Dealing with Crime, Part 2: Victims of crime

Question 1

Effects of victimisation: Breaks 3 assumptions

Answer 1

Victimisation causes distress because it breaks three assumptions:
Belief in personal invulnerability
Perception of the world as meaningful
A positive self-view

Question 2

Effects of victimisation: Broad

Answer 2

Broad
Physical – injury, psychosomatic symptoms
Behavioural – withdrawal, avoidance, hypervigilance, substance abuse
Psychological

Question 3

Effects of victimisation: Psychological

Answer 3

Psychological

Mood (depression and anxiety), stress (including post-traumatic stress disorder), shame, fear.

Question 4

Depression and Anxiety

Answer 4

N. B. Most existing research discusses impacts of experiencing either intimate partner violence or sexual crime.
Risk/impact appears greater for females than males, also greater for older victims.

Physical violence: 44% of Norwegian sample met criteria for anxiety and depression, according to the Hopkins Symptom Check List 25 (HSCL-25)

Question 5

Depression and Anxiety: American public health sample

Answer 5

American Public Health sample (2011)
n = 3,240 were victims of sexual violence
18.82% reported being diagnosed with depression
8.37% reported an anxiety disorder
28.28% reported being diagnosed with both depression and anxiety

Question 6

Depression and anxiety victims reported

Answer 6

Victims reported:
Significantly more days where had poor concentration
Sleep difficulties
Poor appetite
Little interest or pleasure in activities
Blaming themselves
Having little energy

Question 7

PTSD Symptoms

Answer 7

Intrusive thoughts and memories of past crimes
Efforts to avoid thinking about it
Trouble sleeping
Difficulty concentrating, hypervigilance, irritability

Question 8

Physical Violence PTSD

Answer 8

Physical violence:
33% of Norwegian sample scored as probable PTSD cases according to Post Traumatic Symptoms Scale 10 (PTSS-10)
20.3% of American sample met DSM-III criteria for PTSD at 6-months post-crime.

Evidence that PTSD symptoms are worse for victims who perceive the crime as beyond their control – symptoms less where victims felt element of control.

Question 9

Fear, withdrawal, evidence

Answer 9

Related to PTSD.
Fear being revictimised (research shows that experiencing crime increases risk of being victimised again in future)
Avoidance of reminders of crime victimisation e.g. places, people, environments, situations
 Social withdrawal

Question 10

Secondary Victims

Answer 10

E.g. friends, family, community of homicide victims.
Can experience the psychological effects discussed – depression, anxiety, PTSD, fear, withdrawal, avoidance.
Prolonged grief through extensive and invasive legal processes  greater risk of PTSD.

Question 11

Quality of life

Answer 11

Mental health effects lead to impacts across several key quality of life domains:
Role functioning
Parent – reduced patience and motivation, increased agitation and irritability, harsh discipline tactics. + empathy
Partner – conflict, relationship stress, reduced intimacy. Child abuse link (mistrust, suspiciousness, anger)
Employee – higher unemployment, lower performance.
Friend – withdrawal, isolation.
Life satisfaction
Fear of crime, concerns for personal safety, happiness
Sense of well-being

Question 12

Victim interaction with CJS

Answer 12

Can have some benefits – empowerment, closure, satisfaction (varies), acknowledgement and validation
Can be re-traumatising – reliving events, encountering offender, cross-examination.
Shame – particularly with sexual/violent crimes
Fear
Reluctance to report crimes – why?

Question 13

Why do victims not report?

Answer 13

Fear of retribution by offender
Fear of further violence or harm
Fear of children being taken away
Mistrust of CJS
Perceived inefficacy of CJS – “nothing will be done anyway”
Lack of culturally sensitive victim support
Lack of anonymity or confidentiality

Question 14

Multicultural Victims

Answer 14

Topical examples in Australia
Cronulla riots (Sydney, 2005)
Bashings of Indian students (Melbourne, 2009)
Elijah Doughty (2016)
Data is difficult, Australian data does not generally distinguish between immigrants and non-immigrants.

