| Summary: | This study was designed to examine victim and witness attitudes, beliefs, problems, and needs as a result of the criminal act and as a consequence of interactions with the criminal justice system. The study dealt with three samples. Two of the samples included victims and witnesses currently involved in the criminal justice system in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin ("in-system" samples). The third sample included was of victims originally located by the National Crime Survey conducted in Milwaukee in early 1974, who were reinterviewed on behalf of this project by the United States Bureau of the Census ("community" sample). Members of the "in-system" samples were contacted as their cases were considered at one of four stages in the criminal justice process: (1) the screening conference in the district attorney's office, (2) the preliminary hearing, (3) the misdemeanor trial, or (4) the felony trial. Both the in-system and community respondents were asked about their attitudes toward security and safety, criminals, and restitution, what problems crime victims may have as a result of experiencing the crime and going to court, and their satisfaction with the handling of their case by the police, the district attorney, and the judge. Incident data cover the respondent's relationship to the offender, injuries sustained, type of crime and what happened, reason for calling/not calling police, and losses resulting from the crime. Follow-up data supply information on resulting emotional problems and other problems resulting from the crime, how people close to the respondent were affected, financial, interpersonal, and physical-emotional crime-related problems, and court system-related problems. Additional questions were asked about the types of services provided by social agencies to the crime victims and witnesses, the respondent's opinion of the behavior of the police, and, for victims, perceptions of the importance of providing help for crime victims. Demographic variables include age, education, race, sex, income, occupational prestige status, and employment history of respondents.
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