NCJ Number
85718
Date Published
1981
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article advocates the development of epidemiological studies of victims involving the interface of the health, social, and computer sciences, to evolve adequate treatment schemes for the consequences of victimization trauma.
Abstract
Victimization, it is contended, should be considered in its component parts, varieties, and manifestations in order to experimentally determine which treatment techniques effect what kinds of cures. At this point, even the vocabulary for describing and defining victimization conditions is lacking. Crisis intervention counseling has been instituted without any empirical data to suggest that crime or earthquake victims benefit from this approach. Followup studies of victims of torture and of hostage events suggest that they do not spontaneously recover, but, in fact, that their symptoms worsen geometrically until the somatic effects are premature morbidity and mortality. Studies of the effects of chemotherapy for stress victims indicate that the drugs wreak their own havoc and probably exacerbate the consequences of the stress itself. Logical techniques as yet untried in victimization studies include biofeedback and hypnosis. The major consequences of a trauma-induced stress appear thus far to be psychosomatic. Since biofeedback consists of a careful monitoring and learned control of these functions, it would seem to be a logical treatment choice. Because it is possible to control somatic processes through hypnosis and to effectively deal with phobic responses through hypnotic suggestion, hypnosis also appears to be a valuable prospective treatment technique. Prerequisite for embarking upon any of these research avenues, however, is careful planning and expensive data collection and processing. A total of 20 references are provided. (Author summary modified)