Download FBI Uniform Crime Report, 2008

What Victims Tell Us
Actual Incidence
• One every 38 seconds
Reported Incidence
• One every 6.5 minutes
• 95 assaults per hour
• 829,000 assaults per year
National Women’s Study Replication , 2006
• 9 assaults per hour
• 80,800 assaults per year
FBI Uniform Crime Report, 2008
What Victims Tell Us (Cont’d)
• Prevalence
– 1 in 3 to 6 women
– 1 in 6 to 33 men
(Bolen and Scannapieco, 1999; World Health Organization, 2007; Kilpatrick and McCauley,
2009)
• Sex offenders victimize people of all ages, but
children and adolescents are at greatest risk:
– More than ½ of female victims and ¾ of male victims are
sexually assaulted before their 18th birthday
(Tjaden & Thonnes, 2006)
What Victims Tell Us (Cont’d)
• Most victims are sexually assaulted by someone they
know
– 78% to 95% know their perpetrator
• The younger - the more likely they will know their offender
(Tjaden and Thonnes, 2006; Kilpatrick and McCauley, 2009)
• They don’t tell:
Only 16 to 19% are ever reported
– The younger the victim, the closer the relationship with
the offender, the less likely they will report
(Kilpatrick & McCauley, 2009; Tjaden & Thonnes, 2006)
What Victims Tell Us (Cont’d)
• In a prospective study of juveniles 11 to midlife, 2.5%
of their self reported sexual assaults were reported
to the police
(Grotpeter & Elliott, 2002)
• 3% of sexual assaults reported by adult women
resulted in conviction of the offenders
• Only about ½ of adult women who had contact with
police or courts were satisfied with their treatment
•
(Tjaden & Thonnes, 2006)
What Victims Tell Us (Cont’d)
• In a prospective study of juveniles 11 to midlife, 2.5%
of their self reported sexual assaults were reported
to the police
(Grotpeter & Elliott, 2002)
• 3% of sexual assaults reported by adult women
resulted in conviction of the offenders
• Only about ½ of adult women who had contact with
police or courts were satisfied with their treatment
•
(Tjaden & Thonnes, 2006)
Victim-Centered Strategy
• Listen to what victims tell us
• Understand the experience of victims
• Understand the impact…and what exacerbates
or mitigates it
• Understand how the system works....
or doesn’t work for victims
Victim-Centered Strategy
• Include victims and victim
organizations
in our ongoing work
• Know what resources are available
• Understand that a victim centered approach is
not about philosophy alone…
• Demonstrate it with practice
What Good Sex Offender
Management Can Do
•
•
•
•
•
Enhance community safety
Prevent re-victimization
Promote effective offender re-entry
Inform and educate the community
Ensure victim rights across a spectrum of their
experiences
• Promote victim healing and access to resources
Why Victims Don’t Report
•
•
•
•
•
Fear
Shame or embarrassment
Perception it is not a crime or police matter
Belief police could not do anything
Fear of being not being believed or being
blamed
(Tjaden & Thonnes, 2006)
SEXUAL TRAUMA
Of all human experience of trauma, sexual
trauma is second in severity only to those who
have experienced extended active combat.
(Wilson, Smith & Johnson in Figley, 1995)
Normal Responses
During Trauma
• Psychological Responses
• Physiological
Hyper-Arousal
– Perception of threat
– Physiological changes
– Fight, flight or freeze
(van der Kolk, 1994)
– Anxiety
– Dissociation
(APA, 2000)
What do Victims Experience?
• Traumatic Experience
– Images, sensations,
affective & behavioral
states
– Invariable over time
– Triggered by
environment
– Not subject to
voluntary recall or
dismissal
• Typical Experience
– Narrative, semantic
& symbolic
– Social & adaptive
– Evoked at will
– Condensed or
expanded
(van der Kolk, 1994 & 2006)
Victim Responses to Trauma
Rape is more likely to induce PTSD than other serious
crimes because of its unpredictable, vulnerable, and
personally violating features. Rape victims have more PTSD
symptoms and have longer recovery times than any other
type of victim
(Michenbaum, 1994)
Victim Impact
• Shattering of basic assumptions or beliefs
(cognitive schema)
• Extreme sense of loss
• Self blame
• Inability to feel safe & secure
• Disruptions in relationships
Victim Impact
• Sexual assault victim/survivors are more likely
to experience the following problems than the
general population:
– Suicide attempts (13 times more likely)
– Drug abuse (6.4 times more likely)
– PTSD (6.2 times more likely)
– Major depression (3 times more likely)
Victim Impact (Cont’d)
• Sexual assault victim/survivors are overrepresented as:
– Drug users
– Runaways
– Prostitutes
– Psychiatric patients
– For subsequent victimization
(Kilpatrick et al, 1992)
Victim Impact (Cont’d)
• Compared to non-victims, people with sexual
assault histories are:
– less likely to be married & more likely to be
divorced
– report less frequent contacts w/ friends/family
– report less emotional support from
friends/family/spouses
(Bifulco et al, 1991; Finkelhor et al, 1989; Golding et al, 2002; Moeller et al, 1993; Radomsky,
1992)
People Who Love Victims
Suffer Too
• Husbands, partners, significant others, family
and friends of rape survivors are also
detrimentally affected.
(Burgess & Holstrom, 1979; Davis et al, 1995; Remer & Elliot, 1998)
WHAT VICTIMS NEED
Victim impact is substantially reduced when
victims are believed, protected, and adequately
supported
Advocacy and Support
• Essential components of a multidisciplinary
response
– Bridge between victims and the criminal/civil legal
system
– Only element of a coordinated community
response that is with a victim from moments after
the assault to years after adjudication
Opportunities for Victim Involvement
• Offer information to victims or victim
programs about your role in sex offender
management
– Ask their questions or concerns
– Ask for information that would be helpful
• Assist with supervision planning
Opportunities for Victim Involvement
(Cont’d)
• Include in the offender’s file:
– A victim’s description of the crime
– A victim impact statement (if available)
• Victim notification (formal)
• Identify risk related behaviors or situations
and assist with safety planning
Opportunities for Victim Involvement
(Cont’d)
• Identify monitoring/supervision resources
• Victim initiated clarification or restorative
justice programs
• Include victim representatives in program
planning and development
• Partner for general community education