davis, Taylor and Bench found that close friends and 
family members, particularly of a victim of sexual assault, sometimes 
withdraw from and blame the victim.9 

Crime victims must also contend with society's tendency to blame 
them for the crime, which compounds the trauma of the event. 
To protect their belief in a just world where people get what they 
deserve, and to distance themselves from the possibility of random 
or uncontrollable injury, many prefer to see victims as somehow 
responsible for their fate.10  The lack of support for victims trying to 
recover from a crime can exacerbate the psychological harm caused 
by victimization and make recovery even more difficult.

When victims do seek help, they may be treated with insensitivity. 
They may feel ignored or even revictimized by the criminal justice 
process, which has traditionally been more concerned with the rights 
of the accused than with the rights and needs of the victim. Family 
members of homicide victims in particular may feel left out of the 
justice process. When one woman whose child had been murdered 
asked to be informed as the case progressed, she was asked, "Why 
do you want to know? You're not involved in the case."


Benefits of Community Involvement

Community involvement can help victims overcome feelings of low 
self-esteem, isolation, powerlessness, fear and anger. The process 
of connecting with others, confronting and overcoming real-life 
challenges, striving for justice and giving something back to the 
community can provide recovery benefits not achieved solely by 
traditional counseling or therapy.

Rebuilding Low Self-Esteem
Participating in peer self-help groups can improve victims' 
self-images by demonstrating they are neither abnormal nor 
guilty for the victimization. Before joining groups such as Families 
of Homicide Victims, survivors often blame themselves for their 
children's deaths, seeing themselves as inadequate parents because 
they could not protect their children from harm. By talking with other 
parents who seem nurturing and loving, they are able to look at them-
selves and the question of blame more realistically. When those who 
once lamented, "If only we had moved to a safer neighborhood," meet 
residents of safer neighborhoods who have also lost family members, 
they begin to recognize that it was not their fault. Self-help groups 
can create an "adaptive spiral"; acceptance by other group members 
boosts the individual's self-esteem, in turn increasing his or her 
empathy and support for others.11 

Community involvement generally involves some degree of risk; 
there is no guarantee that victims' efforts will pay off. Efforts to 
pass legislation, increase services for victims, or establish prevention 
programs will often be disappointing. By standing up to these 
challenges and failures, victims prove to themselves and others that 
they are neither weak nor helpless, and that they are able to fight 
their own battles.

Self-esteem also can be enhanced by joining a particular cause 
"from which one derives reflected power and glory."12  Creating psy-
chological strength through numbers-banding together to advance 
the cause of victims or to reduce violence-can provide a dividend of 
empowerment that may be considerably greater than victims might 
receive through individual action. When victims share their personal 
experiences with others, they are no longer alone in their struggle.

Reducing Isolation
Victims of crime often feel alienated from family, friends and 
community. They may consider themselves stigmatized or tainted 
by the crime, a feeling reinforced by insensitive treatment from 
those who "shun victims, sensing their 'spoiled identities.'"13  
Battered women are especially at risk of feeling isolated because 
they are often separated from society by their abusers. According 
to Stark, "the hallmark of the battering experience [is] 'entrapment'. . . 
a pattern of control that extends. . .to virtually every aspect of a 
woman's life, including money, food, sexuality, friendships, trans-
portation, personal appearance, and access to supports, including 
children, extended family members, and helping resources."14 

Lebowitz, Harvey and Herman describe the process of overcoming this 
isolation and reestablishing ties with others as one of the key stages 
of trauma recovery.15  Social action can serve as one effective means 
of achieving this reconnection. When victims work with those who 
have had similar experiences, they begin to realize they are not alone. 

Peer support groups or victim-initiated advocacy groups may help 
to create a new community for victims that can be strengthened by 
grappling with the larger social problems that affect it,16 and may 
serve as a bridge to relationships outside the group.17  Publicly 
embracing the victimization experience through advocacy or other 
public actions can reduce feelings of deviance and stigmatization that 
perpetuate isolation from others.

Regaining a Sense of Power
A common reaction to crime is to ask, "Why me?" Unable to find a 
reason for their victimization, crime victims may feel a loss of control 
over their surroundings. By joining with others to prevent violence or 
improve the treatment of crime victims, victims can have an impact 
on the community and recapture a sense of power. They "transform 
the meaning of their personal tragedy by making it the basis for 
social action."18  Victims who are able to answer "Why?" perhaps by 
taking on a survivor mission, may be less likely to be psychologically 
incapacitated;19 they create something positive out of a negative 
experience by carving out an area of their lives where they are in 
control. Sarah Buel, a battered woman who became a district attorney 
specializing in domestic violence cases, said, "I feel very much like 
that's part of my mission, part of why God didn't allow me to die in 
that marriage, so that I could talk openly and publicly. . .about having 
been battered."20 

Dealing with Fear and Anger
Fear of revictimization, which is related to feelings of powerlessness 
and isolation, is a powerful, sometimes paralyzing result of crime. 
Fear of crime can be "divisive. . .creat[ing] suspicion and distrust,"21 
but it also can "motivate citizens to interact with each other and 
engage in anti-crime efforts."22 

Crime victims can master their fear by working on community crime 
prevention projects. In a study not limited to crime victims, Cohn, 
Kidder and Harvey23 found that those involved in community anti-
crime projects felt more in control of their surroundings and had less 
fear of crime. Other studies linking isolation from the community 
with fear of crime suggest that, as victims become more involved 
with others, they become less afraid.24  After witnessing the murder of 
his father, a student in a school-based victim assistance program over-
came his fear of being victimized again by launching an anti-violence 
campaign in his school. By finding a more positive way to increase the 
safety of his environment, he no longer felt the need to be overly 
defensive or to resort to violence to protect himself.

