JIBC Victim Services and Trauma-Informed Practice

Question 1

A trauma-informed approach to working with crime victims primarily means:

Accepted Answer

Designing services to avoid inadvertently retraumatizing clients through organizational practices

Answer

Trauma-informed practice focuses on organizational and individual behaviours that prevent re-traumatization. It does not mandate a specific service sequence, but it does require that every interaction—including intake, documentation, and referral—be conducted with an awareness of trauma's effects.

Question 2

Under BC's Victims of Crime Act, victim service workers are required to provide victims with information about:

Accepted Answer

Their rights under the legislation, including the right to information about the justice process

Answer

The Victims of Crime Act requires that victims be informed of their rights—including the right to receive information about the status and progress of their case. Sharing accused criminal histories or predicted sentences goes beyond the victim services mandate and may breach privacy legislation.

Question 3

Which of the following best describes 'secondary victimization'?

Accepted Answer

The additional harm a victim experiences through insensitive or inadequate responses from systems or individuals

Answer

Secondary victimization refers to harm caused not by the crime itself but by subsequent interactions with justice, health, or social systems that are dismissive, disbelieving, or procedurally burdensome. It is a core concept in victim services training.

Question 4

When a domestic violence victim recants their statement, a victim services worker should FIRST:

Accepted Answer

Explore the victim's safety concerns and reasons for recanting without judgement

Answer

Victim-centred practice requires exploring the reasons behind a recantation—which often include safety fears, financial dependency, or coercion—before any other action. Pressuring a victim or making legal threats undermines trust and can increase danger.

Question 5

The 'activation' phase of trauma response, sometimes called 'fight-flight-freeze', is most accurately described as:

Accepted Answer

An automatic physiological response triggered by perceived threat

Answer

The fight-flight-freeze response is an involuntary neurobiological reaction mediated by the autonomic nervous system. Understanding this helps victim services workers avoid misinterpreting non-linear or seemingly inconsistent victim behaviour as dishonesty.

JIBC - Justice Institute of British Columbia Practice Test

JIBC - Justice Institute of British Columbia Practice Test

JIBC Victim Services and Trauma-Informed Practice