Victimisation
Victimisation
Victimisation
• Sexual misconduct
• Rape
• Sexual Touching
• Sexual Harassment
• Stalking
• Physical Assault/Battery
• Dating/Relationship/Domestic Violence
• Theft
• Threat of Harm
Sexual Misconduct
• Sexual Misconduct is an umbrella term that includes
any non-consensual sexual activity that is committed
by force or fear or mental or physical incapacitation,
including through the use of alcohol or drugs.
• Sexual misconduct can vary in its severity and consists
of a range of behavior, including rape, statutory rape
(sexual contact with a person under 18 years old),
sexual touching, sexual exploitation, sexual
harassment, and conduct suggestive of attempting to
commit any of the aforementioned acts.
Rape
• — Rape is the sexual penetration (however slight)
of the victim’s vagina, mouth, or rectum without
consent.
• Rape involves penetration with (a) the use of
force/fear or the threat of force/fear; or (b) with a
person who is otherwise incapable of giving
consent, including situations where the individual
is under the influence of alcohol or drugs and this
condition was or should have reasonably been
known to the accused.
Sexual Touching
• Sexual touching, also known as sexual battery, is the
act of making unwanted and sexually offensive
contact (clothed or unclothed) with an intimate
body part of another person or action, which causes
immediate apprehension that sexual touch will
occur. Intimate body parts include sexual organs, the
anus, the groin, breasts or buttocks of any person.
Sexual touching includes situations in which the
accused engages in the contacts described with a
person who is incapable of giving consent.
• Sexual Exploitation — Sexual exploitation is the taking
advantage of a non-consenting person or situation for personal
benefit or gratification or for the benefit of anyone other than
the alleged victim; and the behavior does not constitute rape,
sexual touching or sexual harassment. Sexual exploitation
includes, but is not limited to:
• Janoff-Bulman suggests that victimization can shatter basic assump- tions about the self and
the world which individuals need in order to function normally in their daily lives-that they
are safe from harm, that the world is meaningful and just, and that they are good, decent
people.5 Crime victims often suffer a broad range of psychological and social injuries that
persist long after their physical wounds have healed.
• Intense feelings of anger, fear, isolation, low self-esteem, helpless- ness, and depression
are common reactions.4
• Like combat veterans, crime victims may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, includ-
ing recurrent memories of the incident, sleep disturbances, feelings of alienation,
emotional numbing, and other anxiety-related symptoms.
•
• This happens not only to victims of violent assaults but also to victims of robbery and
burglary6 and to their friends and family.7
• Herman has suggested that "survivors of prolonged, repeated trauma," such as women and
children who have been rescued from trafficking and other kind of crimes battered women
and abused children, often suffer what she calls "complex post-traumatic stress disorder,"
which can manifest as severe "personality changes, including deformations of relatedness
and identity [which make them] particularly vulnerable to repeated harm, both self-
inflicted and at the hands of others.
• The emotional damage and social isolation caused
by victimization also may be compounded by a lack
of support, and even stigmatization, from friends,
family and social institutions, that can become a
"second wound" for the victim.
• Those closest to the victim may be traumatized by
the crime in ways that make them unsupportive of
the victim's needs.
• Davis, Taylor and Bench found that close friends
and family members, particularly of a victim of
sexual assault, sometimes withdraw from and blame
the victim.
• Crime victims must also contend with society's
tendency to blame them for the crime, which
compounds the trauma of the event.
• To protect their belief in a just world where
people get what they deserve, and to distance
themselves from the possibility of random or
uncontrollable injury, many prefer to see victims
as somehow responsible for their fate.
• The lack of support for victims trying to recover
from a crime can exacerbate the psychological
harm caused by victimization and make recovery
even more difficult.
• When victims do seek help, they may not be treated with
insensitivity.
• They may feel ignored or even revictimized by the criminal
justice process, which has traditionally been more
concerned with the rights of the accused than with the
rights and needs of the victim.
• Family members of homicide victims in particular may feel
left out of the justice process.
• When one woman whose child had been murdered asked to
be informed as the case progressed, she was asked, "Why do
you want to know? You're not involved in the case."
Challenges Victims Face
• Identifying and understanding the unique challenges persons with disabilities face as
victims of crime are critical to accurate recognition of, reporting of, and response to abuse.
• These challenges may include the following:
• Inability to adequately explain abuse due to the disability.
• Intense feeling of fear, shame, or guilt.
• Dependence on the caregiver/offender.
• Beliefs that they will be blamed.
• Beliefs that the abuser will retaliate or actual threats of further harm.
• Lack of awareness of what constitutes abuse or neglect.
• Lack of knowledge of the protocol for reporting abuse.
• Fear of being left without a home or family.
• Fear of losing custody of children.
• Fear of not being believed.
• Fear that freedom/independence will be lost if abuse is reported.
Factors affecting for victimization
Individual Factors:
• Prior history of DV/IPV (Domestic Violence (DV) can occur between a parent and child,
siblings, or even roommates. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) can only occur between
romantic partners who may or may not be living together in the same household.)
