REFLECTION
Please enjoy some excerpts from my time interning in victim services.
Excerpt 1: February 27th, 2019
As I reflect back over the past month and a half of my internship with the Cookeville Police Departments Victim Services, I think about the expectations I had before I began. Originally, I had an idealistic vision of what working in a system-based organization would be. For the internship I pictured a fast pace environment meeting often with victims face to face. Fortunately, my supervisors slowed my role a little and made sure I really understood what I was doing before I got to start working with victims. Before I could begin working with victims, I had to learn all the general orders and operations of the department, familiarize myself with day to day tasks, complete a few training's, and most importantly sit in on cases so I could see firsthand what was expected of me.
Coming into the internship I was pretty familiar with the concepts of trauma informed care, and the victim centered approach. During my time at Tennessee Technological University, I chose to concentrate my degree in sociology with social work because I wanted to learn how to effectively advocate and care for individuals. Within my courses I learned a lot about trauma informed care, and having a people centered approach. Additionally, I became fascinated with the criminal justice system when I took a course in victimology and learned about the experiences and trends of victims, this inspired me to go on and learn more. After my victimology course I went on to learn more about the laws to familiarize myself with the processes criminals and victims went through when working with the system by taking courses in criminal law and procedure, and probation and parole. I believe the skill sets that I learned in these courses helped prepare me tremendously for the internship in victim services.
Working with victims is little different than just working with people. Someone who has just been victimized of a crime first, is now feeling vulnerable because they lost a bit security when this happen. Secondly, their chances of being victimized again has just gone up because they where made vulnerable. Thirdly, they have just experienced trauma and are dealing with all sorts of emotions as a result. With the victims that we serve they could have been victimized by any type of crime whether that be theft or assault all are traumatizing experiences in their own right. Thankfully, my prior course work prepared me well for theses situations. That no matter what emotion a person is experiencing, anger, grief, depression, confusion, etc., I am able to rationalize that they are experiencing trauma and that everyone experiences it differently. I can then listen and think with a victim centered approach to what they are feeling and what they need when I am making my service referrals.
Interring for a system-based organization has been a great learning experience for me. While, working in a systems-based organization, particularly for law enforcement, comes with its own set of challenges. People tend to be a little more guarded in the information that they give us and may get a little agitated with the reality of what law enforcement can reasonably do, its not like the TV shows. However, working for this type of organization has offered me some experiences that I do not think I could have gained, or at least not in the same manner that I have.
One of the things that I have learned is particularly how to make referrals. While, it may seem cut and dry, that this person is experiencing “A” so I should refer them to service “B”. However, that is not the best way to go about it. Rather, I must listen to the victim and build a rapport with them because maybe the service I originally thought would work, may not be the best fit or they may also qualify for additional services that I never would have known about if I had not listened to them and built that rapport. Additionally, I have had the ability to learn about the real application of the law. Although I was very familiar with the law due to my course training, it was still different than seeing them exercised in real life. As part of my internship I was able to experience the implication in the general sessions’ criminal and civil court proceedings, to gain understanding of the processing of either charging the criminal or processing of an order of protection. This also gave me useful knowledge to explain to victims what they should expect to see in court. One of the most important parts of our job in victim services is to informed and explain to victims their rights, and the status to what is happening in their case. Often times victims aren’t even aware that they have rights or options. We try to explain to them why we are there and how to help them get back on their feet, that we are there to listen because what happened to them is in no way their fault. Learning how to interact and build rapport when making referrals is an extremely useful skill to have in the case management/social work field, and I am so glad that I was able to gain this skill set through the hands-on training I have received during my internship. I hope as I continue my internship that I will get better at perfecting this skill and providing future clients with the best care possible.
Participating in this aspect of case management has definitely brought me out of my confront zone. Although I was very aware that I would be working directly with clients, my previous experiences in this field has been in event coordinating, working more on paper the practicality of putting something together. It was a bit of a challenge for me learning how to build rapport with clients, but it is defiantly a skill that I wish to hone in on and perfect in order to better server my future clients. Working in this area has given me a personal challenge of figuring out the best way to build rapport with clients, while also making the process easier for them. Partially, while on the phone. Majority of the referrals we do in victims services is over the phone which can create a barrier for some when building rapport with victims because they cannot see the facial expressions that go with the communication that help get across the meanings and sentiments of the statement.
