VICTIMOLOGY THEORY

The concept of victim dates back to ancient cultures and civilizations, such as the ancient Hebrews. Its original meaning was rooted in the idea of sacrifice or scapegoat -- the execution or casting out of a person or animal to satisfy a deity or hierarchy. Over the centuries, the word victim came to have additional meanings. During the founding of victimology in the 1940s, victimologists such as Mendelson, Von Hentig, and Wolfgang tended to use textbook or dictionary definitions of victims as hapless dupes who instigated their own victimizations. This notion of "victim precipitation" was vigorously attacked by feminists in the 1980s, and was replaced by the notion of victims as anyone caught up in an asymmetric relationship or situation. "Asymmetry" means anything unbalanced, exploitative, parasitical, oppressive, destructive, alienating, or having inherent suffering. In this view, victimology is all about power differentials. Today, the concept of victim includes any person who experiences injury, loss, or hardship due to any cause. Also today, the word victim is used rather indiscriminately; e.g., cancer victims, holocaust victims, accident victims, victims of injustice, hurricane victims, crime victims, and others. The thing that all these usages have in common is an image of someone who has suffered injury and harm by forces beyond his or her control. The term "crime victim" generally refers to any person, group, or entity who has suffered injury or loss due to illegal activity. The harm can be physical, psychological, or economic. The legal definition of "victim" typically includes the following:

A person who has suffered direct, or threatened, physical, emotional or pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of a crime; or in the case of a victim being an institutional entity, any of the same harms by an individual or authorized representative of another entity. Group harms are normally covered under civil and constitutional law, with "hate crime" being an emerging criminal law development, although criminal law tends to treat all cases as individualized.

Besides "primary crime victims", there are also "secondary crime victims" who experience the harm second hand, such as intimate partners or significant others of rape victims or children of a battered woman. It may also make sense to talk about "tertiary crime victims" who experience the harm vicariously, such as through media accounts or from watching television. Many victims feel that defining themselves as a "victim" has negative connotations, and choose instead to define themselves as a "survivor." This is a very personal choice that can only be made by the person victimized. The term "survivor" has multiple meanings; e.g. survivor of a crime, "survivor benefits." It remains to be seen whether this terminology for victims of crime will endure.

"Victim defenses" have recently emerged in cases of parricide (killing one's parents) and homicide of batterers by abused spouses. Advocates for battered women were among the first to recognize the issue, and promote the "battered woman syndrome" to defend women who killed or seriously injured a spouse or partner after enduring years of physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse. Attorneys have also drawn upon theories of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder to defend their client's behavior. From time to time, media attention to these defenses becomes intense, and certain "high profile" cases tend to influence public opinion and spread confusion over who is the "victim" and who is the "victimizer." One of the goals of victimology as a science is to help end this state of societal confusion. The Study of Victimology Before we can understand victimology, we need to appreciate that it is a fairly new subfield or area of specialization within criminology. Criminology is a rather broad field of study that encompasses the study of law making, law breaking, and societal reactions to law breaking. Victimology, much like criminal justice, falls into the third of these areas. Victimology doesn't have any subfields within itself; in fact, there are few theories, and little or no schools of thought. Going back to criminology, there are four subfields: penology (and the sociology of law); delinquency (sometimes referred to as psychological criminology); comparative (and historical) criminology; and victimology. Andrew Karmen, who wrote a text on victimology entitled Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology in 1990, broadly defined victimology: "The scientific study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system -that is, the police and courts, and corrections officials -- and the connections between victims and other societal groups and institutions, such as the media, businesses, and social movements." From this definition, we can see that victimology encompasses the study of:

victimization victim-offender relationships victim-criminal justice system relationships victims and the media victims and the costs of crime victims and social movements

Victimologists often use surveys of large numbers of people about the crimes that have been committed against them because official police statistics are known to be incomplete. Data derived from victimization surveys are carried out each year by the Census Bureau on behalf of the Department of Justice (the NCVS - National

