Organizations Resolving a Social Problem Essay

Resolving a Social Problem:

As mentioned in the first assignment, one of the main social problems in the modern society is crime, which is basically defined as an offense against public law. Since it is a major social problem, crime has significant effects on victims, the society, and social institutions. Crime is a multi-faceted social problem because it involves personal responsibility as well as social, cultural, and political aspects that contribute to it. It is also a social problem that should be understood from a social context because it does not occur in a social vacuum. Due to the social nature of crime and its impact on the society, there are several organizations that seek to address this social problem. These organizations range from governmental agencies to community-based organizations with different ways for addressing the problem. Some examples of organizations committed to this social problem include National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) and Crime Prevention Coalition of America.

Objectives of these Organizations:

The mission of National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) is to promote dignity and compassion for individuals harmed by crime and crisis ("Nova Overview," n.d.). Therefore, the organization is committed to addressing the social problem by focusing on victims of crime and victims of crisis. National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) has been operating as a private, not-for-profit, and charitable organization since it was founded in 1975. NOVA seeks to accomplish its objective through values such as compassion, collaboration, accountability, and passion.

Crime Prevention Coalition of America is a non-partisan association of over 400 federal, state, national, and community-based organizations that come together to sponsor citizen action to prevent crime. This organization was established in 1980 and is made of youth development organizations, law enforcement agencies, municipalities, community-based groups, representatives from federal and state governments, and state crime prevention organizations. The organization's initiatives in addressing crime are based on several principles on what the social problem is and what preventing crime requires. Crime Prevention Coalition of America believes that preventing an offense is everyone's job, is associated with solving social problems, is more than security, is cost-effective, and is a duty of all governmental levels and agencies.The organization also believes that prevention of crime requires education, ongoing assessment and enhancement, a central role in law enforcement, customizing to local needs and conditions, and collaboration and cooperation by every element of the community.

Major Ways that Each Organization Addresses the Social Problem:

National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) and Crime Prevention Coalition of America use different ways of addressing the social problem of crime. As previously mentioned, NOVA's means of addressing the social problem include programs for victims of crime and those for victims of crisis. On the contrary, Crime Prevention Coalition of America use various ways or strategies including developing and implementing a crime prevention action plan and creating new or enhancing existing crime prevention programs ("About," n.d.).

Under its victims of crime initiative, National Organization for Victim Assistance helps these individuals to deal with the trauma associated with being a crime victim. This process involves recognition of the fact that all crime victims experience loss regardless of whether they are survivors of violent offenses or monetary crime victimization. The organization's process of helping victims deal with the trauma is based on the fact that no individual has the right to judge the effect of a particular loss in the life of a victim. This basis for helping crime victims to deal with trauma is attributed to the concept of social justice in addressing social problems. This concept postulates that every individual has the right to access favorable working conditions and receive adequate protection. Therefore, if an individual is a victim of crime, he/she needs an environment where people do not judge the impact of his/her loss but recognizes that being subjected to crime is a traumatic experience with considerable loss. The approach is also based on the sociological concept of objective reality, which is the potential harm that a person may experience by undergoing such an incident. Generally, the most common type of harm that crime victims experience is emotional or psychological trauma as a result of the loss from the offense. NOVA seeks to address….....