I have learned through my time with victim services that I have very attentive eye to detail. Whether that is in the organization of my referrals and paying attention to what services work for particular types of victims, or in data entry. I refer to myself as a very curious individual, because I am very research minded. I like to learn as much about what I am working on as possible, I tend to find what most people see as the boring statistics as particularly interesting. I think it is fascinating to keep track of the types of victims we receive and the types of services we refer. Fortunately, this came in very handy while working in the police department, because they must keep track of these demographics and statics for accreditation and grant funding. The interest and attention to detail I brought came in particularly handy when to came time to turn in a quarterly report. During this report some of our calculations were not adding up correctly causing quite a bit of confusion. Finally, I was able to go though the report and discovered that a few sections of our spread sheet weren’t calculating, this discovery felt like a great accomplishment to me, and helped to turn in the report smoothly.
In light of being involved in this internship, I have learned that I love working in the victim service field, and helping them learn to navigate the system. Being involved on a system-based organization makes me feel like a more involved and well-rounded citizen within my community. Because I can help individuals learn their rights and better understand the workings and proceedings in their community to help them become more involved and informed citizens.
Excerpt 2: April 26th, 2019
As I have reached the end of my internship with the Cookeville Police Departments Victim Services unit, I look back not only at the skills I have learned but the life lessons I gained in advocacy that can’t be learned through the classroom alone. My supervisor has had many years of experience as an advocate for victims in this form and others. She shared with me many important lessons of wisdom that I will continue to carry with me in my years to come as an advocate.
One of the biggest things I learned is that you never know how big of a step something is for someone else. It can be easy for someone in the advocate field to get frustrated with their clients when they aren’t doing what you think they should be doing, or following the advice you gave them. You could ask yourself “why don’t they just leave?”, “why haven’t they contacted the resource you referred to them to?”, or “why didn’t they report that right away?”. All of those steps might seem simple to someone looking in from the outside. However, no one knows how big a step can be for someone in different shoes. You don’t know if the client is experiencing metal abuse or if they had a bad past experience with a similar agency or system. Maybe the client grew up in a broke system or simply doesn’t understand they system at all. All of this goes on to say that you can’t know everything that is going on in the life of your client. Maybe they have tried leaving before and it was unsuccessful, maybe the client had an abusive childhood and they thought this behavior was normal. Trauma can be filled with “what if’s” and you can never just assume what is going on in a victim’s life. However, you do need to remain calm and keep encouraging your client each time they make a step no matter how small it may seem to you, it could be a mountain in their eyes. Which brings me to my second lesson celebrating the small victories.
In the advocacy field it’s important not to have high expectations. Yes, it is wonderful when you work with a client and everything goes exactly as planned. However, majority of the time that will not be the case, and you can’t show how frustrating that may be, you just smile, reevaluate, and keep trying. Just like when you don’t know how big a step something is for someone else. So, for us we like to celebrate getting that call back or getting them to answer the phone at all for that matter; even if they can’t talk for long. Even a short phone conversation is a step, no matter how big or small it seemed, you never know where that step may lead, so take your victories when you get them.
The third lesson I received about advocacy and victim services is that it isn’t about the “thank yous”. If you get into the victim services field because you need reassurance that you are doing good in the world and you can’t wait for that day a client gives you a tearful thank you for all the things you’ve done; then you are probably going to be majorly disappointed. Yes, you should have a heart for helping others, but thank yous are few and far between. You may go above and beyond for a client and you might not get a single acknowledgment for your work, and that’s okay. You were a part of getting someone through a traumatic situation and that was a difficult process for them. Additionally, there will be times when you don’t know exactly how to help a client, or you don’t have a lot of resources for them. You aren’t a hero, you need to admit when you don’t know the answer, and just keep trying. Because being an advocate isn’t about being thanked, it’s about trying to make a “sucky” situation suck a little less.
Being an advocate doesn’t mean you can do it all. Yes, it would be amazing if you could do it all, and every advocate wishes they could, but unfortunately that isn’t reality. You can’t know everything. However, even when it seems like there is nothing you can do, the best and maybe the biggest thing you can do is just listen to your client and be an active listener. Listen to what your client needs and wants, be supportive as they make each step, and most importantly let them feel heard. The client may feel like they have lost their voice in this process and the biggest thing you can do is let them know that you hear them, that they still have a voice, and they should always keep trying to use that voice because they are important and they are strong.
I have learned a lot of skills over the course of my training in college, I learned strategies for managing cases and confidentiality. I learned skills in active listening and trauma informed care. I learned how to located resources and build rapport with clients. I have learned many skills in my college career and in my internship, I learned how to apply those skills, along with how and when to use them.
Working with victims can be a challenging and stressful job, but it can be rewarding especially when you know how to identify those small victories. During this internship I was able to get out my comfort zone and learn how to best communicate with victims, and I learned my own style of advocacy and active listening. In light of this internship I found my passion for working with victims, helping them take steps, and helping them remember that their voice matters.