A Conceptual Model for Victim Services

Abstract

The past decade has brought an increasing awareness of victim needs and of the profound psychological impact of victimization. Public and private sector services have emerged to address these issues, as have recommendations for an evolving professional field. Despite this progress, victim services lack conceptual frameworks from which to define goals and organize interventions. This article outlines the current state of the victim services field, identifies eight consensus prescriptions for future development, and proposes the Cube Model (Morrill, Hurst, & Oetting, 1980; Morrill, Oetting, & Hurst, 1974) as an integrating conceptual framework. Three representative victim service agencies are described to illustrate the usefulness of the model Counseling psychologists are challenged to use their special skills and expertise to develop broadly based services necessary for mitigating the profound psychological consequences of victimization.