• Being female
• Young age
• Heavy alcohol and drug use
• High-risk sexual behavior
• Witnessing or experiencing violence as a child
• Being less educated
• Unemployment
• For men, having a different ethnicity from their partner's
• For women, having a greater education level than their partner's
• For women, being American Indian/Alaska Native or African American
• For women, having a verbally abusive, jealous, or possessive partner
Relationship Factors
• Couples with income, educational, or job status disparities
• Dominance and control of the relationship by one partner
Community Factors
• Poverty and associated factors (e.g., overcrowding)
• Low social capital-lack of institutions, relationships, and norms that
shape the quality and quantity of a community's social interactions
• Weak community sanctions against DV/IPV (e.g., police unwilling to
intervene)
Societal Factors
• Patriarchal gender norms (e.g., women should stay at home, not
enter workforce, should be submissive)
Coping with Crime Victimization
• Anyone can become a victim of a crime. If it happens to you or someone you love, here are
some important points to remember:
• Being a victim of a crime can be a very difficult and stressful experience.
• While most people are naturally resilient and over time will find ways to cope and adjust,
there can be a wide range of after effects to a trauma.
• One person may experience many of the effects, a few, or none at all.
• Not everyone has the same reaction.
• In some people the reaction may be delayed days, weeks, or even months.
• Some victims may think they are “going crazy,” when they are having a normal reaction to
an abnormal event.
• Getting back to normal can be a difficult process after a personal experience of this kind,
especially for victims of violent crime and families of murder victims.
• Learning to understand and feel more at ease with the intense feelings can help victims
better cope with what happened.
• Victims may need to seek help from friends, family, a member of the clergy, a counselor, or
a victim assistance professional.
• Potential Effects of Trauma
• Some people who have been victims of crime may experience some of these
symptoms. Seek medical advice if the symptoms persist.
• Physical
Nausea
Tremors
Chills or sweating
Lack of coordination
Heart palpitations or chest pains
High blood pressure
Headaches
Sleep disturbances
Stomach upset
Dizziness
Loss of appetite
Startled responses
• Emotional
Anxiety
Fear
Guilt
Grief
Depression
Sadness
Anger
Irritability
Numbness
Feeling lost, abandoned, and isolated
Wanting to withdraw or hide
• Mental
Slowed thinking
Confusion
Disorientation
Memory problems
Intrusive memories or flashbacks
Nightmares
Inability to concentrate
Difficulty in making decisions
Tips for Coping
• These are some ideas that may help you cope with the trauma or loss:
• Find someone to talk with about how you feel and what you are going through. Keep the
phone number of a good friend nearby to call when you feel overwhelmed or feel
panicked.
• Allow yourself to feel the pain. It will not last forever.
• Keep a journal.
• Spend time with others, but make time to spend time alone.
• Take care of your mind and body. Rest, sleep, and eat regular, healthy meals.
• Re-establish a normal routine as soon as possible, but don’t over-do.
• Make daily decisions, which will help to bring back a feeling of control over your life.
• Exercise, though not excessively and alternate with periods of relaxation.
• Undertake daily tasks with care. Accidents are more likely to happen after severe stress.
• Recall the things that helped you cope during trying times and loss in the past and think
about the
things that give you hope. Turn to them on bad days.
These are things to avoid:
• Listen carefully.
• Spend time with the victim.
• Offer your assistance, even if they haven’t asked for help.
• Help with everyday tasks like cleaning, cooking, caring for the
family, minding the children.
• Give them private time.
• Don’t take their anger or other feelings personally.
• Don’t tell them they are “lucky it wasn’t worse”—traumatized
people are not consoled by such statements.
• Tell them that you are sorry such an event has occurred to them
and you want to understand and help them.
What is trauma counselling?
• A good trauma therapist can provide a grounded presence where you can
begin to explore your trauma while feeling safe, listened to and held.
• A therapist who is trained in how to work with trauma will be able to
offer grounding techniques, and awareness exercises in the here-and-now
so that you can start to feel safe.
• This helps you learn how to come down from hyper-arousal and helps you
to be grounded in the here-and-now experience.
• A therapist can help a trauma survivor to recognise their resources and
skills, and to build on these.
• In therapy, the trauma survivor may be able to learn how to regulate
emotions and feel safer in the here-and-now.
• Working with a trauma therapist can help you to understand trauma
symptoms, and to start to work through your experiences.
ROLE
• A mental health counselor helps individuals and
families deal with difficult emotions, mental health
disorders and trauma.
• A counselor's role is to provide therapy and coaching to
help his patients manage their stress, redirect
disturbing emotions and set goals for themselves.
• He might focus therapy sessions on recovery or on
better management of conditions.
• Often, mental health counselors also help their patients
learn to modify their behaviors for better results.
• Mental health counselors work in a variety of settings, including schools, hospitals,
private offices and clinics, and substance abuse treatment facilities.
• To become a mental health counselor, you will need at least a bachelor's degree,
however a master's degree in psychology, mental health counseling or clinical social
work is usually required.
• Mental Health Counseling
• A mental health counselor treats people with a wide range of mental health issues.
• She might treat patients struggling with depression, anxiety, eating disorders and
anger management difficulties.