The anger that follows victimization-at the offender, at the criminal 
justice system and at society for letting it happen-can productively 
be redirected through activism. By speaking out at conferences, 
schools, churches and public hearings, Tom McDermott found that he 
"transferred [his] hatred, bitterness and white-hot anger into some-
thing positive." Some victims may focus on the pursuit of justice, 
not only for their own suffering but also because they recognize 
the detrimental impact of crime on society. Herman notes that in 
the later stages of recovery, victims often embrace abstract principles 
that "transcend [their] personal grievance against the perpetrator 
[and]. . .connect the fate of others to their own."25  Thus, in addition 
to wanting the individual offender brought to justice, they might work 
to ensure that victims are given the support they need or to fight the 
social conditions that may have contributed to the crime. In these 
ways, feelings of rage and anger are transformed into constructive 
social action.

Some victims find release by sharing their experiences with others, 
who also are helped in the process. After telling the story of his son's 
murder at conferences, Ralph Hubbard found that his words helped 
other men talk about the loss of their own child after years of silence 
and denial. Hubbard describes this experience as "one of the most 
rewarding things ever." Similar benefits from sharing have been 
described by victims of AIDS and other serious illnesses who, as 
Susan Sontag describes in Illness as Metaphor, have historically been 
ostracized and silenced.26 

Others feel compelled to testify publicly about their victimization-in 
court, in church, to community groups, or in print. Like the physician 
narrator of Albert M. Camus' The Plague, whom Felman and Laub 
describe as feeling "historically appointed 'to bear witness in favor of 
those plague-stricken people, so that some memorial of the injustice 
done them might endure,'"27 victims sometimes need to testify to feel 
that some degree of justice is achieved. Describing the survivors of 
the Holocaust, Felman and Laub note that, "The witness's readiness 
to become himself a medium of the testimony-and a medium of 
the accident-in his unshakable conviction that the accident [or the 
crime]. . .carries historical significance. . .goes beyond the individual 
and is thus, in effect, in spite of its idiosyncrasy, not trivial."28  By 
continuously reminding the populace of the injustice, victims prevent 
society from acquiescing to what they may prefer to deny or forget. 
Lorna Hawkins was frustrated that no one else seemed outraged by 
the death of her two sons by gang violence; random shootings were so 
common in Los Angeles that her story was not considered "news" by 
the media. To raise awareness about the pain, suffering, and injustice 
of urban violence, Hawkins began "Drive-By Agony," a weekly cable 
show.29  Countless other victims have spoken out against violence 
and advocated for reforms. Since 1990, 72 noteworthy activists have 
been recognized by the President's annual National Crime Victim 
Service Award.


Examples of Community Involvement

Over the past two decades, the viability of community activism by 
crime victims has been demonstrated at the local, state and national 
levels. In general, victim activism has focused on three objectives: 
victim assistance, victims' rights advocacy, and violence prevention. 
(See appendix for more detailed descriptions of programs.)

Victim Assistance
If crime victims have sufficiently recovered from their own traumatic 
experiences and have received appropriate training, they often are 
well-suited to help other crime victims because of their capacity to 
empathize. Facilitating victim support groups (such as the Families 
of Homicide Victims or the nationwide Parents of Murdered Children 
(POMC)), accompanying victims through the criminal justice process, 
or becoming in-court advocates are practical, valuable services. The 
Youth Empowerment Association in New York City trained teenagers 
recovering from sexual assault to work as peer counselors with youth 
victims who were at earlier stages of recovery. Victims also have 
played large roles in establishing and staffing rape crisis centers.30 

Victims' Rights Advocacy
Having experienced poor treatment from the criminal justice and 
social service systems, some victims choose to advocate for social 
change. By speaking to government officials, legislators, or the 
press and by campaigning for reform, victims often find that they 
are accorded greater respect than service professionals and that their 
words carry weight with decision makers. When Victim Services staff 
travel to Albany, New York, accompanied by crime victims, to talk 
with state legislators, they usually are met by the legislator; when 
they go alone, they are more likely to be met by staff. Victim Services 
offers public speaking training to crime victims, as well as to agency 
staff, and maintains a Crime Victim Speakers Bureau. Another good 
example of the effectiveness of this kind of victim advocacy is the 
Stephanie Roper Committee, which has contributed significantly to 
the passage of three dozen victims' rights bills in Maryland since 1983.

