PROFESSIONAL REPORT: VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT
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Microsoft Word - PROFESSIONAL REPORT - VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT 2019.docx 1 Faculty of Education & Arts School of Humanities and Social Science SWRK2005 VIOLENCE, ABUSE & TRAUMA: THEORY & PRACTICE ASSESSMENT ITEM TWO PROFESSIONAL REPORT: VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT DESCRIPTION In this task students will be asked to write a professional report in the form of an adapted/ augmented victim impact statement drawing on publicly available case records from the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. Length: 1500 words (does not include references) Weighting: 30% (30 points) Due Date : Friday 27 September, 2019 Victim Impact Statements (VIS) provide victims with the opportunity to tell the court in their own words how a crime has affected them. A VIS is voluntary. A victim does not have to make a VIS if they do not want to and it is important to know that the court does not assume that because there is no VIS that there was little, or no harm suffered as a result of the crime. A VIS can be prepared by the victim, or by the victim with assistance from a friend, family member or - if required by a professional approved under the Victims’ Rights and Support Act 2013. Information on the preparation of VIS will be discussed in class in WEEK 4. After this class presentation notes, examples and links to same will be posted on Blackboard under the weekly online learning module for that week. The task is described as an adapted/augmented victim impact statement as it requires you to produce a report that is consistent with professional report standards for required content for victim impact statements – but also to include information about the background/context of violence/abuse/trauma being described; the evidence/theory that informs understandings of impact; highlighting the dynamics of violence, abuse and trauma and briefly articulates the implications the case raises for legislative process, policy or practice responses. These adaptations allow you to demonstrate what would be assumed / essential knowledge and understanding of a professional completing a victim impact statement on another’s behalf and information that would contextualise the statement that would normally be provided via other judicial processes. Because the task requires an adapted/augmented professional report – it is important that while examples and information about the preparation of VIS are provided on Blackboard and in class – you do not have to adhere strictly to the stated requirements/ content/ templates or headings described. You will also not be marked down for not doing so. Instead we suggest that you use the examples provided to increase your understanding of the process and procedures that would occur in practice around the preparation of a VIS – but use as your guide in preparing your report the marking rubric for the assessment (see the turn it in link under the assessments tab on Blackboard). Following this – suggested sub headings you may wish to use to structure your professional report could include: • Victim/Survivor/Case (name and details of who the report is written in relation to) • Background (key issues and context including relevant experiences of violence and abuse) • Impact of violence and abuse (with reference to theory, evidence and highlighting relevant dynamics) • Implications for practice, policy or legislative process • References You will not be marked down for not using the headings suggested above – they are simply provided as a suggestion. However, you choose to present your report please ensure you familiarise yourself with the marking rubric for the assessment as this is what will be used to mark your assessment. You can find the rubric by clicking on the Turn it In assessment item. 2 Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. The Royal Commission held 57 formal public hearings during which it heard evidence about child sexual abuse within institutions, from 1,200 witnesses over 400 days of hearings, across all Australian capital cities and in several regional areas. These case studies focused on how institutions have responded to allegations and proven instances of child sexual abuse. The Royal Commission was not a court of law and could not make decisions about criminal matters. Rather, the Commissioners delivered recommendations based on what they learned during public hearing. Visit the Royal Commission website: https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/ to read more about the conduct, remit and final reports issued by the Commission. For the purpose of this assignment we ask that you select evidence presented to the Royal Commission from a witness to one the following case studies: Case Study 7; Case Study 15; Case Study 26; or Case Study 40. These case studies have been selected as they provide a diverse overview of the different forms of institutional abuse and their impact reported to the Commission by victims of both genders and their family members. You can choose from any of the witness reports to these case studies as the focus of your professional report – victim impact statement. You should include details of who the professional report – VIS is written in relation to and provide a reference to information you have drawn on to complete your report. In the week 4 online learning module a folder for each Case Study will provide links to relevant statements, transcripts, the final report