Psychology of Victims Victims in the CJ System What comes through o Non violent offenses o Drug offenses o Property crime Who comes through o Offenders o Affected by drug related offenses o Affected by property crime o Typical victim Sexual assault Physical assault Etc Barriers o Availability how available is the CJ system to you if you re a victim of Not equally available everywhere Rural areas Slow response crime system o Accessibility if the CJ system is available how accessible is the CJ Varying degrees of how accessible the system is Examples 25 27 domestic violence victims who report it to the police o Likelihood of reporting depends on frequency of behavior severity of violence presence of witnesses relationship between offender and victim 50 of victims of domestic violence get a protective restraining order other 50 get it and don t keep it permanent or don t get one at all A very small percentage of victims of domestic violence have resources for protection Many people say that they have been assaulted but don t consider themselves a victim of assault Have to accept that you re a victim before you can take action Other reasons why they won t accept being a victim and taking action ashamed fear of retaliation lack of alternatives Some people don t trust believe in the CJ system Personal credibility do you think it s a serious enough thing I really just need to get over it it s not that big of a deal o Acceptability Big overlap between victimization and offending Consequences of Victimization PTSD Used to be called shell shock o First came about during WWI o Not accepted until WWII o Research mostly done from Vietnam War o Only recently mid 70s early 80s it s been seen for other trauma For you to be diagnosed with PTSD you have to had had a traumatic event besides war involving intense fear horror o Only DSM IV disorder that requires an event o 30 of individuals who experience a traumatic event develop PTSD from old diagnosis Pathological reaction Symptoms o Re experiencing Memories Dreams Flashbacks o Avoidance Numbing event Not experiencing feelings Memory deficits o Hyper arousal Easily startled Irritability Difficulty sleeping Avoid people places things events etc that remind you of the o You can have 2 people meet PTSD and not have a single thing in common Problematic for diagnosing PTSD Related Symptoms Dissociation on around you emotionally disconnecting detaching yourself from what is going o If I can t get out of here abuse my mind will o Becomes an automatic coping mechanism problematic Used anytime there s any psychological stress o More likely with chronic problems versus a single event Example abuse versus a car accident o Takes a lot of treatment to get someone to stop dissociating because it become so automatic Grounding technique connecting them back to reality help the person stop dissociating by Some victims use self harm as a grounding technique Guilt Shame Survivor Guilt o Take on responsibility for the victimization o Survivor guilt experienced the traumatizing event feel bad for surviving over someone else who also o Victims have little control over what happened to them guilt creates an illusion of control over the situation avoid distress associated with being powerless o Not necessarily chronic o One of the first things that dissipates in treatment More cognitive than the other 3 symptoms not feeling like you are yourself not connected to yourself feeling like you re in a dream like state feeling like the Depersonalization looking at yourself from above surrounding aren t real De realization Other Psych Effects of Trauma Depression Anxiety disorders o Panic disorder Substance abuse o 35 40 of trauma victims o Self medicate o Hypo arousal booze heroin o Detached cocaine meth Self blame Delinquency Risky behaviors Assessment Tools Clinician Administered PTSD Scale CAPS o Great at diagnosis but has to be reworked because the criteria has changed in the DSM IV o Have to be specially trained o Interview o If diagnosis is key use CAPS PTSD Checklist PCL o More to get the degree severity of PTSD than for diagnosing o Has to get reworked as well o Don t need to be specially trained o Written test Trauma Symptom Inventory 2 TSI 2 o Isn t intended to follow the diagnosis like the other 2 o Just measured a variety of symptoms that are trauma related Not only PTSD Not necessarily diagnostic o Detects other symptoms that CAPS doesn t detect o Looks like MMPI Victimization Chronicity Those who are victimized have a high rate of being re victimized o Being victimized one way have a higher risk for being victimized another o Being victimized when you re younger have a higher risk for being victimized when they re older Example Childhood sexual assault Adulthood victimization Repetition compulsion a psychological phenomenon in which a person repeats a traumatic event or its circumstances over and over again This includes reenacting the event or putting oneself in situations where the event is likely to happen again o No good research done to support that notion Protective erosion vulnerable to be traumatized again being traumatized leads to things that then make you more o Messes up your gauge for the point at which you recognize danger Shifts flight response from fight or flight o Ability to recognize risk danger has been compromised due to the initial way abuse Difficult to show forensically which particular victimization caused a particular problem given the risk of re victimization Domestic Violence Battered Woman Syndrome develop because of ongoing physical and or psychological domestic abuse collection of symptoms reactions that women may o Social isolation o Controlling behavior o Making the partner dependent trapped o Psychological stress Diminished Capacity o Used Battered Woman Syndrome as a case for diminished capacity Battered woman syndrome is not an actual diagnosis in the DSM o PTSD is a diagnosis and a likely one too Battered woman syndrome doesn t hold up forensically while PTSD holds up better More male perpetrated and female victim in court because less physically harmful violence is less likely to show up in the CJ system Does the victim have PTSD Is PTSD enough to make an argument for Biggest predictor for not leaving battered relationships and for diminished capacity In many cases it will be Why didn t she leave o Leaving is risky o Feel trapped like they can t leave o Perceived financial dependence returning after leaving o Having kids o