Based on the acclaimed professional certificate program, Advanced Institute on Victim Studies: Critical Analysis of Victim Assistance, this book identifies core content areas essential for practitioners working with crime victims.
Recognizing the multidisciplined, multisystem field that encompasses victim assistance, the contributors present a solid foundation of the varying concepts and theories on victims and victims services. The balance of the text addresses the skills and strategies needed to enhance services to victims at the individual, organizational, and societal levels. Each chapter concludes with an analysis and application section, including representative scenarios and key questions for review.
Thomas Underwood, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Joint Center on Violence and Victim Studies, an interdisciplinary affiliation between Washburn University and California State University at Fresno. Dr. Underwood also serves as faculty for the Department of Human Services at Washburn University and for the Department of Criminology at CSUF. Christine Edmunds is a Victim Rights and Services Consultant and serves on the Executive Committee of the Joint Center on Violence and Victim Studies. She co-founded the National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) in 1995 and has served as senior faculty since that time. She is an adjunct professor for the California State University at Fresno and for Washburn University.