Unmet needs and service satisfaction of victim support for the direct and indirect victims of serious violence: Results from a cross-sectional survey in Taiwan

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 13; no. 2; p. e0192905
• Main Author: Huang, Lanying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 21.02.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aggression; Analysis; Assaults; Biology and Life Sciences; Client satisfaction; Counseling; Crime; Criminal law; Criminology; Cross-sectional studies; Grief; Handbooks; Health aspects; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental health; Murders & murder attempts; Nonviolence; People and Places; Post traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Pro bono services; Psychological aspects; Psychological distress; Psychopathology; Services; Social disorganization; Social Sciences; Social services; Social support; Studies; Support services; Trauma; User satisfaction; Victimization; Victims; Victims of crime; Victims of crimes surveys; Violence; Violent crime; Violent crimes; Taiwan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192905

Victim support services, in mature societies, aim to help victims recover after suffering a traumatic event. The effectiveness of victim support has traditionally been evaluated through rates of service utilization and incidence of psychopathology such as posttraumatic stress disorder. The current study, instead, inquires into service users' unmet needs and satisfaction, and identifies factors that mediate such subjective measures, using data from a national cross-sectional survey on victims and surviving families of violent crime in Taiwan in 2011. The results reveal: 1) a gap between available and expected services, and 2) a correlation between service utilization and satisfaction, both consistent with previous studies. In addition, the current study identifies unsatisfied service users: They are homicidally bereaved, live with their spouse, suffer from post-crime financial distress and are still waiting for a court verdict on the incident. Victim support that helps victims heal through tailored services incorporating relationship counseling is proposed.