NOTE — see full bios and workshop topics at FresnoStateNews.com as well as original press release and schedule.

The biggest names in the emerging field of victimology worldwide will converge on California State University, Fresno for four days beginning Wednesday (April 27) for the 3rd American Symposium on Victimology.

The line-up of who’s who of nationally-known victimology leaders arriving in Fresno includes Dr. Jane Nady Sigmon from the U.S. Department of State, whose assignments include victims of hostage-taking and terrorism.

Delivering the keynote address on Friday night will be Dr. Marlene A. Young, president of the World Society of Victimology and former executive director of the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA), who is one of the nation’s foremost victimology activists and trainers of professionals in victim services.

The American Society of Victimology brings its annual conference of some of the most distinguished academicians and practitioners in the field to Fresno State April 27 through 30 for the event that will focus on victim rights, victim services and theoretical developments in the Americas.

The symposium, coordinated in concert with the Fresno State Criminology Department, will be held at the University Center, Room 200 beginning Wednesday evening at 6:15 p.m., all day Thursday and Friday, and concluding early Saturday afternoon.

Dr. John Dussich, Fresno State criminology professor who himself is an internationally-recognized leader in victimology, is spearheading the event and said this is a rare and great opportunity for local practitioners.

“The symposium is held in various places throughout the nation every year and Fresno State is considered a birthplace of the victimology movement,” said Dussich who joined the university in 2003.

Dussich also will be a presenter on “Disaster Victimization.” Most recently, he assisted with the victims of the December tsunami disaster in January at the invitation of the Indonesian government.

Also among the pioneers is James A. Rowland, former chief probation officer for Fresno County who went on to become director of the California Department of Corrections.

Rowland will open the symposium Wednesday (April 27) delivering a keynote speech, “Remembering the Early Days,” at 6:15 p.m.

Rowland became a leader in improving the California corrections system as director. He has been instrumental in providing leadership for the concept of restorative justice in California probation departments.

But as notably, he was instrumental in creating the “Victim’s Impact Statement” in 1976 as part of the Probation Office’s report to the court that has become a standard procedure across the nation. He also spearheaded the crafting of legislation that resulted in victim/witness services statewide.

Rowland is recognized internationally, having also served as the director of Correction for the country of Malta before returning to the United States and serving as chief probation officer of Napa County.

Young will deliver the keynote address at the gala dinner Friday (April 29) at 5 p.m. where two of the ASV’s major awards will be presented.

Among her numerous affiliations is serving as past co-chair of the Victim Services Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and a member of the Victims Committee of the American Bar Association as well as a founding board member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.

Young is in demand as a foremost authority on victimology, traveling to 49 states and 15 countries to speak on victim-related issues at more than 1,500 conferences and training seminars.

In 1992, she was honored at a Rose Garden ceremony held by President George Bush in commemoration of National Victim Rights Week.

Nady Sigmon, currently a victim assistance specialist for the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Overseas Service, will speak on “Challenges in Assisting Victims Far From Home” on Thursday at 10:45 a.m.

As the first victim assistance specialist in that office, her responsibilities include helping American citizens who are victims of serious crimes abroad such as kidnapping, hostage-taking and terrorism.

She also has established victim assistance programs on American Indian reservations throughout the United States.

Other prominent speakers include Dr. Murray A. Straus of the University of New Hampshire, and Dr. Robert Jerin of Endicott College in Massachusetts.

Straus, a professor of sociology, is co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire.

His most recent works have focused on child abuse victimization, especially the effects of corporal punishment, and the effects of neglect.

He will discuss The Primordial Victimization: Spanking by Parents and Its Effects on Children” on Friday (April 25) at 8:30 a.m.

Jerin, a professor in the Law and Justice Department at Endicott College in Boston Mass., will discuss “Brief History of Victims’ Rights Across the Americas” on Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Jerin is currently involved in research on Internet victimization, crime victims and the media, domestic homicide, international criminal justice issues, victim’s rights and criminal justice pedagogy.

The Fresno State campus was chosen for this year’s symposium due to the Criminology Department’s preeminent reputation in the field of victimology, said Dr. Mario Gaboury associate professor of Criminal Justice at the University of New Haven.

The first Victim Certificate Program, the first Victim Services Summer Institute and the first Victimology Major were all created by the Fresno State Criminology Department.

Upon completion, students receive a Victim Services Certificate which has been offered by the Criminology Department at Fresno State since 1985. The certificate is for those working with the victims of violent crime in agencies such as rape counseling programs, domestic violence programs, victim/witness programs, etc.

“The Victimology Program at California State University, Fresno set the standard for the creation of academic programs in the U.S,” Gaboury said.

For more details, visit the ASV website at www.american-society-victimology.us or call: Dussich at (559)278-6046 or 278-2305, email: jdussich@csufresno.edu.