Some victims may work to ensure that the criminal justice system 
functions as it should and that offenders are brought to justice. 
The Roper Foundation, the direct service component to the Roper 
Committee, operates a Courtwatch program that places volunteers, 
many of them victims, in courtrooms to monitor whether victims' 
rights are being respected. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) 
and Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID) developed Victim Impact 
Panels, through which victims speak directly to offenders about the 
devastating impact of drunk driving. POMC's Truth-In-Sentencing 
program mobilizes its national membership to make sure that 
those convicted of murdering their children serve at least the 
minimum sentences; when an offender comes up for early parole, 
the network launches a letter-writing campaign to oppose the 
offender's release. Taking another approach, Murder Victims Families 
for Reconciliation, a national group based in Virginia, campaigns 
against capital punishment.31 


Violence Prevention
Victims often say that what they want most is for the crime never to 
have happened. Accordingly, some focus their efforts on crime pre-
vention through public awareness and education campaigns or by 
creating programs for at-risk youth and self-defense training.

In its public education work, MADD launched the national Designated 
Driver program. The California-based Teens on Target (TNT) trains 
at-risk youth and young victims to be anti-violence advocates. Based 
on their first-hand experiences, these advocates talk to their peers 
about the causes of violence and suggest alternative approaches for 
resolving conflicts. In a new TNT project, "Caught in the Crossfire," 
advocates visit young gunshot victims who are still hospitalized to 
dissuade them from seeking revenge. In New York City, P.O.W.E.R. 
(People Opening the World's Eyes to Reality), a group of victims of gun 
violence who use wheelchairs, visit young people to show what can 
result from a life of drugs and violence. The group also has advocated 
for stricter state legislation against assault guns, and has testified 
in Washington, D.C. at a hearing on gun control before the House 
Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice.


Caveats Regarding Victim Activism

Though beneficial for many, becoming a victim activist is not a 
requisite step in trauma recovery and may be problematic for some. 
Because people recover in different ways and have different needs, 
community action is not necessarily appropriate for all crime victims. 
The individual's personality and history of victimization may play a
 role in determining whether community involvement will be helpful 
to recovery, while the availability of emotional and financial supports 
may be a factor in determining whether the victim has the time and 
energy to spend on community issues. Some victims of crime, though 
able to lead normal lives, may never feel prepared to deal with 
the pain of others or the frustrations of advocacy efforts. Being a 
victim may not be enough by itself to lead to activism; there is some 
evidence that victims who become active in community efforts are 
likely to have been activists before the crime.32  In the absence of 
clear criteria for when activism is likely to benefit a traumatized 
individual, a victim's own interest and desire to participate should 
be the determining factor. Rather than prescribing activism as a 
necessary part of the recovery process, professionals can provide 
people with opportunities for action, and support those who choose 
to get involved.

Timing is also an important consideration in community involvement. 
Advocating for legislative reform or helping others before coming 
to terms with their own trauma may impede some victims' recovery. 
Lebowitz, Harvey and Herman note that what they call the third 
stage of trauma recovery-reconnecting with others-should not be 
attempted until the earlier steps of achieving a sense of safety and 
exploring and integrating the traumatic event have been achieved.33 
Unless they have reached this stage, victims may be unable to cope 
with other people's trauma on top of their own. Listening to others' 
crime stories may exacerbate fears and bring back disturbing, 
even overwhelming, memories of their own experiences, thereby 
retraumatizing them.34  Research on MADD's Victim Impact Panels 
has shown that the act of speaking out was beneficial for the over-
whelming majority (87 percent) of participants; the few participants 
(3 percent) who felt they were harmed by it had become involved 
too close to the incident-they were still using coping strategies, 
such as denial, that conflicted with telling their stories publicly.35 
This suggests that victims who invest themselves in advocacy efforts 
too soon may be taking on more than they are ready to handle. 
If individual change is difficult, societal change is even more so, 
especially in the face of political opposition. To avoid these pitfalls, 
activism generally should be encouraged later rather than earlier 
in the recovery process.

Certain types of activism may cause victims to feel exploited, 
potentially revictimizing them and setting back their recovery. For 
example, some victims who have spoken out through television and 
other news media feel that they have been taken advantage of-that 
their messages were misrepresented or their words cut or edited to 
alter their meaning. In an attempt to make a story more compelling, 
some journalists recast victim activists' identities, portraying them as 
powerless and pitiable rather than empowered and brave. As a result, 
victims may feel embarrassed or betrayed, and may be less likely to 
speak out in the future. To avoid revictimization and to appropriately 
access the power of the media, victim activists need to understand 
how the media works-for example, that their page-one story may 
fade completely from the news a day later. Victim services organi-
zations can provide training for crime victim activists as to what 
they might expect from working with the media. And the news media need 
to become sensitive to the risk of revictimization as well as the value 
of victim activism. 

Finally, some victims interested in activism may not feel comfortable 
getting involved through organizations that are labeled as "victim" 
activist or "victim" assistance, which is one reason why other 
community groups-religious institutions, community organizations, 
neighborhood and parent groups and other formal and informal 
organizations-should support crime prevention and activist efforts. 
Some individuals who already have ties with these groups may 
feel more comfortable taking action in familiar settings within 
their support networks than venturing into new organizations. 
Thus, institutions outside the victim field need to be supportive of 
victims, and recognize that victim involvement can benefit both 
their own individual members' well-being and their efforts for 
community improvement.