Crime Victimization Survey). Victimologists then estimate victimization rates and risks, and do a whole lot more. If there is any such thing as a method to victimology, here it is: 1. Define the problem - find the asymmetry, analyze responsibility, explore the kinds of harm 2. Measure true dimension of the problem - analyze statistics, see what kind of people are involved, accurately gauge extent of harm 3. Investigate how CJ system handles the problem - look at what CJ system ignores, ask what victim wants, analyze effects, chronicle emergence of victim's movement 4. Examine societal response to problem - look at issues of constitutional rights, analyze proposed legislation, analyze media reaction, see if anyone is cashing in on the problem History of Victimology At first (going back to the origins of criminology in the 1880s), anything resembling victimology was simply the study of crime from the perspective of the victim. With the exception of some psychological profilers who do this, nobody really advocates this approach to victimology anymore. The scientific study of victimology can be traced back to the 1940s and 1950s. Two criminologists, Mendelsohn and Von Hentig, began to explore the field of victimology by creating "typologies". They are considered the "fathers of the study of victimology." These new "victimologists" began to study the behaviors and vulnerabilities of victims, such as the resistance of rape victims and characteristics of the types of people who were victims of crime, especially murder victims. Mendelsohn (1937) interviewed victims to obtain information, and his analysis led him to believe that most victims had an "unconscious aptitude for being victimized." He created a typology of six (6) types of victims, with only the first type, the innocent, portrayed as just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The other five types all contributed somehow to their own injury, and represented victim precipitation. Von Hentig (1948) studied victims of homicide, and said that the most likely type of victim is the "depressive type" who is an easy target, careless and unsuspecting. The "greedy type" is easily duped because his or her motivation for easy gain lowers his or her natural tendency to be suspicious. The "wanton type" is particularly vulnerable to stresses that occur at a given period of time in the life cycle, such as juvenile victims. The "tormentor," is the victim of attack from the target of his or her abuse, such as with battered women. Von Hentig's work provided the foundation for analysis of victim-precipitation that is still somewhat evident in the literature today. Wolfgang's research (1958) followed this lead and later theorized that "many victim-precipitated homicides were, in fact,

caused by the unconscious desire of the victims to commit suicide." Schafer's theoretical work (1968) also represented how victimology invested a substantial amount of its energy to the study of how victims contribute - knowingly or unknowingly -- to their own victimization, and potential ways they may share responsibility with offenders for specific crimes. In fact, Schafer's book, The Victim and His Criminal, from this approach, is supposed to be a corrective to Von Hentig's book, The Criminal and His Victim. Theories in Victimology Over the years, ideas about victim precipitation have come to be perceived as a negative thing; "victim blaming" it is called. Research into ways in which victims "contribute" to their own victimization is considered by victims and victim advocates as both unacceptable and destructive. Yet a few enduring models and near-theories exist. I'll mention two or three of them: 1. Luckenbill's (1977) Situated Transaction Model - This one is commonly found in sociology of deviance textbooks. The idea is that at the interpersonal level, crime and victimization is a contest of character. The stages go like this: (1) insult - "Your Momma"; (2) clarification - "Whaddya say about my Mother"; (3) retaliation - "I said your Momma and you too"; (4) counter retaliation - "Well, you're worse than my Momma"; (5) presence of weapon - or search for a weapon or clenching of fists; (6) onlookers - presence of audience helps escalate the situation. 2. Benjamin & Master's Threefold Model - This one is found in a variety of criminological studies, from prison riots to strain theories. The idea is that conditions that support crime can be classified into three general categories: (1) precipitating factors - time, space, being in the wrong place at the wrong time; (2) attracting factors - choices, options, lifestyles (the sociological expression "lifestyle" refers to daily routine activities as well as special events one engages in on a predictable basis); (3) predisposing factors - all the sociodemographic characteristics of victims, being male, being young, being poor, being a minority, living in squalor, being single, being unemployed. 3. Cohen & Felson's (1979) Routine Activities Theory - This one is quite popular among victimologists today who are anxious to test the theory. Briefly, it says that crime occurs whenever three conditions come together: (1) suitable targets - and we'll always have suitable targets as long as we have poverty; (2) motivated offenders - and we'll always have motivated offenders since victimology, unlike deterministic criminology, assumes anyone will try to get away with something if they can; and (3) absence of guardians - the problem is that there's few defensible spaces (natural surveillance areas) and in the absence of private security, the government can't do the job alone. The phenomena that criminals and victims often have the same sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., are in relatively the same age group) is known as the

