NCJ Number
163631
Date Published
1996
Length
32 pages
Annotation
Because therapists must be aware of the pathogenic impact of denial on victim coping in treating acquaintance rape victims, components of an effective treatment approach are described.
Abstract
The treatment of acquaintance rape victims is difficult, especially since acquaintance rape presents in a context that can be easily misunderstood due to pervasive social myths. The typical therapy presentation by an acquaintance rape victim is that of a delayed treatment seeker. This delayed presentation has a number of implications for therapeutic involvement. When victims deny their own experiences and have no offsetting affirmation, a specific kind of coping develops with a symptom picture colored by denial, self-doubt, and self-blame. Clinicians need to comprehensively inquire about any type of sexual assault in the intake and early treatment stages. In addition, clinicians need to elicit details and victim responses to the assault and victim perceptions of that assault. In order to understand the assault context, a complete family and social history must be obtained. Part of the initial assessment involves exploring specific victim concerns and difficulties, and the relationship between therapist and client is important. If the therapist creates a therapeutic environment that allows a victim to feel safe and secure, the working-through process of therapy can begin. There are two components of treatment for acquaintance rape victims; the first component involves dealing with immediate post-trauma symptoms, while the second component involves victimization effects that emerge later in the treatment process. Therapist tasks are to connect symptoms to the reality of victimization, facilitate the understanding and resolution of negative affective responses, reappraise the trauma, and use the new understanding to help victims recover from emotional and behavioral constrictions that follow from the accommodation to rape myth-mediated coping. 54 references