Victimology symposium starts Wednesday

By JENNIFER PALMBERG

The third American Symposium on Victimology will be held in the University Center at Fresno State from April 27 to 30 and will feature presentations from some of the most distinguished professionals in victimology, including Fresno State’s criminology professors Eric Hickey and John Dussich.

The symposium is being held in honor of the 25th anniversary of Victim’s Rights Week and will focus on victim’s rights, victim’s services and theoretical developments in the United States.

“The symposium is being offered to everyone everywhere,” Dussich said. “There are people coming from other states and other countries. We’re planning on it being a very large gathering.”

The symposium begins Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. when keynote speaker James Rowland, the former chief probation officer for Fresno County and former director of the California Youth Authority and the California Department of Corrections, opens with his presentation, titled “Remembering the Early Days.”

Rowland was a founding board member of the National Organization of Victim Assistance and he created the first Victim Impact statement in the United States.

The event is expected to end around 1 p.m. on Saturday, following a summary of the entire presentation and an American Society of Victimology meeting.

“People who attend will learn an awful lot about real life,” Dussich said. “The crime rate is actually double what is reported to police each year. Victims of crimes are usually too scared or too embarrassed to come forward and report their crimes. Society is not aware of just how much victimization we have.”

A mixture of hands-on interaction and lecture-based learning will be offered at the symposium in the workshops, round tables and poster presentations. Most presenters will break down their fields of expertise and study into an outline that will be displayed at their table. Anyone interested will be welcomed to one-on-one discussions and questions with the presenters.

A wide range of topics will be covered, varying from child neglect to profiling victims of serial sex offenders to coping skills among elderly victims. Victimization prevention tips will also be discussed.

Presentations will be followed daily by workshops, including those of Hickey and Dussich.

Fresno State was chosen as the location for this year’s symposium because of the criminology department’s good reputation in the field of victimology, said Mario Gaboury, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven.

Fresno State’s criminology department created the first Victim Certificate Program, the first Victim Services Summer Institute and the first victimology major. Graduates of the department have received Victim Services Certificates since 1985.

A large number of the university’s 200 victimology majors are expected to attend the event, as well as a large number of victimology majors from other universities.

Organizers said they believe the symposium will bring the largest gathering of professionals in the field of victimology ever to Fresno State.