Victim-Centered Support and Healing

Program Theme

Mar 26

Written By CCSJ

A victim-centered approach focuses on what the victims and their loved ones need to heal. Not only is individual healing important for its own sake, but it is also necessary for broader community healing. The accumulation of unaddressed trauma stresses our community and magnifies fear. Examples of healing, support, and resilience, on the other hand, can provide hope and a sense of safety.

A victim-centered approach develops a comprehensive strategy for meeting a victim’s healing goals. Because it is a more expansive approach, it can involve a range of strategies, including material support, emotional support, and a plan for long-term healing. Although it is common to think about criminal charges and convictions as the path to justice, healing and recovery are often found outside of the legal process. Legal processes are long and prioritize the government’s case rather than the needs of the victim and survivor. Even worse, the single-minded focus on adversarial legal procedures may lead the government to re-traumatize and take agency away from victims and survivors. Instead, a victim-centered approach puts the well-being of victims and survivors first.

This section discusses the victims and survivor healing infrastructure that we built in response to the lack of resources for victims, especially Asian American victims. We recognized that harm not only has an immediate impact, but it can also have ripple effects in the broader community and long-term impacts.