Loss and Mourning in Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault (From Perspectives on Rape and Sexual Assault, P 104117, 1984, June Hopkins, ed. - See NCJ-105029)

• NCJ Number: 105037
• Author(s): J Hopkins; E J Thompson
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Harper and Row
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Victims of rape and sexual assault feel pain and humiliation and experience emotional problems that require crisis intervention, counseling, and support.

Abstract

As in other types of grief mourning, sexual assault victims experience losses in the areas of trust of men, freedom and choice, and ego identity. Similar to others who have suffered losses, they frequently exhibit the mourning stages of shock, denial, anger, guilt, anxiety, and depression before reaching the final stage of despair or acceptance. Consequently sexual assault and rape victims need not only medical and legal help, but can also benefit from a variety of therapeutic interventions. These may include social skills training, consciousness raising, assertiveness training, and behavior modification. An integrated, holistic approach to treatment that acknowledges the losses suffered by the victim can facilitate the integrated acceptance of the reality of loss and the feelings related to it and can result in enhanced functioning and personal growth.