CJS experiences

Psychological experiences

Question 15

Multicultural victims of crime

Answer 15

Iganski (2001): Five distinct types of harm associated with crime related to culture, ethnicity, race:
Harm to the initial victim
Harm to the victim’s group
Harm to the victim’s wider group
Harm to other targeted communities
Harm to societal norms and values
Psychological experiences are qualitatively distinct from those experienced by individuals who experience non-biased victimisation.

Question 16

Under-reporting and enforcement

Answer 16

Research on the reporting of crime from victims who identify as Australian Aboriginal or Canadian First Nations people (Cunneen, 2001; Neugebauer, 1999).

Question 17

Non-disclosure of violence in Australian Indigenous Communities

Answer 17

Indigenous people experience violence (as offenders and victims) at rates that are typically 2-5 times those experienced by non-Indigenous people.
Rates of non-disclosure are higher in Indigenous than non-Indigenous communities.
~90% of violence against Indigenous women is not disclosed

Question 18

Non-Reporting: Why? Personal Barriers

Answer 18

• Too trivial or inappropriate to report to police
• Not a real crime
• Not clear that harm was intended
• Dealt with it themselves
• Regard it as a private matter
• Shame, embarrassment
• Did not want family or others to know
• Fear of reprisal by assailant
• Self-blame or blamed by others for the attack
• Desire to protect offender, relationship or children

Question 19

Non reporting: Justice System-related barriers

Answer 19

• Police would not or could not do anything
• Police would not think it was serious enough, or would not want to be bothered with the incident
• Fear of not being believed by police
• Fear of hostile treatment by police or other parts of justice system
• Fear/dislike of police or the legal process
• Lack of proof that he incident happened
• Did not know how to report

Question 20

Under-enforcement

Answer 20

“Selective policing” – Cunneen (2001)

Law enforcement officers taking less seriously the victimisation of Indigenous persons.

Question 21

Ethnic Minority Victims of Crime

Answer 21

Difficult with data.
Typically reluctant to report victimisation
Only 15-20% of victimisations are ever reported to police (Berrill, 1992; Levin, 1999)
Largely because:
Victims anticipate lack of concern.
Fear secondary victimisation.
Fear hostility, further abuse, or inaction.

Question 22

Victims with Disability

Answer 22

There is evidence to show that individuals with Intellectual Impairment or developmental disorders (e.g. Down’s Syndrome) are at greater risk of experiencing criminal victimisation.
Physical/personal
Property
Sexual

Question 23

Intellectual Impairment

Answer 23

Intellectual impairment alone does not predict vulnerability to criminal behaviour.
Anger, hostility, situational, interpersonal
Higher rates (3x) of experiencing personal(inc. sexual) or property crime, particularly when living alone or with other persons who have disability.
Tend not to report crime – usually ‘happened upon’ by police or reported by others.

Question 24

Children with disability

Answer 24

Especially vulnerable because of dependence on caregivers (including multiple caregivers in care settings)
Needing physical, social, and emotional needs met
Lack of control over their own lives
Tendencies to obey and seek approval from other
Lack of knowledge and understanding about sex
Isolation and rejection by others
Inadequate social and communicative skills

Question 25

Children with disability

Answer 25

More likely to be victims of child abuse and sexual abuse, compared to typically developing peers.
Parents
Carers
Less likely to be able to report it.
Language, cognitive ability, lack of contact with others.

Question 26

Children with disability: Lifetime prevalence of sexual abuse

Answer 26

Lifetime prevalence of sexual abuse:

48. 11% for girls with physical disability (1.44 times more likely to be victimised in this way than able-bodied girls)
49. 76% for boys with physical disability (1.95 times more likely than able-bodied boys).

Question 27

Impacts

Answer 27

Emotional and behavioural disturbances
Sexualised behaviour
Attachment relationship dysfunction
Including later in adult life
Learning and schooling difficulties
Difficulties with friendships

Question 28

Support for victims

Answer 28

Victim Assist QLD – central coordinating agency.
Counselling – public, private, NGO.
Not a model of one designated government program.
Compensation, financial assistance e.g. Victims of Crime QLD.
Court and legal assistance – Victim Coordination Program.
Family support e.g. for homicide victims.
Justice mediation and youth conferencing.
Victims register – if offender sentenced to prison, entitled to apply for information.
Their prison, security level, parole eligibility, release eligibility.