Abstract:
"Hartley and McCrory’s needs assessment identified that in Iowa, the primary method county attorneys use to communicate with crime victims is a victim registration packet mailed to the victims, a fair number of victims do not return these packets, and a readability analysis of the text in the victim registration packets suggests that victims may not be able to understand the information in these packets to successfully complete the required information on their own. Revising these packets with a focus on reading level and comprehension may help increase victim engagement in the registration process. Thus,the purpose of this study was to examine whether a revised victim 7registration packet, compared to a county’s existing packet, would increase the return rate of these packets, thereby affording victims greater access to their rights throughout the criminal justice process." [CVRL Note: Appendix includes annotated cover letter, showing which components were edited to improve readability.] (Author Text)