Navigating professionals’ conditions for co-production of victim support – a conceptual article

From previous research it is well known that victimization can have various short- and long-term consequences resulting in a need for support to cope with the victimization. Research also shows, however, that not all victims of crime seek or receive support. This raises the question of why this is so. One aspect might be connected to the conditions and constraints that affect professionals’ matching of support services with individual victims’ needs. The present conceptual paper therefore discusses how co-production between professionals and victims can enable support services to be adapted to individual victims’ needs, while also considering the complex field of constraints that professionals need to navigate during co-production. The paper contributes both victimological and organizational perspectives on post-victimization support, perspectives that are essential to enable individual victims to feel they are receiving the support they deem to be supportive.