• She might also treat patients dealing with post-traumatic stress issues, grief and
troubled relationships. For example, a mental health counselor might treat a
patient who has been the victim of domestic abuse, or she may treat the abuser.
• In addition, a mental health counselor might counsel individuals struggling with
poor self-esteem.
• Counselor's in Crisis Treatment
• Often, mental health counselors help individuals who have an immediate need for
treatment because of a traumatic event.
• He might help individuals in distress following accidents or natural disasters, or
counsel individuals following rapes, violent attacks or the unexpected death of loved
ones.
• A mental health counselor might also provide crisis treatment when a patient has
become suicidal, refuses medication or threatens to harm others, or experiences the
sudden escalation of mental health symptoms that were previously under control.
• Addictions and Substance Abuse Counseling
• Mental health counselors often treat patients who have some sort of addiction. For
example, a person with this title might counsel patients struggling with alcoholism or
addiction to drugs, including prescription drugs and illegal substances.
• In such cases, a counselor often focuses on helping the patient recognize the
problem, understand its triggers and modify her behaviors in an effort to recover.
• She may also counsel the patient's loved ones on dealing with the issues that arise
because of the addiction.
• In addition, a mental health counselor might coach a patient in maintaining recovery
success.
• Life Change Counseling
• Mental health counselors provide help for people facing life changes or decisions that cause stress and
anxiety.
• This might include individuals who are trying to choose a career path or are considering a change in
careers.
• Many counselors help individuals deal with the life changes that come with aging and the emotions that
arise because of them.
• Often, this type of counseling focuses on setting goals, working towards goals and managing stress.
• The Role of Therapists in a Team Effort
• Though mental health counselors often work with patients on a one-on-one basis, many also work as part
of a team.
• For example, a mental health counselor may consult and coordinate with medical professionals to ensure
that her patient gets the care and treatment that's right for her mind and body.
• She may also work with education professionals and other mental health counselors.
• In addition, a mental health counselor might see patients in a group setting, allowing patients to benefit
from peer input in addition to the counselor's treatment.
Must-have skills
• You’ll need:
• to be able to make people feel relaxed
• excellent communication skills
• the ability to positively challenge people
• to be patient, tolerant, and sensitive
• to be empathetic and non-judgmental
• self-awareness and the ability to examine your own thoughts
and values
• Experience or skills in a particular area may also be required,
such as the ability to speak in multiple languages or working in
mental health.
Counsellor role in dealing Trauma.
• Recognizing traumatic stress symptoms and cultural factors associated with survivors is key
to developing appropriate therapeutic interventions, according to Zalaquett. Techniques
vary but can include challenging irrational beliefs, correcting distorted thoughts and biases,
role-playing, systematic desensitization, exposure with response prevention, relaxation
training and biofeedback. But most important, he says, are the goals of counseling.
• “The primary counseling goal is to establish rapport and provide a safe and culturally
respectful environment for the survivor,” Zalaquett says. “As the survivor begins to talk
about whatever he or she decides, the counselor should be prepared to ask questions to
elicit deeper reflection. The counseling goal is to guide the process deeper to increase
understanding of the client’s feelings. As long as the client does not become overwhelmed,
continue to broaden the emotional and psychological scope of the session by allowing
more difficult material to surface. In general, when uncertain about what an individual
wants to talk about, the best approach is to ask and trust the client’s process.”
• Webber agrees that establishing safety and stability for clients, not only in the therapeutic
session but also in their lives, should be first and foremost for counselors. After that,
Webber recommends a variety of helpful techniques:
Role of society in committing crime
• Research in criminology reveals that certain
social characteristics are linked with a greater
likelihood of involvement in criminal
activity. ... Social and economic disadvantage
has been found to be strongly associated with
crime, particularly the most serious offences
including assault, robbery and homicide.
• Working within the framework of the ecology of crime,
• American criminologist Rodney Stark (1987) asks how neighbourhoods can
remain areas of high crime and deviance despite a complete turnover of their
populations.
• He concludes that there must be something about places that sustains crime.
• Stark developed a theory of deviant neighbourhoods and proposes that there
are five characteristics, or essential factors, that distinguish high crime areas:
• high population density,
• poverty,
• mixed use of buildings for residential and commercial purposes,
• transience, and
• dilapidation.
• Stark (1987, pp.895-904) proposes thirty propositions to form a theory of
dangerous places and to explain the ecology of crime. They include the
following:
• The higher the density, the greater the association between those most and
least disposed to crime.
• The greater the density, the higher the level of moral cynicism.
• Where homes are more crowded, there will be a greater tendency
to congregate outside the home in places where there are
opportunities to deviate.
• Where homes are crowded, there will be less supervision of
children.
• A reduced level of supervision results in poor school achievement,
with a consequent reduction in stakes in conformity.
• Poor, dense neighbourhoods tend to be mixed-use neighbourhoods.
• Mixed-use offers increased opportunity for congregating outside the
home in places conducive to deviance.
• Poor, dense, mixed-use neighbourhoods have high transience rates.
social class factors contribute to particular activity routines that
merge three prerequisites for crime: