Where do English and Welsh victim-survivors of sexual violence perceive they might gain kaleidoscopic justice?

Olivia Smith, Tina Skinner, Melanie Channon, Rebecca Tarrant

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

McGlynn and Westmarland (2019) developed a holistic framework for victim-survivor understandings of justice after sexual violence. The framework, named ‘Kaleidoscopic Justice’, highlighted the importance of six components: consequences, recognition, dignity, voice, prevention, and connectedness. Now, we provide the first examination of whether victimsurvivors perceive different support services and the criminal justice system (CJS) as achieving kaleidoscopic justice. To do this we analysed data from an English survey of 586 victimsurvivors using principal components analysis to generate an index of perceived kaleidoscopic justice, descriptive statistics, and thematic analysis on the qualitative responses. The research also tested whether kaleidoscopic justice indicators are related to measures of satisfaction with the CJS. The findings demonstrate that kaleidoscopic justice measures are indeed a good proxy for satisfaction with the justice system. They also suggest that victim-survivors were more likely to view specialized support services as providing kaleidoscopic justice principles. The paper ends with: (a) recommendations to Government to reorientate CJS responses towards kaleidoscopic justice and increase state funding of specialist support services; and (b) a call to explore whether kaleidoscopic justice could also be a valuable framework for other crimes and in other jurisdictions.
Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Review of Victimology
Publication statusAcceptance date - 7 Feb 2025

Funding

Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

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