Victims and victimization

Victim and Victimization

• Criminal victimization is a frightening and unsettling

experience for many. Victims may be confused, fearful,
frustrated and angry. They want to know why this
happened, and why it happened to them. Victims often
have no knowledge of who or where to turn in the
aftermath of crime. They feel insecure and do not know
who to trust or rely on for support, understanding, and
help. Not only do they suffer physically, emotionally,
psychologically and financially from their victimization,
they are also often burdened by the complexity of the
criminal justice system.
Victimization Consequences

• There is no such thing as a victimless crime. Crime can have

repercussions that last for years. Sometimes, the effect is a financial loss
to a person, causing someone to lose financial security. A stolen vehicle
might lead to the loss of one's job, making it hard to get to work. Violent
crimes such as assault, rapes, and kidnapping can alter the survivor's life
forever.
• Victimization is what happens to a person when they are impacted
as the result of a crime. These actions can have severe consequences on
emotional, psychological, and social levels. In this lesson, we will briefly
discuss each of these three points.
 • One does not have to look hard to find a victim who
says, ''I never thought it would happen to me.'' The disbelief
of being a victim can last for days, weeks, or even years after
the event. Once the shock of the incident goes away,
the emotional impact makes many victims feel angry or
fearful. They may project that anger onto others.
• Victims may become angry at themselves for not being
aware of their surroundings. They may even begin to hate
everyone who has a loose association of the offender, such as
Emotional sharing the same gender, race, or occupation. They may
become fearful of going to a place similar to where the crime
Impact occurred.
• Often, victims blame themselves for being in the wrong
place at the wrong time, and/or feels guilty that they
survived when someone close to them did not. Victims of
sexual violence may feel shame or humiliation. They may act
out following sexual assaults, leading to destructive or unsafe
behavior.
The Emotional Impact of
Victimization

• Shock, disbelief and denial – Initially, victims may find it difficult to

believe they have become a victim of crime. They may even pretend
that it did not happen at all. These reactions can last for a few moments
or they may be present for months and even years. It is not uncommon
for victims to assume a ‘childlike’ state and may even need to be cared
for by others for some time. It is also common for victims to feel as
though the crime occurred when they were in a dreamlike state. Once
the initial shock of the crime has worn off, victims may experience other
emotions such as anger, fear, frustration, confusion, guilt, shame, and
grief.
• Anger or rage – Victims may be angry with God, the offender, service providers, family
members, friends, the criminal justice system, or even themselves. Many victims
experience strong desires for revenge or getting even. Hate may even felt by victims.
These strong emotions are often disapproved of by the rest of society, which can leave
the victim feeling like an outcast. It is certainly justified for victims to feel anger toward
the person or people who harmed them.
•
• Fear or Terror – It is common for victims to feel terror or fear following a crime that
involved a threat to one’s safety or life, or to someone else a victim cares about. Fear
can cause a person to have panic attacks if they are ever reminded of the crime. Fear
can last for quite some time following the commission of a crime and under certain
circumstances, it can become debilitating. Fear or terror that becomes overwhelming is
unhealthy and victims should consult their family physician about it as soon as
possible.
• Frustration – Many victims are frustrated by the feelings of helplessness
or powerlessness that surface when the crime takes place. This can be
especially true if victims were unable to fend off an offender, call for
help or run away. After the crime, victims may continue to feel
frustration if they cannot access the support and information that is
necessary to their healing.
•
• Confusion – Victims of crime may become confused if they are unsure of
what actually happened, as crimes often occur quickly and are chaotic.
It may be impossible to find out why someone else intended to hurt
them.
• Guilt or self-blame – Blaming oneself is common. Many victims believe
they were “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” If the victim does not
have someone to blame, they will often blame themselves. Guilt is also
common when no offender is found. Later on, when reflecting upon the
crime, victims might feel guilty for not doing more to prevent what
happened. Lastly, some victims will experience ‘survivor guilt’ – they
feel guilty that they survived while someone else was injured or even
killed. If a loved one is murdered, surviving family and friends may even
blame the victim. Too often, society blames victims as well.
• Guilt or self-blame – Blaming oneself is common. Many victims believe
they were “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” If the victim does not
have someone to blame, they will often blame themselves. Guilt is also
common when no offender is found. Later on, when reflecting upon the
crime, victims might feel guilty for not doing more to prevent what
happened. Lastly, some victims will experience ‘survivor guilt’ – they
feel guilty that they survived while someone else was injured or even
killed. If a loved one is murdered, surviving family and friends may even
blame the victim. Too often, society blames victims as well.
• Shame and humiliation – Sadly, some victims blame themselves,
particularly victims of sexual abuse/assault or domestic violence. In
crimes involving sexual acts, offenders often degrade the victim by
making them do humiliating things. Victims of rape, for example, have
long-lasting feelings of “being dirty”, and those feelings cannot be
“washed away.” Some victims even feel self-hatred because they believe
that they can no longer be loved by those who are close to them.
• Grief or Sorrow – Intense sadness is often the most powerful long-term
reaction to crime. It is common for victims to become depressed after a
crime occurs.
 • Psychological injuries created by crime
Psycholog are often the most difficult to cope with and
have long-lasting effects. As crime is usually

