U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Improving Justice for American Indian and Rural Victims of Crime Through Community-Engaged Research

NCJ Number
302284
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 37 Issue: 2 Dated: 2021 Pages: 192-211
Author(s)
B. A. de Heer; et al
Date Published
2021
Length
20 pages
Annotation

This article discusses a collaborative research partnership between academic researchers and a victim service agency that sought to connect rural victim advocacy with a data-driven research methodology for improved justice delivery in two communities with differing rural dynamics.

Abstract

Community-engaged research can be effective in directly improving justice for individuals and communities, and to guide policies and practices. Given the challenges to accessing some populations of interest, such as with rural victims of crime, community-engaged approaches provide a means to support ethical and culturally competent research that can improve justice in a meaningful way. Researchers and practitioners can benefit from recognizing the unique, yet varied, victimization experiences within rural communities, and an understanding of this variability among rural victims and contexts can inform justice practice. The current article presents best-practice recommendations from both researcher and practitioner perspectives for the successful implementation of a project that serves victims in the community and through policy. Implications for justice-related policy and practice for rural and American-Indian crime victims are discussed. (publisher abstract modified)