Barriers to Involvement

Given the successful programs described above and their benefits 
for both victims and communities, why is victim activism not more 
widespread? One reason cited by Skogan and Maxfield is that those 
crime victims who see conditions in their communities improving 
are more likely to try to do something about crime, whereas people 
living in more traumatized neighborhoods may feel relatively more 
"incapacitated" by fear for their safety.36  Research has suggested 
that, although victimization may lead to community involvement, 
the very social conditions that contribute to victimization can also 
discourage activism. A disproportionate number of crime victims 
already feel disempowered by racism, poverty, sexism, and a lack of 
political power. Victimization makes them feel even more helpless 
and estranged from society. For many, the combined effects of living 
on the margins of society, being victimized and living in constant fear 
of crime can make social activism seem irrelevant and futile.

Society's tendency to blame victims further inhibits their ability to 
become effective public players. The common misperception that 
victims are responsible for their victimization (especially victims of 
domestic violence or sexual assault) can inhibit them from becoming 
advocates, damage their credibility as victim activists and cause them 
to pull back. In this way, some crime victims miss out on the recovery 
benefits of involvement, and society loses their potential contribu-
tions for social reform. This tendency to blame victims suggests that 
the friends or relatives of crime victims who fight on their behalf may 
be less subject to personal criticism and social backlash than those 
victims who act on behalf of themselves.

Moreover, people who are subjected to on-going violence or abuse-
victims of sexual assault, domestic violence,37 stalking or gang vio-
lence and those who live in neighborhoods characterized by chronic 
violence-face multiple barriers to activism. For example, the feelings 
of low self-esteem and degradation resulting from the "coercive con-
trol" that characterizes partner violence, as well as the symptoms of 
what Judith Herman calls "complex post traumatic stress disorder,"38 
can inhibit the capacity of women (and no doubt others suffering 
persistent victimization) for living, much less taking public action.39  
In some cases, individuals may not even imagine the possibility of 
activism because they do not identify or label themselves as victims, 
or they may be silenced out of shame and embarrassment. This 
is often the case where community violence is the norm, when 
society explicitly or tacitly condones men's power and control over 
women,40 or if the violence occurring within families (against women, 
children or the elderly) is denied. Of course, real fear of being found 
or of violent retribution keeps other victims (women who have fled 
violent relationships, gang members) from going public who might 
otherwise want to.

In view of such substantial barriers, the effective activism of 
some victims is especially noteworthy. For example, Barbara Hart 
in Pennsylvania, Vickii Coffey in Chicago and Sarah Buel in Quincy, 
Massachusetts are formerly battered women whose names are 
synonymous with the leadership to end violence against women. 
Many others across the country-perhaps less publicly and without 
necessarily identifying themselves as battered women-work in 
shelters and provide peer counseling for other battered women. 
In recent years, adult victims of child sexual assault have become a 
vocal and effective force in raising awareness about the prevalence 
and trauma of incest. In many communities beset by violence, poverty 
and racism, committed residents-many of whom have lost friends 
and family to violence-have stayed to fight for education, job 
training and opportunities, especially for young people.

Building primarily on their own initiative, commitment and resources, 
crime victims have demonstrated the viability of activism and its 
value for themselves and society. The role of "victim as activist," 
however, has not yet become a recognized role in society, its benefits 
for victims' recovery have not been sufficiently examined, and most 
victims lack the opportunity or support they need to become involved. 
By creating structures for community involvement, forging links with 
existing victim programs and conducting further research, the public 
sector and victim assistance organizations could mobilize many 
more crime victims to help others and to participate in grass roots 
initiatives for victims' rights and crime prevention, thereby enhancing 
their recovery and helping to improve society.

The self-determination that contributes to victims' healing needs to 
be supported but not co-opted. By placing a higher priority on victim 
activism, government and assistance organizations can ensure that 
community involvement efforts remain community-based, rooted in 
the soil of individual victims' dedication and experience. 


Victim Activism Recommendations

Recommendations for Victim Service Programs
Working directly with crime victims, victim service programs are in 
an excellent position to educate them about the larger political and 
social context of crime and violence and to create opportunities for 
activism. Victim service programs should:

1. Train staff to understand the benefits of community activism for 
victims and to be aware of opportunities for victims both within 
and outside victim assistance organizations.
 
2. Engage crime victims in the leadership and guidance of the 
organization through serving on boards and developing new 
services and programs.
 
3. Create speakers' bureaus which recruit and prepare victims to 
speak at conferences and with legislators, criminal justice officials, 
police, medical personnel, and others about the needs and rights 
of victims and the causes of violence.
 
4. Include battered women as presenters in domestic violence train-
ing programs for police, service providers and others.
 
5. Actively engage victims in paid and volunteer positions throughout 
the organization, from facilitating self-help groups to managing 
programs.

6. Prepare victim activists to work with the media.
 
7. Promote and disseminate information about the value of 
victim activism through local and national associations of victim 
assistance programs. For example, the National Organization for 
Victim Assistance and the National Victim Center have provided 
training and technical assistance to foster victim involvement.


Recommendations for Government
As new legislation and criminal justice reforms have increased 
the involvement of victims in their own cases, the public sector 
has gained the ability to expand victims' involvement in their 
communities, even with current financial constraints. Many of the 
following recommendations require little or no new resources; 
instead, they focus on shifting priorities for decision making or 
program funding. Public-sector agencies and organizations should:

1. Actively engage crime victims in the policy decisions that affect 
them. Public hearings on legislation and public policies that affect 
victim services, victims' rights, and violence prevention should 
always include testimony from victims themselves.
 
