Forensic Psychology For Dummies (71 page)

Therefore, reducing repeat victimisation consists of dealing with the context that supports the crime, whether from the locality or from the weakness of the target of crime. This is referred to as
target hardening,
and may be something as simple as making sure that buildings are securely locked or something more complex such as introducing careful stock control in a business. This may not sound like an aspect of forensic psychology. Often it’s not, but sometimes a psychologist needs to consider why some people have vulnerable lifestyles or keep taking the sorts of risks that make them open to crime, like not locking doors when they leave their homes.

When the roots of repeat victimisation are within the person’s own personality, helping them to understand what they can do to reduce the risk is crucial.

Understanding the Effects of Crimes on Victims

All forms of crime from burglary to rape can have lasting psychological effects on the victims, far beyond any economic or physical consequences. In this section, I take a look at these psychological issues, with which forensic psychologists and the other professional groups who help victims often find themselves working. The emotional effects can influence the victims’ behaviour and social lives, including nervousness, anxiety and worry that can last for months or even years.

Viewing burglary as violation

Studies by forensic psychologists, criminologists and others show that after burglaries, many victims feel distress from the violation and intrusion into the place they regard as their private, sacrosanct dwelling. One in five such victims report severe emotional upset that nearly always includes anger and often shock expressed in tears and increased fear of future victimisation. In addition, this distress is frequently accompanied by insomnia.

These effects are strongest when the burglar delves into the most personal parts of the house, such as bedrooms and cupboards, especially when this intrusion also involves ransacking the property and other forms of physical violence.

Some burglary victims compare the violation as having parallels to being raped. Most people see their home as an integral part of how they are and how they present themselves to others, and so when it’s abused they feel personally attacked as if the assault were against their body not just their property. Many victims move home so that they aren’t reminded of the way the burglar violated them.

Experiencing uncertainty: The worst part is not knowing

Not surprisingly, the experience of suffering property crime, physical assault or rape often induces an increased feeling of vulnerability in victims. The fixed beliefs in the stability of daily routine, free from threat, are eroded and the trust in relationships is jeopardised. This in turn increases the fear of possible future victimisation and a lack of confidence in people and places that had earlier been regarded as unthreatening. In addition, the offender still being at large adds considerably to the victim’s anxiety.

In many areas of human activity, stress is partly a product of a lack of control over what a person’s trying to do. Not knowing whether an attack or a burglary is likely to recur consequently generates considerable stress.

In the particular case of a crime relating to a family member or friend who disappears, the inability to clarify the emotional relationship to the missing person (for example, whether to mourn the person or not) can cause even more distress, which is why such victims often say that they’d rather know that their loved one is dead than be kept in the dark.

Suffering from the trauma of rape

In this section, I discuss some of the details of how victims respond to the shock of a sexual assault. Two stages are often identified in response to rape:

In the hours immediately after the assault:
Victims may experience shock, disbelief, anger and general anxiety, which is likely to be accompanied by confusion and disorganisation in their activities with considerable, general fear.

Later on in the days, weeks or months after:
As victims begin to put their life back together, they’re likely to feel humiliation, embarrassment and a growing desire for revenge.

Rape victims often feel that they’ve lost control of social situations and sexual encounters, as well as their autonomy over their intimate relationships. One of the most debilitating psychological aspects is when victims blame themselves in some way for what happened. They may think they gave the wrong signals, through their actions, what they said or the clothes they wore. In some cultures, the tendency to blame the victims can be so strong that they accept their culpability quite inappropriately.

Women in particular often experience rape as life-threatening even in cases where no direct physical or verbal threats were present, which naturally aggravates all the other anxieties associated with unwanted sexual activity. Large variations do exist, though, in how victims react to sexual assaults: some manage to find the ability to pull through and deal with the trauma. Family and social support is very significant in helping victims to cope.

Men who experience rape can suffer particular traumas, whether their assailants are women (as I illustrate in the earlier sidebar ‘A criminal who started out as a victim’) or men. Men may feel that the attack challenges their identity as men, causing them to feel especially vulnerable and even guilty in some ill-defined way for not being manly enough.

When the victims experience violence, especially including rape and sexual abuse as a child, many more severe effects than those experienced from suffering a property crime are common. These can persist for many years and include:

Emotional disturbance

Sleep disorders

Eating disorders

Feelings of insecurity