ical experienced as more serious than an accident

or misfortune, it is difficult to come to terms
with the fact that loss and injury have been
Impact caused by the deliberate act of another
human being.
 Common reactions to crime can be split
into four stages:

• The initial reaction may include shock, fear, anger, helplessness, disbelief and
guilt. As mentioned previously, some of these reactions may reoccur at a later
stage as well, for example when attending a trial or going to hospital for medical
treatment.
• A period of disorganization may follow these initial reactions. This phase may
manifest itself in psychological effects such as distressing thoughts about the
event, nightmares, depression, guilt, fear, and a loss of confidence and esteem.
Life can seem to slow down and become meaningless. Previously held beliefs
and faiths may no longer provide comfort. Behavioral responses might include
increased alcohol or substance abuse, fragmentation of social relationships,
avoidance of people and situations associated with the crime, and social
withdrawal.
•
• The third stage is reconstruction and acceptance, which leads to the fourth
stage of normalization/adjustment. Victims often try to come to terms with crime
by longing for everything to be as it was before and to turn the clock back. In this
crucial stage of recovery victims begin to fully accept the reality of what has
happened. Victims may try to reinterpret their experience and possibly find an
explanation for what has happened or to decide that the crime has lead to personal
growth.
• The boundaries between these different stages are not as clear-cut as
outlined here and victims may not progress smoothly through the stages, but at
times hover between them. The extent to which people (victims, witnesses, family
members, community members) may be affected by crime will vary enormously
among individuals; at one extreme people may shrug off very serious crimes with no
noticeable effects, while at the other extreme people become “stuck'' in a particular
stage and never move on.
 • Victims of a crime may suffer a social
impact following the event. Social isolation by
others, avoidance, or secondary impacts as a
result of daily interactions with people can
often re-victimize the victim. Insensitive
comments from others, being isolated by
Social peers who do not know what to say or do for
the victim, or not receiving help or information

Impact can lead to continued struggles for the victim.

The victim may find the investigative process
intrusive or distressing by having to answer
difficult or probing questions during the legal
process. They may feel that the accused has
more rights than they do as a victim. People
may view the victims' actions as having
contributed to the incident.
The • Victims who may have money stolen, or
Financial possessions stolen or damaged have been
financially injured. In many cases, stolen

Impact of money and prized possessions are never

recovered. Understandably, this is very
distressing to victims who may feel guilt,
Victimizat anger, and frustration if they are unable to
recover a family heirloom.
ion
 Although the financial impact of crime is less documented than
the physical, emotion or social impacts, victims may certainly
incur costs in the following ways:

• - Repairing property or replacing possessions.

• - Higher insurance premiums as a result of victimization.
• - Installing security measures.
• - Accessing health services.
• - Medical expenses.
• - Participating in the criminal justice system, for example traveling to court, child
care
• and attending the trial.
• - Obtaining professional counselling to come to terms with the emotional impact.
• - Taking time off work or from other income generating activities.
• - Funeral or burial expenses.
• In some cases, such as stalking, victims may feel a need to move, a
process likely to incur financial costs. Also property value may diminish
as a result of a violent crime occurring in the house.
• The effects of victimization hit particularly hard on the poor, the
young, the powerless, the disabled, and the socially isolated. Research
shows that those already touched by prior victimization are particularly
susceptible to subsequent victimization by the same or other forms of
crime. These repeat victims are often found to reside in high-crime
communities in many countries.
•
Trauma
Recovery
STAGE 1: SILENCE