2. Require victim involvement as part of professional curricula in 
all disciplines that work with victims (e.g., criminal justice, social 
work, medicine, and law enforcement).

3. Incorporate community involvement as a funding guideline. This 
will encourage the creation of programs that engage crime victims 
in service, advocacy and violence prevention roles. Requests for 
proposals should require victim participation on advisory boards,
as designers of services and projects, and as paid or voluntary 
staff.
 
4. Launch demonstration programs to develop the most effective 
program models for victim involvement. One possible route might 
be AmeriCorps, where youth could work in their communities to 
engage crime victims in social action.
 
5. Create opportunities for battered women to become more openly 
and actively involved in their communities. Services to empower 
battered women and increase their sense of self-determination-
including education, job training, and placement-would provide 
them with the skills and confidence they need to reach out to 
others. Public education programs that debunk the myth of 
battered women as helpless would increase society's acceptance 
of women who do speak out.
 
6. Engage crime victims through community policing programs. 
Designed to create partnerships between police and the com-
munities they serve, these efforts are ideal situations for victims 
to work with police to reduce crime and help others in need.
 
7. Encourage the involvement of all citizens, along with crime 
victims, on issues of victim assistance and violence prevention, 
through public education (public service announcements, 
news and entertainment media). When victims initiate or join 
community-based efforts, they often do so with the understanding 
that the injustice they experienced affects all of society. A more 
widespread recognition that crime affects everyone would create 
a more supportive atmosphere for victim involvement, and could 
reduce some of the social barriers to community activism, such as 
the common tendency to blame the victim.

8. Support research to document more clearly the benefits of com-
munity involvement for victims' recovery. This would provide the 
rationale and motivation necessary for victim assistance programs 
to create opportunities for victim activism and establish links with 
victims' organizations.


Conclusion

Victim assistance organizations, professionals and policymakers 
have much to gain by looking more closely at victim activism. A 
better understanding of the healing benefits of community involvement 
would encourage partnerships between victim assistance programs 
and community initiatives. Expanded opportunities for involvement 
would create new avenues for reintegrating crime victims into society 
while mobilizing a dedicated force for social change. Through better 
communication between groups, victim activists might stimulate 
victim assistance professionals to look beyond individual needs to 
the broader social conditions that lead to violent crime.


Appendix:  Victim Involvement in Action

The following examples of victim activist efforts demonstrate the 
viability of victim activism and its benefits for both victims and 
their communities. They are both local and national in scope, 
and they include programs created to encourage victims to get 
involved, as well as entire organizations initiated and operated 
by victims. 

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was founded in 1980 by Candy 
Lightner and Cindy Lamb, whose daughters were, respectively, killed 
and maimed by drunk drivers. In the case of Cari Lightner, the driver, 
who was out on bail from another drunk-driving crash only two days 
before, had three prior drunk-driving arrests; sentenced to only two 
years, he was allowed to serve his time in a work camp and a halfway 
house. Laura Lamb became the country's youngest quadriplegic after 
being hit by a driver without a license who had a record of 37 traffic 
violations, three for drunk driving. 

MADD is one of the most successful victim activist organizations in 
the nation. With three million members and more than 600 chapters, 
MADD provides a wide range of victim assistance, advocacy and 
prevention activities. The Victim Advocate Training Program is a 
40-hour course that teaches volunteers to counsel victims, accompany 
them through court proceedings, and speak to the media. The Court 
Monitoring Program trains volunteers to serve as watchdogs for 
victims' rights in courts. Court-mandated Victim Impact Panels 
compel offenders to hear from victims about the devastating impact 
of drunk driving on their lives. Studies have found these panels to 
have benefits for both offenders and victims-offenders' attitudes are 
changed and rates of recidivism are reduced, and victims' traumatic 
symptoms often are diminished.41  In the words of one victim impact 
panelist, "I do not want my daughter, Amy, and what happened to her 
to be forgotten. I can't have her back, but I do believe that by telling 
her story, I am making a difference for my three beautiful grandchil-
dren."42  MADD also has played a key role in the passage of state and 
federal bills, including the Age 21 Law (setting the minimum age for 
drinking at 21). Other efforts, like the Project Red Ribbon "Tie One On 
for Safety" campaign and Designated Driver programs, have helped 
raise awareness of the problem and prevent drunk driving injuries 
through simple, straightforward messages. Victim involvement is at 
the heart of all of MADD's activities. The majority of local volunteers, 
two-thirds of board members, and a considerable portion of the 
employed staff are victims of drunk drivers or family members of 
those killed or injured.


Parents of Murdered Children (POMC)
Parents of Murdered Children (POMC) is a nationwide network of 
self-help groups and advocacy and assistance programs which help 
families deal with the aftermath of homicide. The organization was 
founded in 1978 by Charlotte and Bob Hullinger in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
after their daughter, Lisa, was murdered. The loss of a child to 
violence is often an intensely isolating experience; survivors often 
find that others are unable to understand how it feels and are 
reluctant to talk about it. POMC's goal is to allow family members 
to share their grief with others who have been through similar 
experiences, thereby breaking down the isolation that many 
families face.