propinquity hypothesis; and that criminals and victims often live in physical proximity to one another is called the proximity hypothesis. Societal Influences America's "law-and-order" movement has continued to overlap with the movement to enhance the legal standing and improve treatment of crime victims. Criminal justice reformers seeking greater accountability for offenders through tougher sentencing have found allies in outspoken violent crime victims and politicians who recognized the public's concern about crime and its impact. The combination has brought greater political support for crime victims' rights legislation and increased funding for crime victim services. Since about 1981 (the start of Victims Rights Week), there has been numerous legislation, conferences, and task forces. Some socalled victim's rights (such as denial of bail, anti-suppression of evidence, and victim-initiated appeals) clearly are anti-defendant and pro-prosecutor to the extent that they undermine cherished principles that an accused person is considered innocent until proven guilty, and that the burden of proof falls on the state. INTERNET Theoretical Perspectives of Victimology RESOURCES:

PRINTED RESOURCES: Hentig, von, Hans (1948) The Criminal and His Victim. New Haven: Yale U. Press. Karmen, A. (1992) Crime Victims. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole. Mendelsohn, B. (1963) "The Origin of the Doctrine of Victimology" Excerpta Criminologica 3:30 Newman, O. (1972) Defensible Space. NY: Macmillan. Schwartz, M. & V. Pitts (1995) "Exploring a Feminist Routine Activities Approach to Explaining Sexual Assault" Justice Quarterly 12: 1.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM RESPONSE TO VICTIMS First of all, we need to know who the victims are. While crime victim-related research of 40 and 50 years ago examined the characteristics of victims, much of it approached the issue from the perspective of "shared responsibility," that is how crime victims were, in part, "responsible" for their victimization. In recent decades, the paradigm has shifted. The contemporary study of the characteristics of crime victims has tended to focus on identifying risk factors in order to better understand the phenomena, without attributing blame to the victims. Information about the risk for victimization has been used to develop crime prevention and enforcement strategies. Research indicates that there is a host of individual, situational, and communitylevel factors that increase risk of criminal victimization. Let's look at the individual

factors. Individuals can be described in terms of their sociodemographic characteristics. These characteristics are encapsulated in the acronym S.A.U.C.E.R. Sociodemographic Characteristics The risk of becoming a crime victim varies as a function of S.A.U.C.E.R:

Sex - Male or female Age - Young, middle aged, or elderly Urban - Urban or rural Class - Socioeconomic class Ethnicity - Racial characteristics Religion - Religious preference

Sex With the exception of sexual assault and domestic violence, men have higher risk of assault than women. Lifetime risk of homicide is three to four times higher for men than women. Age Adolescents have substantially higher rates of assault than young adults or older Americans. Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey indicate that 12-to19 year olds are two to three times as likely as those over 20 to become victims of personal crime each year. Data from The National Women's Study indicate that 62% of all forcible rape cases occurred when the victim was under 18 years of age (Kilpatrick et al., 1992). Urban Crime and victimization is mostly an urban problem. Urban areas have a dangerous amount of transience (strangers moving in and out of town), heterogeneity (mix of different people and places), and disorganization (dilapidation of housing and buildings). Class Violence disproportionately affects those from lower socioeconomic classes. Family income is related to rates of violence and victimization, with lower income families at a higher risk than those from higher income brackets.

For example, in 1988, the risk of victimization was 2.5 times greater for families with the lowest incomes (under $7,500) compared to those with the highest ($50,000 and over).

