DNA Knowledge among Victim Service Providers

Results of an Online Survey and a Multidisciplinary Focus Group

Founded in 1985, the National Center for Victims of Crime is the nation’s leading resource and advocacy organization for victims of crime. Our mission is to forge a national commitment to help victims of crime rebuild their lives. Through collaboration with local, state, and federal partners, the National Center:

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Provides direct services and resources to victims of violent and non-violent crime across the country;

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Advocates for federal, state, and local laws and public policies that create resources, secure rights, and provide protections for crime victims;

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Delivers training and technical assistance to victim service organizations, counselors, attorneys, criminal justice agencies, and allied professionals serving victims of crime; and

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Fosters cutting-edge thinking about the impact of crime and the ways each of us can help victims of crime rebuild their lives.

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DNA Knowledge among Victim Service Providers

Results of an Online Survey and a Multidisciplinary Focus Group

Ilse Knecht Julie Whitman M A R C H 2008

T H E N AT I O N A L C E N T E R F O R V I C T I M S O F C R I M E

A

cknowledgements DNA Knowledge among Victim Service Providers is the result of the efforts and contributions of many people. The National Center for Victims of Crime would first like to acknowledge the victim advocates, medical professionals, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers who took our survey and participated in our focus group. Their responses and insights are the basis of this report. We would like to thank Applied Biosystems, a leader in DNA technology, and in particular, Lisa Lane Schade, director of global marketing, whose support made this project possible. We would also like to acknowledge Chris Asplen, vice president, and Lisa Hurst, consultant, of Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs, and Kim Herd, for their contributions to the development of the survey and focus group questions. A team of staff members from the National Center for Victims of Crime provided a wide range of expertise to the research project and the production of this report: Michael Kaiser, director of program development and strategic alliances, facilitated the focus group and provided feedback throughout the project. The efforts of Elizabeth Joyce, senior writer; Mary Rappaport, director of communications; and Kristi Rocap, editor/designer, improved the quality of this publication. Mary Lou Leary, the National Center’s executive director, provided direction and feedback throughout this project.

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able of Contents Introduction (1) Online Survey (3) 3

Methodolgy

3

Respondents

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Cases with DNA Evidence

4

Role of Person Informing Victim about DNA

5

Respondents’ Knowledge about DNA Evidence, Profiles, Databases

7

Sources of Information about DNA

7

Victims’ Need for Information in the Criminal Justice System

9

Top Concerns about the Use of DNA

10

Need for More Training

10

Survey Summary

Focus Group (11) 11

Participants

12

Major Findings

12

Sources of Information about DNA

13

The Need for Training on DNA

16

Victims’ Need for Information about DNA

17

Focus Group Summary

Recommendations and Conclusions (19) Appendix A: Survey of Victim Service Providers about DNA Evidence (21) Appendix B: Focus Group on DNA Discussion Outline (27)

Introduction

R

ecent advances in DNA technology hold great promise for securing the arrest and conviction of offenders and improving the criminal justice response to all

cases involving biological evidence. These advances are important to victims of crime and the professionals who serve them. However, victims and victim service providers—as well as law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals—often lack accurate information about DNA and its uses. As part of a two-year initiative funded by Applied Biosystems, a leader in forensic DNA technologies, to address these challenges, the National Center for Victims of Crime conducted a national online survey in February 2007 and a multidisciplinary focus group in June 2007 to explore how professionals in the victim services field understand and use information related to DNA and its use as evidence in criminal cases. The survey and focus group asked respondents about their experience with cases involving DNA evidence; knowledge about DNA evidence, profiles, and databases; sources of information about DNA; concerns about the use of DNA in criminal trials; assessment of the adequacy of DNA information conveyed to victims; and perceptions about their own and colleagues’ need for training on DNA. Both the survey and focus group yielded important insights about victim service providers and DNA. The majority of survey respondents had recently worked with cases involving DNA, and three-quarters said they considered DNA relevant to their daily work, yet misconceptions abounded— particularly about the types of information contained in DNA profiles and the criteria that determine whose profiles are stored in state DNA databases. Respondents also reported that sometimes they could not answer victims’ questions about DNA or find written materials to provide to victims. Overall, both the survey and focus group revealed a great need to provide the victim •1•

2 • DNA Knowledge among Victim Service Providers

services field with accurate and timely information about DNA and its use as evidence. Participants said that in-person training, written materials, and electronic updates of new developments were all important ways of improving their own and their colleagues’ response to victims in cases with DNA evidence.

ONLINE SURVEY

M

ethodology The National Center for Victims of Crime designed a survey with input from prosecutors,

victim advocates, and forensic scientists, and made it available through the online tool Survey Monkey. To recruit respondents, we e-mailed an announcement to our membership base (1,305 members) and agencies in our Service Referral Database (6,045). To recruit additional victim-serving respondents, we posted links to the survey on national victim-related listservs. We informed those who accessed the survey that the results would be used to create new educational materials on DNA for victim-serving professionals. The survey remained open for three weeks. A total of 1,191 respondents (all those who clicked on the survey link) accessed the survey, although not everyone who entered the survey answered every question. The majority of questions, however, were answered by more than 750

Table 1: Survey Respondents’ Agency Type

respondents.

Agency Type

Respondents

Domestic Violence Agency Prosecutor’s Office Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Agency Sexual Assault Agency Nonprofit Serving Homicide Survivors Law Enforcement Agency Nonprofit Serving Child Victims General Victim Services Agency Corrections, Probation, Parole Other System-Based Agency Nonprofit Serving Elder Victims Law Office Nonprofit Serving Drunk-Driving Victims

Survey respondents came from a variety of victim-serving agencies: the four most common were domestic violence agencies, prosecutor’s offices, domestic violence-sexual assault agencies, and sexual

Percentage of Respondents 17% 16% 15% 12% 8% 7% 6% 5% 3% 3% 2%