NCJ Number
199612
Journal
Journal of Traumatic Stress Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2003 Pages: 115-199
Editor(s)
Dean G. Kilpatrick
Date Published
April 2003
Length
85 pages
Annotation
This special edition contains seven papers that were presented at the Symposium on the Mental Health Needs of Crime Victims held in Washington, DC, October 1999.
Abstract
The first paper focuses on the epidemiology and outcomes for the mental health needs of crime victims. It reviews epidemiological estimates of criminal victimization derived largely from nationally based studies in the United States. Mental health outcomes for victims of violent crime are documented. Outcomes focus on posttraumatic stress disorder, but also include depression, substance abuse, and panic. The second paper reviews strategies and methods for assessing crime victims for clinical purposes. Attention is given to the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder, dissociation, and traumatic grief. The third paper synthesizes the available research on the extent to which children are traumatized by their involvement in the justice system, as well as the interventions that are effective in reducing such trauma. The fourth paper reviews the social and psychological barriers that discourage victim participation in the legal system. This is followed by a paper that addresses the consequences for therapists of working with survivors of traumatic events, particularly criminal victimization. It addresses the relevant research and treatment literature on secondary traumatic stress and related variables (burnout, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and countertransference). The sixth paper discusses the psychosocial and pharmacological interventions for treating the trauma of child crime victims. The concluding paper provides an overview of several treatment interventions for trauma-related disturbances in adult crime victims. The papers are accompanied by references.