One of the roles of the victim advocate is to be the voice on behalf of the victim in court proceedings. They assist victims through the criminal justice process. The victim advocate becomes a liaison between the victim and the district attorney's office. The victim's best interest is the primary goal of advocacy.

1) What are common considerations of the victim's best interests?

2) How can a victim advocate ensure that a particular victim's best interests, which might be different from the most common ones, be addressed within the criminal justice process?

3) If you were a victim advocate within your state, would the existing victim rights laws fully support what you would want to do to help your assigned individual victims?  Why or why not? 

4) Many think victim advocates only work in the legal system, but they work in many different settings. Discuss other settings victim advocates work in. What makes an advocate successful in these settings? 

5) If you could create from scratch a perfect victim advocacy model, what would it include? Would it be different in any way from what presently exists within your state? How so? Would variations be needed, depending on where the victim advocate works, or would it apply to victim advocates across the board? Would it incorporate any best practices from any other academic or professional disciplines? Which ones and why? Would you need access to any particular tools, software or anything else to assist your victim clients? Which ones and why?

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1 Common Considerations of Victims Best Interests Emotional wellbeing and support Safety and protect... View the full answer