POMC has grown from its first self-help group in Cincinnati to a 
network of more than 100 local chapters serving 38,000 survivors 
each year. It also has become active in more extensive community 
involvement projects. Praised by survivors for helping them "see 
justice," the Truth-in-Sentencing program mobilizes the POMC 
membership to ensure that the convicted murderers of members' 
children serve at least their minimum sentences. When an offender 
comes up for early parole, the network helps victims respond. 
POMC's annual national conference offers survivors the chance 
to meet one another, network, and participate in workshops and 
seminars. National and local newsletters serve as a forum for 
members to communicate and express themselves. Survivors also 
help provide a range of other services on behalf of POMC, including 
court accompaniment, writing anniversary letters of consolation to 
other survivors, and serving on a speakers' bureau.


P.O.W.E.R. (People Opening the World's Eyes to Reality)
Following the shooting deaths of two New York City high school 
students in 1992, mobility-impaired victims of gun violence at 
Goldwater Memorial Hospital created P.O.W.E.R., a group that visits 
at-risk youth in schools, community organizations, and detention 
centers to show what can result from a life of drugs and violence. 
Ranging in age from 19 to 44, most of the group's members are former 
drug dealers, addicts, or gang members. Their personal stories and 
physical conditions present a compelling argument for youth to 
reassess the direction of their lives. P.O.W.E.R. also has testified at 
the state and federal level for passage of stricter gun control laws and 
has participated in demonstrations against street violence. Many of the 
P.O.W.E.R. members feel that they have been given a second chance 
at life and that their victimization will have meaning if it can benefit 
others. Staff at the hospital have found that participation in the group 
has helped to increase members' self-esteem and has enabled them to 
come to terms with their disabilities.


Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID)
In 1977, Karen and Timothy Morris, ages 17 and 19, were killed by a 
22-year-old drunk driver. A newspaper article about this tragedy 
struck a nerve with Doris Aiken, the mother of two children the same 
ages as the victims. She was particularly concerned that the offender 
was not only not jailed, but allowed to continue driving. Together with 
friends, she began investigating how drunk driving cases were handled 
by the criminal justice system. They were stunned to learn that drunk 
driving was rampant-killing 25,000 people each year-yet arrests, 
convictions and suspended licenses were rare.

In 1978, in Schenectady, New York, Aiken formed Remove 
Intoxicated Drivers (RID). RID currently consists of 151 chapters in 
41 states. Its activities include counseling and guidance for victims 
and family members, legislative advocacy, court monitoring, speakers' 
bureaus and public education. Based on the work of victims and other 
volunteers, a string of successful legislative efforts in New York State 
have reduced plea bargaining by drunk drivers, ensured that drivers 
lose their license temporarily if they refuse to take an alcohol test, 
and instituted other strategies to strengthen the state's response. 
One study by the New York State Police Superintendent estimated 
that, over a ten-year period, these measures saved over 6,000 lives. 
RID helped to pioneer the use of Victim Impact Panels, in which drunk 
drivers hear directly from victims about how their lives have been 
affected. Stressing the accountability of government officials to the 
will of the people, RID provides materials and information for victims 
and others in the community to help them find their voices and 
demand stronger action against drunk driving.

Almost entirely a volunteer effort, RID has enjoyed strong partici-
pation by victims and their families. In many instances, one victim's 
story has served as the spark to create new chapters. In 1981, RID-
Missouri was founded by Marge Charleville, whose letter to a local 
newspaper about her daughter's death in 1980 received 128 letters in 
response and led to funding to establish the chapter.

Victims are empowered and trained to work actively to monitor 
courts, review pending legislation and appear as spokespersons on 
national radio and television programs, with RID acting as sponsor 
and agent. These public activities help to heal the wounds inflicted by 
drunk drivers. In one survivor's words, "Since the most tragic loss. . . 
that anyone can endure [one's child], I have been clinging to everyday 
survival by my work helping other DWI victims, and by giving talks 
to high school assemblies,. . .state troopers, and in victim witness 
panels to defendant drunk drivers. It is my reason for living."


The Stephanie Roper Committee and Foundation
Based in Maryland, the Stephanie Roper Committee and Foundation 
were created in 1982 to improve the criminal justice system's treat-
ment of victims and their families. After the brutal murder of their 
daughter Stephanie, Roberta and Vince Roper were astounded both 
by the way they were left out of the court proceedings and with the 
outcome of the trial. Stephanie's convicted murderers were eligible for 
parole in just 12 years. Roberta began speaking out before local groups 
about the insensitivity of the justice system to victims. Friends and 
neighbors joined her efforts, sparking a movement that quickly spread 
throughout the state. Members collect petitions, hold rallies, and 
support other activities in the fight for victims' rights. 

Both the Committee and Foundation are staffed by trained volunteers, 
half of whom are themselves crime victims. The Committee focuses 
on legislative reforms to protect victims' rights and increase services 
in Maryland, and it has been a major force in passing three dozen 
victims' rights bills since 1983 (e.g., laws ensuring mandatory victim 
impact statements, restitution and court attendance rights, and a state 
constitutional amendment for victims' rights). The Committee issues a 
regular newsletter to inform members of pending legislation and to 
encourage them to support the bills.

The Foundation provides direct services to crime victims, including 
support groups, a Court Companion program to help victims and their 
families during the trial, and a Courtwatch program to monitor the 
enforcement of victims' rights. Through its newsletter and other 
channels, the Foundation actively recruits new volunteers to be 
trained in providing these services.


