Victim Impact Statements: Their Effects on Court Outcomes and Victim Satisfaction: A User's Guide to the Machine-Readable Files and Documentation, Original Codebook, and Original Instrument

• NCJ Number: 146240
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 30 pages
• Grant Number(s): 88-IJ-CX-0004
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Measurement/Evaluation Device

Annotation

These volumes present background and coding information and the instrument for the data set collected for a study that examined the effects of victim impact statements on sentencing decisions and on victim satisfaction with the criminal justice system.

Abstract

Victims of felony crimes (robbery, nonsexual assault, and burglary) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions. Victims in one group were interviewed to assess impact, and a victim impact statement was written and immediately distributed to the prosecutor, defense attorney, and judge on the case. Victims in the second group were interviewed to assess the impact, but no statement was written. Victims in the control group were not interviewed, and no statement was written. All victims were interviewed one month after their assignment to a group and again after the disposition of the case to assess their satisfaction with the criminal justice system. Case data including sentences and special conditions of sentences were recorded from criminal justice files. Tables, instrument, and coding information