The ‘punches behind the punch’: Poetry as Victim Impact Statement

Recent years have seen developments in the affective function and textual form of Victim Impact Statements (VIS). First introduced in South Australia with the legislative institution of a new Act – the Criminal Law (sentencing) bill – taking effect in January 1989, VIS have since been adopted by almost every Australian state and territory as material tendered before the court by prosecutors for the purposes of informing the judge of the degree and extent of any loss or damage to property or any physical or mental harm, suffered by a victim as a result of a crime. In this paper, I explore the creative form VISs can take by looking specifically at examples of poetry as VIS. Presenting victims’ accounts of emotional and physical suffering using the form of poetry tracks affective shifts in the cultural expression of emotion and the political forums in which such expressions emerge publicly. From the perspective of humanism, I argue the poetry found in VISs present dual functions, both affective and rational.