Victim Impact Statements and Sentencing Outcomes and Processes. The Perspectives of Legal Professionals

Recent legal reforms requiring victim input into sentencing decisions have been controversial. Among the numerous arguments against the reform are claims that victim input will have detrimental effects on sentencing outcomes and processes. The present study used qualitative strategies to study the perspectives of legal professionals and their experiences concerning such presumed effects. The database of this study is in-depth interviews of 42 members of the legal profession in South Australia: justices, judges, magistrates, Crown and police prosecutors and defence lawyers. Several themes in legal occupational culture as well as organizational forces and dynamics emerged as explanations for the minor impact of the reform on court outcomes and processes. The study concluded with a discussion of the way the legal profession has circumvented the reform's spirit, and the advantages of qualitative data to study such issues.