Secondary Victimization of Children in Israel and the Child's Perspective

Abstract

This study has three objectives: (1) to study the needs of child victims in the criminal justice system; (2) to study the attitudes, activities and provisions of investigative authorities toward child victims and their families, as perceived by the children themselves and their parents; and (3) to study the relation between the assistance received and the child victims' and the parents' willingness to cooperate with the investigative authorities. We conducted an exploratory study of children aged 14 to 18, all victims of violence and sex crimes, and their parents. All received assistance from the Israeli Child Victim Assistance Project. The study is based on self-reports of a small, nonrepresentative convenience sample.

Both the children and the parents were generally satisfied with the way the complaint was received and the subsequent investigation. However, the perspective of children is not necessarily identical to that of their parents, so it is important to address the children themselves. For example, the children were considerably more satisfied than the parents during the investigation, mostly because of the respect they received, even though other important needs — for information, explanations, and support — were not met by investigative authorities. The fulfillment of these needs had an influence on victims' willingness to cooperate with the police. Thus, to reduce children's secondary victimization, authorities should institute a system that will ensure that child victims and parents are informed and receive assistance and explanation about support and services in a timely manner.