Comparison of the Psychological Recovery of Black and White Victims of Rape

• NCJ Number: 90111
• Author(s): P H Morelli
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 19 pages
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Paper presented in a symposium entitled 'Rape Vulnerability A Feminist Perspective' at the 8th Annual Conference of the Association for Women in Psychology, Boston, March 1981.

Annotation

Knowledge of individual differences of victim responses to and recovery from rape is necessary in order to provide for each victim's individual needs.

Abstract

Black women may be exposed to more violence in their culture and may be treated differently than white women. These differences may lead to different recovery patterns between black and white rape victims. The potential recovery differences between black and white rape victims were examined in the areas of anxiety, fear, psychological distress, self-esteem, and mood states. Rape victims (N=27) and nonvictims (N=27) were divided by race and compared on five self-report measures at 6-21 day, 3-month, and 6-month time intervals following the rape. Significant differences occurred between the black and white victim groups on occupation, marital status, residence, and length of time in South Carolina. Results indicated that white subjects were more distressed than black subjects by the rape experience initially; however, the recovery pattern for the white and black victims was similar. (Resources in Education (ERIC) abstract)