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| Victim Impact Panels Have Effect on Offenders |
| By Sally Hilander, Victim programs manager, Montana Department of Corrections |
| Published: 02/22/2010 |
Criminals often view themselves as victims because they
were caught. It’s true that many of them endured abuse as
children and now struggle with addictions, low self-esteem,
poverty perhaps, and bad choices. Accountability and successful
re-entry depend on overturning an offender’s view
of the world that centers on himself.
Helena Prerelease Center residents have been hearing alternative definitions of “crime victim” since Director Amy Tenney and her staff introduced victim impact panels (VIPs) into their treatment strategy last fall. VIP speaker Mrs. H choked up as she recently told prerelease residents how her daughter was robbed and beaten to death as she closed the family bar and restaurant early one morning in January 1994. The killers dumped her body miles away in a snowy ditch. Mrs. E showed pictures of her smiling teenage son and pictures of his body. He was riding with a drunken friend who wrecked the car and then ran from the scene, not knowing if his passenger was dead or alive. Mr. F described unfamiliar and unsettling emotions – anger, suspicion, revenge – after burglars vandalized his rental property. The VIP at Helena prerelease is the culmination of a sixweek victim impact class for which Tenney has blended curricula from Treasure State Correctional Training Center and the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime. “We continue to receive excellent feedback from the residents,” Tenney said. “They tell us this is the most impactful of all the programs they have been through in corrections. They’ve had CP&R (cognitive principles and restructuring) up to their ears, but they say this program will stick with them.” VIPs have been a part of DOC since 1998, but the program has not caught on at other facilities. Anita Richards, whose son was murdered in 1992, pioneered a victim impact curriculum at the boot camp. The Great Falls Transition Center started a VIP about the same time. “It is good for us. We will never give it up,” said Director Paul Cory. “It is a powerful program that seems to hit home with the offenders. Offenders who develop empathy are far less likely to re-offend.” Some VIP speakers have volunteered at the center since the program started, Cory said. “If you can get the right victim to tell the story, offenders stop and take notice,” he said. “They realize the victim could be my mother, my sister, or my brother. It puts the offender in the victim’s shoes. It hits home.” Tenney is the first to launch a new VIP since DOC hosted a two-day VIP training in June 2008 for community corrections program managers. Two VIPs have made her a believer. “Once you see the reaction of the residents and receive the feedback, you will want to make the program a priority,” she said. Tenney teaches the victim impact class despite a rigorous schedule. “I make the time to do it because I feel that it is that important. It’s worth my time. I’m pretty passionate about it.” As part of the 2008 training, DOC prepared a how-to manual that accompanies the boot camp victim impact curriculum. For a copy of the manual or to request information about VIPs, contact the victim programs manager at (406) 444-7461 or shilander@mt.gov . |
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