The Victims of Crime Research Portfolio aims to advance knowledge on victims and victimization that will inform the development and implementation of effective policies, practices, and services for crime victims. The portfolio also seeks to evaluate prevention and intervention strategies that will improve real-world outcomes for victims of crime.
Victims of crime can experience a range of ongoing negative physical, emotional, and financial consequences. The goal of understanding these diverse victimization experiences is to promote healing and resilience. It is also essential to identify risk and protective factors; determine available resources and services, service usage, and gaps; and advance policy and practice. The portfolio covers several types of victimization (including community-based, domestic, interpersonal, and sexual violence) and different kinds of victims’ resources and supports (such as criminal justice and community-based services). It has also supported the study of the financial costs of crime victimization, fraud, and financial exploitation of older adults, including perpetration and polyvictimization. The portfolio also examines new forms of victimization and their unique challenges.
This portfolio supports rigorous research to assess the effectiveness of specific programs and service delivery models, including state victim compensation programs. These studies’ findings have been instrumental in informing national, state, and local policies affecting victims, such as rights protections, access to services, and court reforms. The studies have employed various methods and data sources, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, administrative data analysis , longitudinal research, advanced statistical modeling, experimental and quasi-experimental designs, case studies, content analysis, and mixed methods. The portfolio also promotes researcher–practitioner partnerships, interdisciplinary teams, and phased evaluation approaches.
NIJ’s victim research has been used by a wide variety of stakeholders for different purposes, including informing laws, improving services, and shaping public understanding. Criminal justice system professionals, including law enforcement, use the data to improve practices related to investigating crimes, working with victims, and prosecuting offenders. Victim service providers use this research to enhance services and demonstrate program effectiveness. The findings have also guided grantmaking priorities and innovative victim services and prevention initiatives. The portfolio’s research has been used to inform the implementation or examine the impact of new legislation aimed at supporting victims of crime.
Research Priority 1: Develop a comprehensive body of evidence-based knowledge on crime victims, victim services, and support systems.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 1.1 | How do different justice system responses impact repeat victimization? |
| Research Question 1.2 | What does justice mean for survivors? How does the meaning of justice vary across different groups and victimization types, and how does this affect the justice process and sentencing? |
| Research Question 1.3 | What are the different vulnerabilities to the perpetration or victimization of violent crime? How does research/knowledge surrounding risk and protective factors influence program/intervention development and implementation of programs? |
Research Priority 2: Evaluate the effectiveness of programs that provide support and services to victims of crime and their families.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 2.1 | How effective are victim service programs embedded in criminal justice agencies (e.g., law enforcement, prosecutors’ offices)? How do these programs compare to those that operate within the community? |
| Research Question 2.2 | How effective are current fraud prevention strategies in protecting older adults from financial exploitation? How effective are current financial protections (e.g., banking alerts, power of attorney laws) in preventing elder financial abuse? |
| Research Question 2.3 | How effective are mobile apps and digital tools in providing support and safety for victims of violence? |
Priority 3: Examine the costs of crime victimization.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 3.1 | What are the short- and long-term emotional, financial, and medical impacts of violent crime victimization on victims? How do costs vary by type of victimization? |
| Research Question 3.2 | What costs are associated with victims' participation in the criminal justice system (e.g., legal fees, time off work for court proceedings, transportation, security needs)? |
| Research Question 3.3 | What are the long-term impacts of being a victim of financial crimes (e.g., identity theft) on economic well-being and security? How effective are post-victimization interventions (e.g., credit repair programs, victim compensation funds) in supporting long-term recovery? |
Priority 4: Strengthen data collection, measurement, and methods. Develop improved methods for collecting victim service delivery data, expand longitudinal research to track victim trajectories over time, and improve data infrastructure to allow better cross-agency, multi-sectoral data integration while safeguarding privacy.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 4.1 | What are the most effective methods for accurately capturing the type, frequency, and intensity of services offered and provided to victims? What indicators most reliably measure victim services' short-term and long-term outcomes (e.g., safety, well-being, housing stability)? How can data collection methods better capture victims' experiences and service satisfaction while minimizing re-traumatization? |
| Research Question 4.2 | How do patterns of victimization (e.g., type, frequency, severity) change over time following an initial victimization event? What proportion of victims’ experiences repeat or comprise polyvictimization, and what factors predict repeat victimization? What barriers prevent victims from accessing or sustaining service engagement over months and years? |
| Research Question 4.3 | What are the best practices for designing data collection tools that minimize the burden on frontline service providers while maximizing data quality? What are promising innovations (e.g., mobile apps, blockchain, artificial intelligence [AI]) for collecting secure, real-time, survivor-centered data on victimization? |
Priority 5: Support methods for identifying and responding to technology-facilitated abuse, advance detection of this abuse, and identify and evaluate prevention and intervention strategies for technology-facilitated abuse.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 5.1 | What are effective services to support victims of online abuse and harassment, including technology-facilitated abuse and violence, and how do these services and victims’ needs differ from other types of victimization? What are the most effective criminal, legal, and technological solutions for combating online violence? |
| Research Question 5.2 | What are the unique risk factors for victimization in digital spaces (e.g., cyberbullying, online fraud, doxing)? |
| Research Question 5.3 | What are the financial costs associated with technology-facilitated abuse and violence? What financial resources are available to support victims’ recovery from tech-enabled crimes, and where are the gaps? |
| Research Question 5.4 | How do perpetrators exploit emerging technologies (e.g., AI, deepfake) for surveillance and control? What role can AI and machine learning play in detecting and preventing tech-facilitated abuse and violence? |
| Research Question 5.5 | How do online and offline victimization experiences interact? |
Reports -
- Measuring the Impact of Victim Services: Developing and Testing the iMPRoVE Tool for Measuring Service Quality and Outcomes: NIJ Final Report
- Twenty Years Later: A National Study of Victim Compensation Programs
- Insights Into Mail Fraud Come from Scammers’ Own Records
- Evaluating Technology-Based Services for Victims of Crime
Datasets -
Use the links below to find additional information and resources related to victims of crime.