Victim Feedback: A Literature Review Report by the CPS Social Research Team
Executive Summary
It is important that Criminal Justice Agencies gather and review victim feedback. Not only does this help ensure that victims' voices are heard, but it can also help Criminal Justice Agencies to monitor performance, evaluate new initiatives, and meet upcoming organisational and legislative requirements – such as those included in the Victim and Prisoners Bill (MoJ, 2023), and the CPS’s Victim Transformation Programme. Understanding victim feedback will also be an important part of evaluating the impact of the CPS’s Victim Transformation Programme.
To ensure that any potential future victim feedback developments within the CPS are built on an appropriate evidence base, this literature review aims to: develop a broad understanding of what feedback mechanisms are currently available to victims across the CJS; determine good practice by examining appropriate comparator agencies; and assess the extant literature on engaging with seldom heard groups.
The review found that whilst surveys appeared to be the most popular method of data collection, both at a national and local level, qualitative methods were also common, and most organisations used more than one approach to gather information on service user experience. Complex organisations comprising of several smaller divisions and/or localities also appear to manage the challenge of designing and delivering national feedback mechanisms by using one of four broad approaches: a top-down approach where the organisation designs and manages a centralised service user feedback mechanism; a semi devolved approach where a national feedback mechanism is designed centrally but managed locally; a fully devolved approach where individual localities are encouraged to create and manage their own mechanism; and, finally, a blended approach, where the organisation has a number of separate feedback mechanisms and uses a combination of the above in their delivery.
Although there are already a sizable number of victim-specific feedback mechanisms within the UK, both at a national and local level, the evidence suggests that some victim groups may not be well-accounted for by current practices. For example, the experiences of children, those with mental health problems, and those that are victims of some crimes against the person (such as domestic violence), may be missing or under-represented due to additional safeguarding concerns or access and inclusion barriers. Whilst the evidence suggests that strategies for engaging seldom heard groups should be developed according to the distinct circumstances and characteristics of each group, three common themes emerged when examining best practice regardless of the group’s particular characteristics and could perhaps be considered core engagement tenets. These were: building trust, using appropriate and accessible communication, and having a flexible approach.
The full report (PDF document, 1mb, 109 pages) is available on request - please email SPDResearch@cps.gov.uk.