Women with household incomes less than $10,000 have odds 1.8 times greater than those with incomes of $10,000 or more of becoming a rape or aggravated assault victim. Poverty increases the risk of assault even after controlling for the effects of prior victimization and sensation seeking. Ethnicity Racial and ethnic minorities have higher rates of assault than other Americans. African-Americans are six times more likely than white Americans to be homicide victims. Rates of violent assault are approximately twice as high for African- and Hispanic-Americans compared to White Americans. African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans are significantly more likely than White Americans to have ever been violent victims of crime. Religion Certain religious groups tend to be regularly persecuted, and over represented in hate crime statistics. Interpreting Sociodemographic Characteristics There are many conflicting findings about demographic characteristics as risk factors due to different research methodologies being used. Many demographic variables are confounded. That is, they are so interrelated as to cause some difficulty in separating out their relative contributions. Demographic variables of age, gender, and racial status all tend to be confounded with income: young people tend to be poorer than older people; women tend to have less income than men; and African-Americans tend to have less income than white Americans. Repeat Victimization and the Cycle of Violence Several studies show that a substantial proportion of crime victims has been victimized more than once and that a history of victimization increases the risk of subsequent violent assault. The risk of developing PTSD and substance use/abuse problems is higher among repeat victims than among those who have experienced only one victimization. Youth victimization history increases risk of involvement with delinquent peers and of subsequent delinquent behavior. A kind of role modeling effect takes place in the at-risk age years of 13-17, and when the person grows up past age 18, they become either a repeat victimizer or victim. Association with deviant peers and involvement with substance abuse increases risk of victimization. A history of child abuse and neglect increases risk of delinquent and criminal behavior.

Residential Location Where an individual lives influences one's risk of becoming a violent crime victim. Violent crime rates increase as a function of community size. For example, the violent crime rate was 359 per 100,000 residents in cities of less than 10,000; but 2,243 per 100,000 in cities with populations over a million translates to rates seven times greater. Non-reported crimes are also highest in central cities, somewhat lower in suburban areas, and lowest in rural areas. Lifestyles and routine activities are generally related to demographic characteristics (e.g., age and marital status) and other personal characteristics. If a person's lifestyle or routine activities places him or her in frequent contact with potential assailants, then they are more likely to be assaulted than if their routine activities and lifestyle do not bring them into as frequent contact with predatory individuals. Thus, those whose routine activities or lifestyles involve considerable contact with young men should have higher rates of victimization. Likewise, people who are married, who never leave their houses after dark, and who never take public transportation should have limited contact with young men, and therefore have reduced risk of assault. Need for Improved Treatment of Victims Victims of crime have generally been treated less than adequately within the criminal justice system, particularly in modern times. The historic vestiges of a victim-oriented or victim-driven system, with private prosecution or so called "vigilantism" justice, have given way over the last decades to an offender-based criminal justice system. Much progress has been made in recent years to begin balancing the system to provide victims with rights and services. In order to continue these important efforts, victims and their advocates must understand and learn to work with the delicate balance among the various entities within the criminal justice system. Victims and the Criminal Justice System Victims of crime deserve rights and services in the criminal justice system that begin at the point of reporting crime to the police, and continue through the entire criminal justice and corrections processes. The criminal justice system is charged with processing cases from the point of victimization, through investigation, arrest, prosecution and sanctions. At each point along this continuum, criminal justice agencies and professionals have opportunities and obligations to provide victims with assistance, services and accommodations to ease their difficulties in what is already a very trying, tragic time. The criminal justice system can minimize and avoid inflicting "secondary

victimization" (by the CJ system itself) that has often characterized much of the plight of victims of crime. Access to Services Access to services is an extremely important component of any service delivery plan, and depends greatly on the physical location and accessibility of such services. For example, police officers should be trained and updated on a regular basis about existing victim service programs -- including 24-hour emergency crisis response and shelter -- and how to make appropriate referrals. Court-based advocacy programs should be established in all adult and juvenile court facilities. Probation officials must guarantee that crucial victim impact information is incorporated into their recommendations to the court relevant to an offender's sentencing and community supervision plan. Correctional institutions should include important victim information -- such as notification requests and victim impact statements -- in offender files or databases, with security precautions established to protect victim confidentiality. Paroling authorities should encourage and accept victim impact statements, and offer victims whatever reasonable protections they request if an offender is released to parole supervision. Training and Technical Assistance Victim sensitivity training should be provided to all criminal and juvenile justice professionals, as part of mandatory orientation educational programs, as well as continuing education. Such training should include, but not be limited to:

The scope of crime and victimization. The trauma of victimization, with an emphasis on responses that are unique to different types of victims. Victims' rights accorded by constitutional and statutory mandates, as well as by agency policy. The short- and long-term needs of victims (physical, financial and psychological), with a focus on why appropriate referrals for follow-on assistance are so important. Cultural diversity and sensitivity. The need for multidisciplinary approaches to victim assistance and services from the criminal justice system -- including the use of inter-agency agreements that stipulate the various agencies' roles and responsibilities -- to ensure a "seamless" delivery of services. The role of allied professionals in enhancing criminal justice-based victims' rights and services.

"Cross training" is also essential to improving the delivery of services to victims within the criminal justice system. Just as service providers want criminal justice system officials to be knowledgeable about and consistent in their enforcement of

victims' rights, criminal justice system officials want victim advocates to understand the scope and processes of the criminal justice system. Core Components of Victim Services A comprehensive system of services should be "victim-centered." There are approximately nine (9) core services to such a system: 1. Orientation to the criminal justice system and process 2. Assistance to victims and witnesses who must testify 3. Crisis intervention 4. Information about individual case status and outcome 5. Assistance with compensation and restitution 6. Facilitating victim participation in the criminal justice system 7. Facilitating property return 8. Information about and referral to community services 9. Education and training about the needs and rights of victims in the criminal justice system 10. Witness coordination and post-disposition services. Criminal Justice Roles and Responsibilities Law Enforcement As "first responders" to most crimes, police departments serve a critical and primary role in providing immediate intervention and assistance to victims of crime. Unlike most social service agencies, police departments are typically open every day of the year, 24-hours-a-day. As such, there is tremendous responsibility on the part of law enforcement officers and civilian personnel to provide sensitive and supportive victim services. Although police departments tend to provide more and better victim services, these services were not always part of traditional policing. Many police officials have perceived their victim assistance responsibilities as a secondary responsibility, at best. Historically, police academies have not provided adequate training for law enforcement personnel regarding victimization and the effect violent crime has on crime victims. This means that undertrained law enforcement personnel come into contact with emotionally distraught victims, which results in a decrease of the victim's confidence and willingness to participate in the criminal justice system. The move toward community policing in many jurisdictions has important implications for victims and those who serve them. With more officers visible and active on the street and in neighborhoods, the delivery of victim services can be System Agencies'

provided more swiftly, and involve supportive advocacy from all facets of a neighborhood or community (such as businesses, churches and social services). Police-based services provide essential assistance to victims of crime. These include on-site crisis intervention and securing emergency medical assistance. Additionally, law enforcement programs may provide information and referrals to services and resources that can aid in a victim's short and long-term reconstruction. Essential services should include, but are not limited to:

Orientation to the law enforcement and investigatory process. Provision of or referral and accompaniment to crisis intervention and psycho-logical first aid. Accompaniment to emergency medical services in cases involving injury. Contacting a victim service professional to provide on-site assistance and support, upon request from the victim. Providing information to crime victims about their constitutional and statutory rights, and the availability of crime victim compensation. Securing the victim's property if personal safety has been compromised as a result of crime. Personally contacting the victim by telephone or in person 24-to-48 hours following the initial response to see if assistance has been sought and/or received. Immediate referrals (verbally and in writing) to community agencies that offer emergency services to victims, as well as information about financial assistance, should be provided to all victims. For example, a brochure should be developed in different languages and given to victims that includes information about emergency and long-term services and victim compensation.