Teens on Target (TNT) 
Following an increase in the number of on-campus shootings, the 
Oakland Unified School District in California started Teens on Target 
in 1989 to involve young victims of violence and at-risk youth in 
violence prevention. An additional chapter was later opened in 
Los Angeles. Pointing out that "those who are most at risk have not 
been invited to be part of the solution," the program's founders have 
trained 100 students to be violence prevention advocates. They make 
presentations that explore the causes of youth violence and suggest 
solutions, based on their first-hand experiences, for schools and 
school boards, city and state legislators, national conferences, and 
the media. With a specific aim to get victims involved, the Los Angeles 
chapter operates in partnership with a local spinal cord injury 
program and trains youth with firearm-related spinal injuries to 
become TNT advocates. In addition to providing a voice that other 
youth will listen to, these advocates find that their actions help their 
recovery. One advocate who was paralyzed by a gunshot wound said, 
"Talking to other kids in the program and in classes has helped me get 
through it." By speaking out, he has received support and encourage-
ment from others that has helped him rebuild his own life.

TNT recently began "Caught in the Crossfire," a peer visitation 
program for victims of gun violence. TNT advocates visit young 
victims at Highland Hospital in Oakland. By sharing their own 
personal experiences and statistical information on gun violence, 
they attempt to dissuade victims and their friends from seeking 
revenge. These advocates can give a uniquely convincing argument 
against continuing the violence because they often speak from the 
same perspective as the victim.


Youth Empowerment Association
Created by a young adult survivor of sexual assault, the Youth 
Empowerment Association (YEA) was initiated to improve the treat-
ment of teen survivors of sexual assault by the mental health system 
and to enhance their recovery through peer counseling and personal 
empowerment. Based in New York City, YEA operated from 1992 to 
1995, when it closed due to the loss of funding and key staff members. 
YEA trained teens who had spent time in the inpatient ward recover-
ing from sexual assault and related symptoms (substance abuse, 
depression) to serve as peer counselors to other recovering youth 
and to speak about their experiences at conferences and policymaking 
forums. In addition to creating an opportunity for youth to learn 
new skills and improve their self-esteem, YEA created a comforting 
support system for victims in the mental health system, which is 
sometimes criticized for failing to diagnose sexual abuse among 
its patients.

To participate in the training, young people had to express an interest 
in serving as counselors and to have been out of the inpatient ward 
for at least six months to demonstrate sufficient progress in their own 
recovery. If substance abuse had been a problem, they also had to 
have been clean and sober for six months. To prepare participants 
to counsel other youth in the hospital's inpatient ward, the training 
program gave basic information on sexual assault, substance abuse, 
and other mental health consequences of victimization, as well as 
communication and peer counseling skills. 

YEA also prepared young people to speak publicly about their 
treatment and other experiences before professional conferences, 
policymaking task forces, and legislative hearings. YEA participants 
found that, by becoming peer counselors and youth advocates, they 
advanced their own recovery, increased their feelings of control over 
their lives and realized they had something of value to contribute. 
Many first entered the inpatient ward feeling they had somehow failed 
in life and were incapable of helping themselves or others. By taking 
on these new responsibilities, participants were able to increase their 
feelings of self-worth and set higher goals for their own recovery. 
Working with others who had shared similar experiences also allowed 
both counselors and patients to talk about their problems without 
fear of stigmatization.


