Victim Witness Unit Reflection

During orientation I was able to understand more of what the Cobb County Victim Witness Unit does. I was not surprised about the lengthy steps that were involved in the criminal trial process, however to be able to hear true life scenarios from my supervisor made it more real and very appealing to me. The VWU advocates assist in various ways, such as attending any trial/court hearings to support the victim or witness, assist with any paperwork the victim/witness needs to fill out (restitution or compensation forms) and making sure the victim is informed of any new circumstances surrounding their case, such as plea deals, bonding out or release. I was also informed that a few times my supervisor herself went and picked up a victim in order to …show more content…
One call was to a victim of a robbery, the woman’s car was broken into and her purse was stolen while she was at a “client” meeting. The victim was seeking restitution from the defendant who is currently incarcerated and awaiting a trial date, she also wants to testify during the trial. The victim stated she missed five days of work due to all the things she had to do after the robbery, renew credit cards, get her car fixed, etc. The victim was requesting $500 to $1,000 a day for missed work, stating that she was a female escort who also did “webinars”. Beth explained to me that this was the second case that she has worked with this particular female where she was a victim. I immediately recognized what theory would pertain to this victim, the Lifestyle Choice theory. The victim’s career choice, the places she frequents, being out late at night and into the morning as well as the type of people she chooses to associate with puts her in situations where criminal activity is more likely, obviously more than once. I can see the Deviant Place theory in play here as well, the victim is prone to being involved in crime because the places she frequents are considered high crime areas. This particular incident happened in an apartment complex on Six Flags Drive, a very high crime area in Cobb County. It was interesting to hear firsthand how theory/s can be applied to a real life …show more content…
It was great to finally see a large aspect of this particular job in action. The woman wanted her attorney with her because she felt that she was not being heard by the police officers that were involved in her case and she did not want a repeat of that here in the D.A.’s office (apparently it is unusual for the victim to have their own attorney). The woman came to state that she did not want to press battery and assault charges against her live-in boyfriend and father of her 2-year-old child. The boyfriend hit her for the first time in 7 years and she exclaimed it was because she was caught cheating and she fueled the assault. The woman stated it was just an accident when he was getting up out of bed when he hit her with his forearm, hard enough to rupture her eardrum and send her to the ER. The woman had a few conflicting stories in this meeting, at first she said she fueled the attack with her infidelities, then she said it was an accident, then she slipped and stated this was only the “second” time in 7 years he hit her. I went back to my theory training in my mind and thought about the Victim Precipitation theory, did she in fact provoke him, sort of taunt him with her infidelities (Active Precipitation)? Regardless, a man hitting a woman is not appropriate in any way. The woman