Читать книгу Criminology For Dummies - Steven Briggs - Страница 68

Crime creates ongoing fear in people who are victimized. Out of fear, victims often alter their lifestyles dramatically, and a life lived in fear isn’t a full life. Imagine a rape victim who becomes so afraid of another attack that she won’t leave her home at night or go anywhere without a companion.

Beyond fear, victims may suffer very serious psychological effects, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Someone suffering from PTSD may endure bouts of depression, severe anxiety, and difficulty with relationships.

Kids and spouses who are victimized by people they love are particularly susceptible to this psychological pain, often because of their dependence on the abuser. The psychological effects of abuse over a long period of time can sometimes exceed those of a one-time assault by a stranger.

In addition to the fear and psychological pain that many victims of violence feel, I must also mention the grief that victims’ family members endure as their loved ones suffer serious injury or death. I personally have shed tears with families of murder victims who miss their loved ones and struggle to make sense of the tragedies. They face a torrent of emotions from anger to despondency, and sometimes there’s no way to console them.

Another mental stressor comes from entering the criminal justice system as a victim. The vast governmental bureaucracy can seem cold and impersonal to someone who has already suffered a great deal. For example, police may ask a rape victim to submit to a physical exam to look for DNA evidence, including semen, blood, and pubic hair. They may also ask her to describe the assault in detail. The defense attorney may even assert a defense of consent in which he argues that she was a willing participant in sex and not the victim of a violent crime.

Although I’ve known some exceptional victim advocates, they can only do so much to help a victim deal with the lengthy, harsh reality of the criminal justice system (see the “Support of victim advocates” section later in this chapter for more info). Some of the greatest acts of courage I’ve seen have come from crime victims who were willing to endure the long process so that others wouldn’t be victimized like they were.