Endnotes

     1    D. Katz, "A Journey We Did Not Want To Take," Worth, 
(April 1995), pp. 87-96, 118-125.
     2    K.W. Crenshaw, "Race, Reform and Retrenchment:  
Transformation and Legitimization in Antidiscrimination Law," 
Harvard Law Review, 101 (1988), p. 1331.
     3    M.R. Mahoney, "Victimization or Oppression?  Women's Lives, 
Violence, and Agency," in The Public Nature of Private Violence: 
The Discovery of Domestic Abuse, ed. M.A. Fineman and R. Mykitiuk
(New York:  Routledge, 1994), pp. 59-92.
     4    R.C. Davis and L.N. Friedman, "The Emotional Aftermath of Crime 
and Violence," in Trauma and Its Wake, ed. C.R. Figley (New York: 
Brunner/Mazel, 1985), pp. 90-112; A.J. Lurigio and P.A. Resick, 
"Healing the Psychological Wounds of Criminal Victimization: 
Predicting Postcrime Distress and Recovery," in Victims of Crime: 
Problems, Policies, and Programs, eds. A.J. Lurigio, W.G. Skogan, 
and R.C. Davis (Newbury Park, CA:  Sage, 1990), pp. 50-67.
     5    R. Janoff-Bulman, "The Aftermath of Victimization:  Rebuilding 
Shattered Assumptions," in Trauma and Its Wake, ed. C.R. Figley 
(New York:  Brunner/Mazel, 1985), pp. 15-33.
     6    Lurigio and Resick, "Healing the Psychological Wounds of 
Criminal Victimization:  Predicting Postcrime Distress and Recovery," 
pp. 50-67; D.S. Riggs and D.G. Kilpatrick, "Families and Friends:  
Indirect Victimization by Crime," in Victims of Crime:  Problems, 
Policies, and Programs, eds. A.J. Lurigio, W.G. Skogan, and 
R.C. Davis (Newbury Park, CA:  Sage, 1990), pp. 120-138.
     7    R. Davis, B. Taylor and S. Bench, The Impact of Sexual and 
Non-Sexual Assault on Secondary Victims (New York:  Victim Services, 
1994).
     8    J.L. Herman, Trauma and Recovery (New York:  Basic Books, 
1992), p. 119.
     9    R. Davis, B. Taylor and S. Bench, The Impact of Sexual and 
Non-Sexual Assault on Secondary Victims.
     10   M.J. Lerner, D.T. Miller, and J.G. Holmes, "Deserving and the 
Emergence of Forms of Justice," in Advances in Experimental Social 
Psychology, Vol. 9, ed. L. Berkowitz and E. Walster (New York:  
Academic Press, 1976).
     11   Herman, Trauma and Recovery.
     12   B. Simos, A Time to Grieve:  Loss as a Universal Human Experi-
ence (New York:  Family Service Association of America, 1979), p. 228.
     13   W.G. Skogan and M.G. Maxfield, Coping with Crime:  Individual 
and Neighborhood Reactions, (Beverly Hills:  Sage, 1981), p. 230.
     14   E. Stark, "Framing and Reframing Battered Women," in 
Domestic Violence:  The Criminal Justice Response, ed. E. Buzawa 
(New York:  Auburn House, 1992), p. 282.
     15   L. Lebowitz, M.R. Harvey, and J.L. Herman, "A Stage-By-
Dimension Model of Recovery from Sexual Trauma," Journal of 
Interpersonal Violence, 9 (3) (1993), pp. 378-391.
     16   A.A. Stein, "Conflict and Cohesion:  A Review of the Literature," 
Journal of Conflict Resolution, 20 (1976), pp. 143-172.
     17   Herman, Trauma and Recovery.
     18   Ibid.
     19   R.L. Silver, C. Boon and M.L. Stones, "Searching for Meaning in 
Misfortune:  Making Sense of Incest," Journal of Social Issues, 39 
(1983), pp. 83-103.
     20   Herman, Trauma and Recovery, p. 209.
     21   Skogan and Maxfield, Coping with Crime:  Individual and 
Neighborhood Reactions, p. 230.
     22   Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, 1977, cited in 
Skogan and Maxfield, Coping with Crime:  Individual and 
Neighborhood Reactions, p. 230.
     23   E.S. Cohn, L. Kidder and J. Harvey, "Crime Prevention vs. 
Victimization:  The Psychology of Two Different Reactions," 
Victimology, 3 (3-4) (1978), pp. 285-296.
     24   Skogan and Maxfield, Coping with Crime:  Individual and 
Neighborhood Reactions.
     25   Herman, Trauma and Recovery, p. 209.
     26   Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor (New York:  Ferrar, Straus 
and Giroux, 1978).
     27   S. Felman and D. Laub, Testimony:  Crisis of Witnessing in 
Literature, Psychoanalysis, and History (New York:  Routledge, 1992), 
p. 24.
     28   Ibid.
     29   "Mother of Two Murder Victims Provides Solace for Others on 
Her Talk Show," New York Times, 17 April 1995.
     30   S. Schechter, Women and Male Violence (Boston:  South End, 1982).
     31   D. Terry, "Victims' Families Fight for Mercy," The New York Times, 
1 February 1996, p. A-10.
     32   F.J. Weed, "The Victim-Activist Role in the Anti-Drunk Driving 
Movement," The Sociological Quarterly, 31 (3) (1990), pp. 459-473.
     33   Lebowitz, Harvey, and Herman, "A Stage-By-Dimension Model 
of Recovery from Sexual Trauma."
     34   Skogan and Maxfield, Coping with Crime:  Individual and 
Neighborhood Reactions.
     35   J.H. Lord, Personal Communication, 1995.
     36   Skogan and Maxfield, Coping with Crime:  Individual and 
Neighborhood Reactions.
     37   E. Stark, "Mandatory Arrest of Batterers:  A Reply To Its Critics,"  
American Behavioral Scientist, 36 (5), (Jones & Schechter, 1993).
     38   Herman, Trauma and Recovery.
     39   A number of writers have pointed out how society's common 
misperception of battered women as "victims without agency" 
fails to recognize their capacity to act even within a system of 
oppression.  M.R. Mahoney, "Victimization or Oppression?  
Women's Lives, Violence and Agency"; K.W. Crenshaw, "Race, 
Reform and Retrenchment:  Transformation and Legitimization in
Antidiscrimination Law"; E.M. Schneider, "Particularity and Generality:  
Challenges of Feminist Theory and Practice in Work on Woman-
Abuse," New York University Law Review, 67 (3) (1992), pp. 520-568.
     40   Stark, "Mandatory Arrest of Batterers:  A Reply To Its Critics,"  
American Behavioral Scientist, pp. 651-680.
     41   J.H. Lord, Victim Impact Panels:  A Creative Sentencing 
Opportunity (Dallas:  Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 1990); 
D. Mercer, R. Lorden, and J. Lord, "Victim and Situational 
Characteristics Facilitation of Impending Post-Victimization 
Functioning."  Presentation at the International Society for 
Traumatic Stress Studies, San Antonio, 27 October 1993.
     42   Lord, Victim Impact Panels:  A Creative Sentencing Opportunity.


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"Mother of Two Murder Victims Provides Solace for Others on 
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