NCJ Number
101170
Journal
Victimology Volume: 10 Issue: 1-4 Dated: (1985) Pages: 62-71
Date Published
1985
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The paper discusses the effects of victimology on children who have been abused physically, emotionally or sexually.
Abstract
The victimizing experience creates intense bonds between abuser and victim. These bonds become embedded in the personality of the participants such as seen in 100 cases of third generation abuse. There are four major ways abused individuals may express the traumas they experienced at any time in their life. These are disturbances in cognitive functioning (thinking), including academic failure and inability to utilize even a superior intelligence. Disturbances in behavior such as antisocial acting out, repeated pregnancies, fire setting, etc. are probably the most frequent. Some individuals have difficulties with their emotions ranging from uncontrolled rage to depression and suicide. The fourth group express their problems through the soma. Their bodies relive and express through an amazing range of somatic disturbances the abuse experience. Examples of the above four patterns are presented. Treatment to be effective needs to deal with the surface behavior such as pelvic pain or inability to learn, etc. -- but to be ultimately effective, it has to resolve the introjected memory of the traumas which continue to produce the above symptoms. Coordination between therapists, educators, law enforcement agencies, etc. are essential in order to have a unified approach based on an agreement both for goals and techniques to achieve them. The lack of such agreement and coordination is expressed by the excessive rate of recidivism and the repeated complaints of how difficult it is to help delinquent and other such hard to reach families. (Author abstract)