Figure 2: Change Mechanism

This image is Figure 2 in the article "Helping Crime Victim Legal Clinics Help Their Clients by Defining and Measuring for Successful Outcomes."

Figure 2 shows how this all ties together and demonstrates the “theory of change” that underlies the conceptual model. The theory of change suggests that the program activities carried out by legal service providers should lead to short-term program outcomes, which, if achieved, theoretically lead to the achievement of long-term objectives.

1. Victims seeking to conserve what resources they have after victimization (material, emotional, mental, social, etc.
2. Victims may be assisted in conserving resources via trauma-informed legal services, with an attorney advocating on their behalf (underlying mechanism).
3. Victim achieves some measure of procedural justice (objective), even if the case outcome is not as the victim might hope (e.g., conviction).