• People who experience adverse situations, such as a traumatic event

involving actual or threatened danger, face incredible challenges. The
initial stage following a traumatic event is often a time of silence for the
victim. It’s common for recently victimized people to refuse to talk
about what happened. This may be due to a number of things, including
stigma, isolation, shame, guilt, confusion, or denial about the event.
• A person emerging from trauma may have low self-esteem at first and
may feel overwhelmed and disconnected from the rest of the world.
STAGE 2: VICTIMHOOD

• Eventually, the traumatized self may start to long for change as the ongoing suffering
interferes with daily life tasks and a need to grow and recover begins to form. As this
need grows, it allows the person to begin exploring ways to move through the trauma.
According to available research, there is often a tug-of-war taking place within the
individual between a need to be safe and protect emotions and a need to grow and
confront the traumatic memories.
• The person may feel compelled to talk openly with everyone about what happened and
the suffering he or she experienced. Some people will likely be more willing than others
to listen. For people working their way through the stage of victimization, having
someone to listen and support them as they process the event can be critical to their
ability to move forward into survivorhood. Many people find support groups helpful
during this stage and may seek counseling or other support.
STAGE 3: SURVIVORHOOD

• Once a person processes the traumatic event and continues transitioning away from the victim
experience, he or she often begins identifying as a survivor. During this stage, a person has had an
opportunity to talk about his or her experience and has gained some sense of clarity. He or she may
begin to identify the ways in which he/she persevered and the strengths that helped make moving
forward possible. The person hasn’t forgotten the event, but he or she has a greater understanding
about what the event means and the impact it has made on his or her life.
STAGE 4: THRIVING AND TRANSCENDENCE

• Most people I’ve worked with seem content reaching the stage of survivorhood. They feel like they are
managing challenges better and have a greater awareness about themselves and their experiences.
Other people, The person hasn’t forgotten the event, but he or she has a greater understanding about
what the event means and the impact it has made on his or her life.however, have told me they’re not
done growing, and some of them have even said they don’t want to be called a survivor.
• This group becomes the thriving group, people who transformed their experiences into a meaningful
personal narrative and will not be defined by their adversity. They feel healed and safe, and take
appropriate risks in seeking connection with others, such as asking a new neighbor out for coffee. They
don’t feel the need to tell their stories unless it benefits someone else. “Thrivers” feel motivated to take
part in the community and may seek out volunteer opportunities or other ways to help others.
• Of course, this is only one model of healing and one definition of what it means to be a survivor. Every
person who experiences a distressing event may have his or her own ideas about what it means to pull
through a traumatic time or event.
VICTIM
CLASSIFICATION
S
 . The following are the
three main types opens in new windowof
victims discussed in the study of victimology:
•
• Primary victims are individuals who are injured or otherwise directly affected by a
crime committed against them. For example, the primary victim of an armed
robbery loses his or her possessions and may require therapy to cope after
experiencing violence.
• Secondary victims are present at the scene of a crime and may be injured as a result
of witnessing it. They might also be the parent or guardian of the primary victim.
The family and friends of the robbery victim above would be considered secondary
victims because the crime has indirectly affected them.
• Related victims are people who are dependent on the primary victim, have a close
relationship with the primary victim or are connected to the victim in some other
way. For example, the neighbors of the robbery victim would be considered related
victims if the crime occurred on their street.
 • 1. Victim of Crime Model (Man-made Cause)
• This model of victimization is applicable to victims
of man-made causes like homicide , rape and others.
The stages are as follows:

Models of • a. Stage of Impact and Disorganization- this depicts the

attitude or activity of the victim during and

victimizat immediately following the criminal event.

• b. stage of Recoil – this occurs during which the victim

ion formulates psychological defences and deals with

conflicting emotions of guilt, anger, acceptance and
desire of revenge ( this could 3 to 8 months)
• c. Reorganization stage- This stage occurs during
which the victim puts his/her life back to normal daily
living.
• 2. Victim of Disaster Model (Natural Cause)
• This model of victimization is applicable to
victims of natural causes like earthquake ,
flood , volcanic eruption and others.
• a. Pre-impact stage This describes the state of
the victim prior to being victimized
• b. impact stage – this is the phase in which
victimization occurs.
• c. Post impact – this stage entails the degree
and duration of the personal and social
disorganization following victimization.
• d. Behavioral Outcome – this phase describes
the victim’s adjustment to the victimization
experience.
Thank you & Keep Safe.