Journal of
Traumatic Stress
Spotlights Mental Health
Impact of Crime
Washington, DC-The April issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress, the
official publication for the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies,
provides a current, critical review of the available scientific literature on
the mental health needs, mental health services, and mental health outcomes for
crime victims, according to the National Center for Victims of Crime. The issue
includes a special section, the product of a first-ever research-practice-policy
consortium organized by the National Center and Georgetown University Department
of Psychiatry, that aims to build a scientific basis to shape the mental health
field's response to victims of crime.
Twenty-three million
crimes-including 5.2 million violent crimes-occurred in 2007. Crime victimization and its related psychological trauma
are the leading cause of trauma-related stress disorder and posttraumatic stress
disorder in the United
States. Yet crime
victimization often goes unrecognized, serious crimes often go unreported, and
not all mental health agencies routinely evaluate trauma history or provide
specialized trauma-related services for victims. Advancing mental health
services for crime victims requires a collaborative effort of research,
practice, and policy.
"As a society, we tend to
underestimate the mental health impact crime may have on victims," said Kevin M.
O'Brien, Ed.D., director of education and victim services at the National Center
for Victims of Crime and one of the co-investigators for the project. "And even
healthcare professionals who recognize the potentially negative effects of crime
on mental health seldom agree on the best ways to reach and support victims."
The journal's introduction
and five subsequent articles, products of a project funded by the National
Institute of Mental Health, review the scientific literature on several
significant and emerging areas known to influence outreach, recognition, and use
of empirically supported mental health services for crime victims. Key themes of
these articles include the following:
·
Criminal
justice system: Victims'
involvement with the criminal justice system may exacerbate the impact of the
initial crime, leading to a secondary victimization.
·
Impact of
victimization on quality of life: Although findings are mixed, crime victimization may have a negative effect on multiple domains, including parenting
skills, occupational functioning, unemployment, and intimate relationships.
·
Help seeking:
Only a small fraction of crime victims seek help from
formal support networks, and much remains to be learned about patterns of
seeking help.
·
Resilience:
Specific protective factors (e.g,
personality and biological characteristics, social and cultural factors, and
community characteristics) can help some victims cope effectively with adverse
events.
Further research is needed,
the papers suggest, to understand the links between crime and victims' mental
health symptoms, why some victims cope more successfully than others, what
circumstances increase victims' risk for mental disorders and functional
impairments, and other questions. These articles, notes the National Center's O'Brien, can be very useful in
setting priorities for further research on mental health services for crime
victims.
"The consortium brought
researchers, practitioners, and policymakers together to take a focused look at
what we know, what we don't know, and how we can improve the treatment crime
victims receive," said O'Brien. "We appreciate that the nation's leading
scientific journal on trauma devoted a special section to this critically
important issue, and we hope that the work of the consortium will play a role in
guiding the mental health field's evolving response to victims of crime."
The Journal of Traumatic Stress, Volume 23,
Issue 2 (April 2010) is available at www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/109882595/home.
Contact:
Mary
Rappaport
202-467-8714
mrappaport@ncvc.org
Liz Joyce
202-467-8729
ejoyce@ncvc.org
###
The
National
Center for Victims of
Crime, established in 1985, is the nation's leading resource and advocacy
organization for crime victims and those who serve them. Celebrating its 25th
anniversary, the National Center has led this nation's struggle to
provide crime victims with the rights, protections, and services they need to
rebuild their lives. The National Center's National Crime Victim Helpline,
1-800-FYI-CALL, is a lifeline for tens of thousands of victims who, each year,
receive one-on-one support to understand the impact of crime, deal with its
consequences, access victim compensation, develop safety plans, navigate the
criminal justice and social services systems, learn about their legal rights and
options, and find the most appropriate local services