Victim impact statements and victim satisfaction: An unfulfilled promise?

Abstract

Victim impact statements have been widely heralded as a means of promoting victim involvement in criminal court decisionmaking and of increasing victim satisfaction with the justice process. This article reports on the results of a field test that examined the effects of impact statements on victim perceptions of involvement and satisfaction with the justice system. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) victims were interviewed and victim impact statements were written and distributed to court officials, (2) victims were interviewed but no statements were written, and (3) victims were not interviewed. No effects of victim impact statements were found on any of a multitude of measures of victim perceptions. The article concludes that, while impact statements are a relatively low-cost and noncontroversial way to involve victims, they might do little to promote satisfaction with the justice system.