Impact of Crime on Victims (IOC) Curriculum Development Project: Final Evaluation Report

• NCJ Number: 248020
• Author(s): Mario T. Gaboury; Christopher M. Sedelmaier
• Date Published: September 2007
• Length: 43 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2005-VF-GX-K026
• Agencies: OVC-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Evaluation; Instructional Material (Programmed)

Annotation

This report summarizes the evaluation research conducted on the Impact of Crime on Victims Curriculum Development Program (IOC), which is intended to increase offenders' awareness of the harms to victims their crimes have caused, with the goal of increasing their motivation to avoid such harmful behavior in the future.

Abstract

The project involved the revision and updating of a curriculum originally developed in 1984 by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR's) Office of Victim and Survivor Services. Four States, including California, participated in the revision project; Tennessee, Virginia, and Ohio were the other States. A total of 10 sites used the revised IOC curriculum. Curriculum facilitators received training prior to each site's launch, so as to promote inter-site uniformity of content delivery. Program coordinators solicited voluntary participation from the inmate pool at each of the 10 sites. Overall, the evaluation determined that the IOC programs at the 10 sites produced increases in specific aspects of offender knowledge of and sensitivity to crime victims. Knowledge increases pertained to the factors of victimization and increased knowledge of victim rights. This was accompanied by improvements in sensitivity to what crime does to victims. These were benefits not experienced by the control group, which did not participate in the curriculum. These findings rplicate the findings of an earlier study conducted on a Connecticut sample (Monahan, Monahan, Gaboury, and Niesyn, 2004). The evaluation methodology is described in detail. 9 tables, 15 references, and appended evaluation instruments