NCJ Number
95559
Journal
Victimology Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (1984) Pages: 142-150
Date Published
1984
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the role of the self in victimization.
Abstract
The crime victim who has never developed a consolidated self structure experiences a further fragmentation of an already weak self in which identity and boundaries have not been firmly established. In the self-in-conflict approach, the victimization serves as a critical incident in the re-evocation of earlier repressed conflicts concerning feelings of powerlessness and frustration. The group process is a particularly useful vehicle for the therapist to diagnostically assess such self problems based on victims' interaction in the group. Recommendations are offered for screening victims who would most benefit from individual therapy alone or a combined individual and group therapy treatment plan. In general, the more severe the self pathology, the more group therapy is contra-indicated. Victims who experience the self-in-conflict are the best candidates for group therapy. (Author abstract)