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226 | Appendix C Victims’ Voices Heard Program Structure This appendix provides a detailed description of the steps followed by participants in the Victims’ Voices Heard program. The entire preparatory process that unfolds prior to the face-to-face meeting between the victim and offender typically consists of a minimum of four to six months of biweekly (separate) meetings with a facilitator, but there is no set expectation of how long each component of the preparation takes. Victims’ journeys are unique and not necessarily linear, and often feelings that victims had long thought reconciled are resurrected during this stage, prolonging the process. The VVH facilitators work with victims and offenders at their own pace. The preparation process entails responding to a series of questions, both in writing and orally. In Kim Book’s experience, victims face greater difficulty with the preparation process than offenders do—some victims complete the paperwork in a timely fashion, whereas others are unable to progress with answering questions about the crime and its aftermath. When participants are stuck, Kim uses these opportunities as starting points for their in-person discussions. Some victims write responses with a great deal of detail, finding it cleansing or reassuring to catalog their early emotions and marvel at how far they have come. Offenders, on the other hand, typically complete the paperwork quickly and with no questions asked. Kim believes the offenders’ ability to do this is because of the institutionalization effect of prison, where inmates are used to being told by correctional staff what to do and complying with orders. Completion of the initial bureaucratic paperwork clears the way for the emotional work to begin, as victims and offenders receive a fourteen- or twenty-page handout, respectively, labeled “Preparation Packet.” Much of it is adapted or modified, with permission, from the Victim Offender Mediation/ Dialogue Program housed in victim services as part of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice—the program after which VVH is modeled. The Appendix C | 227 questions posed are written to encourage self-reflection, and the responses are open-ended, leaving participants room to write out their thoughts rather than simply asking them to check off different choices in a self-inventory or to provide numerical responses (e.g., “How do you feel on a scale of one to ten?”). Facilitators find participants’ responses more useful when they use their own words to describe their thoughts and concerns rather than using preset response checklists. Even responses left blank offer opportunities to probe why a question remains unanswered.1 Although this is true for both offenders and victims, it is especially useful to hear how offenders talk about their crime and characterize their actions, so that facilitators can discern what needs to be addressed regarding offenders’ accountability. Of paramount importance is the need not to revictimize the victim by using a careless phrase that might sound victim blaming or through a misunderstood expression of an offender’s remorse. For instance, early in the preparation process offenders often vacillate between expressing apologies and sorrow for the crime they committed and mitigating their responsibility with explanations for their behavior, similar to what Daly found in her research with youth offenders in a diversionary RJ program in Australia.2 It is only after considerable work and reflection that offenders integrate their background experiences with their understanding of motivations in order to take full responsibility for their actions. For victims, the preparation packet begins with an opening that encourages them to get in touch with their feelings and reflect on the questions as they work through them. Participants are reassured that none of the questions is meant to be offensive or insensitive to their needs, but they should realize that in responding, “troublesome unaddressed wounds and issues” may be uncovered that “evoke raw, painful responses.” Participants are urged to take their time, to involve supportive friends if they wish as they work through things, and that they should “never feel compelled at any time to continue with any part of the process that doesn’t feel right.” Finally, the packet’s introduction closes by stating that the process is “their” work and that the hope is that they feel validated, listened to, and affirmed and that they feel their voice is “being heard and respected.” The next several pages of the packet present twelve questions that ask victims to record the initial impact of the crime on them and any related feelings they have. Each question focuses on victims’ possible reactions...

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