NCJ Number
70946
Date Published
1980
Length
366 pages
Annotation
This book presents a comprehensive and contemporary view of rape and sexual assault and reveals social science and biological research that provide a framework for innovative methods of assistance to victims.
Abstract
Following a historical perspective on rape and rape laws is a series of chapters highlighting different types of rape and sexual assault victims. Individual chapters are devoted to the special traumas and needs of raped female children, older women, and males, in addition to the demographics and statistics of sexual victimology. Society and the victim's family are dealt with in terms of responses to an act of rape and the resulting disruption of relationships. Intervention measures are outlined in chapters devoted to the specific helping professions, including police reporting procedures and investigation behavior and attitudes, emergency medical assessment and assistance, victim advocates' involvement, and social work in aftercare programs. Much of the emphasis is on preventive measures; thus, community education is deemed a vital aspect of responsibilities carried by social workers, counselors, school nurses, and other professionals. Incest, a unique form of sexual abuse, is discussed in terms of the psychosocial dynamics of this phenomenon and identification and therapeutic intervention techniques. Further, case initiation, preparation, and trial procedures are delineated, and the special problem areas for sexual assault cases are identified. Finally, detailed guidelines for planning an integrated community strategy to combat rape are offered through a working model of one city's efforts to improve intervention and management services rendered to victims of rape and sexual assault. Illustrations, tables, chapter notes with references, and graphs are supplied. For individual chapters, see NCJ 70947-53.