of the case study and other background information including media clips or documentaries related to the case. You are free to use this information or other information publicly available and able to be referenced that is related to your chosen witness’ account of their experiences to the Royal Commission to strengthen your understanding of the impact of violence abuse and trauma to inform your professional report (VIS). The following link provides access to the Case Studies from the Royal Commission: https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies. • https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies/case-study-07-parramatta-training-school-girls • https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies/case-study-15-swimming-australia-and-dpp • https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies/case-study-26-st-josephs-orphanage-neerkol • https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies/case-study-40-australian-defence-force Evidence provided by witnesses to these case studies can be found by clicking on the ‘view full case study’ hyperlink under each case study. Information may then be located under the ‘view more’ tab next to Exhibits and/or via the Transcripts tab. Be sure to check the folder under the weekly online learning module for Week 4 for more information about each Case Study. It is important to recognise that while publicly available and accessible – the content of the transcripts and evidence provided to the Royal Commission is graphic, and distressing. The experiences described by victim/survivors relate to systematic experiences of child abuse, including child sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect, and cultural abuse. It is very important that you exercise strong self-care and self-management in the process of completing this assessment and that you do not hesitate to make use of support services should you need to debrief or discuss your responses to this material. Final Report - Volume 3, Impacts FINAL REPORT Impacts VOLUME 3 Final Report: Volume 3, Impacts ISBN 978-1-925622-54-6 © Commonwealth of Australia 2017 All material presented in this publication is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Australia licence (www.creativecommons.org/licenses). For the avoidance of doubt, this means this licence only applies to material as set out in this document. The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website as is the full legal code for the CC BY 4.0 AU licence (www.creativecommons.org/licenses). Contact us Enquiries regarding the licence and any use of this document are welcome at: Attorney-General’s Department 3-5 National Circuit Barton, ACT 2600 Email:
[email protected] Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse FINAL REPORT Volume 3 Impacts Final Report: Volume 3, Impacts Content warning This volume contains information about child sexual abuse that may be distressing. We also wish to advise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers that information in this volume may have been provided by or refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have died. Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Table of contents Preface 1 The Royal Commission 1 Public hearings 1 Private sessions 2 Policy and research 3 Community engagement 3 Diversity and vulnerability 3 Our interim and other reports 4 Definition of terms 4 Naming conventions 5 Structure of the Final Report 5 Summary 9 Understanding impacts 9 Child sexual abuse can affect many areas of a person’s life 10 Institutional responses can have significant impacts 11 Child sexual abuse can have ripple effects 12 1 Introduction 14 1.1 Overview 14 1.2 Terms of Reference 15 1.3 Links with other volumes 16 1.4 Limitations of our work 16 1.5 Key terms 18 1.6 Structure of this volume 20 2 Understanding impacts 23 2.1 Complex and profound impacts 23 2.2 Impacts differ by individual 24 2.3 Impacts change over time 25 2.4 Factors that influence impacts 30 Final Report: Volume 3, Impacts 3 Impacts of child sexual abuse 73 3.1 Effects of trauma on children’s development 77 3.2 Mental health 84 3.3 Interpersonal relationships 107 3.4 Physical health 115 3.5 Sexual identity, gender identity and sexual behaviour 122 3.6 Connection to culture 130 3.7 Spirituality and religious involvement 133 3.8 Interactions with society 138 3.9 Education, employment and economic security 147 4 Impacts of institutional responses 172 4.1 Institutional betrayal 173 4.2 Continuation of abuse 178 4.3 Re-traumatisation 181 4.4 Fear, distrust and contempt 186 4.5 Ostracism 189 4.6 Appropriate responses and empowerment 191 5 Ripple effects 202 5.1 Victims’ families 203 5.2 Other affected individuals 220 5.3 Communities 224 5.4 Australian society 231 1Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The Royal Commission The Letters Patent provided to the Royal Commission required that it ‘inquire into institutional responses to allegations and incidents of child sexual abuse and related matters’. In carrying out this task, the Royal Commission was directed to focus on systemic issues, be informed by an understanding of individual cases, and make findings and recommendations to better protect children against sexual abuse and alleviate the impact of abuse on children when it occurs. The Royal Commission did this by conducting public hearings, private sessions and a policy and research program. Public hearings A Royal Commission commonly does its work through public hearings. We were aware that sexual abuse of children has occurred in many institutions, all of