Ep. 17: Lenore Anderson – Victims’ Rights and the Future of Public Safety

Question: Would major improvements in community services and support for victims of crime have the effect of reducing crime itself and increasing public safety? Answer: Yes. So says guest Lenore Anderson, author of the book, “In Their Names: The Untold Story of Victim’s Rights, Mass Incarceration, and the Future of Public Safety”. Lenore is also the co-founder and president of the national organization Alliance for Safety and Justice. The overarching theme of this discussion between Lenore and host David Risley is the proposition that a robust system of trauma-informed victim services is an approach to crime-fighting with far more potential to increase public safety than mass incarceration. Lenore makes the point in this conversation and in her book that our current punishment approach to criminal justice in the United States, which has led to a mass incarceration rate among the highest in the world, is driven largely by a misperception that harsh punishment of offenders is what victims want and need – hence the title of Lenore’s book, “In Their Names”. In fact, as she says in the book, extensive research reveals “a sharp contrast between the popular tropes of the vengeful victims and the actual criminal justice priorities that diverse victims express wanting. Instead of clamoring for maximum punishments, the research turns those myths on their head. The majority of crime victims report a preference for crime prevention, rehabilitation, and mental health treatment over the standard tough on crime policies of the mass incarceration era. By large percentages, victims surveyed prefer shorter sentences with more prevention investments than a focus on securing the longest sentences possible. . . . The vast majority also believe investments in prevention should trump spending on incarceration. Most also believe imprisonment has little or no impact on reducing future crimes and more often than not makes matters worse.” (p.217) During their conversation, Lenore and David discuss the role of trauma as not only an effect of crime, but also a major driving factor of crime, especially violent crime as “hurt people hurt people.” Consequently, one of the most effective ways to reduce violent crime is greater trauma-informed services and support for victims of crime, thereby reducing the need of some, especially in high crime communities, to turn to violence for self-preservation. Information about resources for victims of crime is available at the following websites:

• Alliance for Safety and Justice: https://asj.allianceforsafetyandjustice.org/
• Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice: https://cssj.org/
• National Center for Victims of Crime: https://victimsofcrime.org/
• Trauma Recovery Centers: https://www.traumarecoverycentermodel.org/
• National Organization for Victim Assistance: https://www.trynova.org/
• WeHealUS: https://www.wehealus.org/

Information about effective measures to reduce crime is available at the following websites:

• Council on Criminal Justice: https://counciloncj.org/
• Arnold Ventures: https://www.arnoldventures.org/
• Vera Institute of Justice: https://www.vera.org/
• National Criminal Justice Reform Project: https://www.ncja.org/national-criminal-justice-reform-pr
• Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority: https://icjia.illinois.gov/

And, for more episodes of Justice Voices, visit our website at https://justicevoices.org