TY - JOUR
T1 - Police comfort and victims
AU - Foley, Tracy
AU - Terrill, William
N1 - Funding Information:
Growing awareness about the effects of crime on a victim has led to the development of research focusing specifically on victims of crime (Chelimsky, 1981; Howard, 1984a; Janoff-Bulman, 1985; Lurigio & Resick, 1990; Parks, 1976; Skogan, 1976). One branch of this research has examined how treatment by justice officials, including the police, can affect the victim. Although some This article is based on data from the Project on Policing Neighborhoods, supported by Grant No. 95-IJ-CX-0071 by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
PY - 2008/4
Y1 - 2008/4
N2 - Research has shown that the nature of interactions with police can impact victim recovery from trauma, satisfaction with police, and cooperation within the criminal justice system. However, evaluations of police effectiveness often view crime prevention as the "bottom line" for successful policing while overlooking the socioemotive factors that are actually important to victims. Drawing on the attributional and blaming literature for conceptual guidance, the present research examines 1,865 police-victim encounters from a large-scale observational study in an attempt to better understand the relationship between victim characteristics and police comforting behavior. The findings indicate that a number of factors affect the likelihood of whether comfort will be offered by police officers to victims. More specifically, female and middle- to upper-class victims were more likely to be comforted by police officers, as were those exhibiting signs of injury or depression. However, those encounters involving officers with a college degree or more years of work experience were less likely to involve comforting behavior. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.
AB - Research has shown that the nature of interactions with police can impact victim recovery from trauma, satisfaction with police, and cooperation within the criminal justice system. However, evaluations of police effectiveness often view crime prevention as the "bottom line" for successful policing while overlooking the socioemotive factors that are actually important to victims. Drawing on the attributional and blaming literature for conceptual guidance, the present research examines 1,865 police-victim encounters from a large-scale observational study in an attempt to better understand the relationship between victim characteristics and police comforting behavior. The findings indicate that a number of factors affect the likelihood of whether comfort will be offered by police officers to victims. More specifically, female and middle- to upper-class victims were more likely to be comforted by police officers, as were those exhibiting signs of injury or depression. However, those encounters involving officers with a college degree or more years of work experience were less likely to involve comforting behavior. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.
KW - Blaming
KW - Comfort
KW - Observational
KW - Police
KW - Victims
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=47149086951&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=47149086951&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15564880801938334
DO - 10.1080/15564880801938334
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:47149086951
SN - 1556-4886
VL - 3
SP - 192
EP - 216
JO - Victims and Offenders
JF - Victims and Offenders
IS - 2-3
ER -