NVAA: Leadership in Victim Services

• NCJ Number: 197343
• Author(s): Anita Drummond; Carroll Ellis; Melissa Hook; Morna Murray; Anne Seynour
• Date Published: June 2002
• Length: 217 pages
• Agencies: OVC
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This manual focuses on leadership, specifically in the area of victim services and ways that leaders develop their own internal capacity for leadership thereby making victims rights and services a priority with the ability to affect positive change.

Abstract

Change is inevitable and so are the many skills that are needed to facilitate it. Leaders in the discipline of victims’ rights and services, have “surfed the waves of change” without drowning. The challenge for these leaders is to take the information from the following chapters of this manual, combine it with personal experiences and actively lead and guide his/her staff and allied professionals on the change journey in victim services. This manual is divided into five chapters. The first chapter offers a broad overview of styles, qualities, and processes, and provides concrete examples of leaders in America. In chapter 2, the themes and roles of integrity and ethics as they relate to leadership are discussed. Chapter 3 examines creative problem solving as an essential skill for a strong leader to ascertain. Chapter 4 examines collaboration and partnerships, as well as team building initiatives as essential skills for strong leaders. The fifth and final chapter discusses that within the discipline of victims’ rights and services leaders need to have the ability to anticipate and facilitate change, as well as grow positively from the experience of change. These skills are vital for leaders and affect how an organization will adapt to both uncertainty and opportunities. References and appendixes