Perhaps most important, every law enforcement agency -- at the federal, state and local levels -- should assign a staff member to serve as a liaison to crime victims and victim services. This designation will enhance all roles and responsibilities described above, and will coordinate and streamline the victims' rights and the delivery of victim services. Prosecution When law enforcement has investigated a crime and a suspect has been arrested, the cases are then referred to prosecutors. Although each state's laws and procedures provide for different ways to initiate a criminal action, this is usually handled through either an initial court appearance or some process leading to charging and arraignment. At this point, information regarding the investigation and facts of the crime is presented by law enforcement to the court with the assistance of prosecutors, and appropriate charges are levied against the defendant. When appropriate, he or she is "bound over for trial" on the charges levied.

There is tremendous motivation to utilize the typically limited resources made available to prosecutors to dispose of each case in the most just, yet efficient manner possible. The motivation to dispense cases due to the typically overwhelming work load handled by most prosecutors' offices often comes into direct conflict with the needs and desires of individual victims, who want their particular perpetrator prosecuted to the full extent of the law. However, victims' expectations are often not fulfilled, and the case is disposed of early on, most often through the use of a plea negotiation, usually referred to as plea bargaining. Plea Bargaining Plea bargaining allows the defendant to avoid a trial and the possibility of a verdict that may result in a more severe sentence by agreeing to plead guilty to a lesser offense. Victims are often most distressed at the perceived ability of the defendant to "get off easy" by bargaining with the prosecutor to lower the offenses of which they may actually be guilty. Many victims and advocates rightfully consider victim participation in the plea negotiation process as essential to providing victims with a voice in the system. Any plea negotiation should include an opportunity to present the impact of the crime on the victim -- a victim impact statement. Trial Assuming a case goes beyond the plea negotiation stage to trial, the defendant continues to receive basic protections found in the United States Constitution, state constitutions and various case law holdings. Volumes of materials are available on defendants' rights. These include, for example, the right to obtain all exculpatory evidence from the prosecution, which would tend to prove the innocence of the defendant. Also, the defendant has the right to confront and cross-examine his or her accusers. Often, this is very difficult for the victim, who must be well prepared to withstand the onslaught of cross-examination by often aggressive defense counsel. Defense counsel typically use methods that involve the strategy of "defense by distraction". This approach is based on the notion that in order to place any possible "reasonable doubt" within the minds of the jury, a defense lawyer will attempt to focus attention on any other possible factor than the defendant's own actions. If the defendant is not released on various technical violations of his or her rights that may arise (for example from search and seizure issues), attempts will be made to blame others for the situation. The police will be accused of other violations, society may be implicated as the true cause of the problem, and especially victims are often blamed for their "contribution" to their own victimization. There are a number of services that can and should be provided by prosecutorbased victim assistance programs. The most important of these are appropriate notification programs regarding the status of the case and the delays that often occur in the progress of a criminal prosecution. Victims are most often distressed by the lack of progress in their cases and the need to rearrange their personal and work lives repeatedly to attend court hearings that are often delayed. Also, victims

may require assistance in attending and participating in court proceedings, protection from intimidation and harm, basic orientation to the criminal justice system and their appropriate role within it, as well as other services and interventions that are described at length in other chapters. Of course, referrals to appropriate victim assistance and victim compensation programs should be made by the prosecutor's office. Although prosecutors are not the "victim's attorney," they have opportunities to keep victims informed and involved, to provide appropriate accommodations in the pre-trial and court settings, and to follow-up with information and referral, as needed. These opportunities should include, but are not limited to:

Providing orientation to the criminal justice process. Providing information about the criminal justice system and proceedings in simple, layperson's terms to help victims understand the maze of the criminal justice system. Victim information should be available in multi-lingual formats. Providing notification of case status at key stages of the criminal justice system. Sponsoring witness alert programs to place witnesses on "stand-by" to come to court appearances, thus saving victims time and money. Coordinating witness appearances, i.e. scheduling witnesses, providing witness fees, per diem fees and accommodations for out-of-town witnesses, as well as assistance with transportation. Sponsoring victim/witness information telephone lines to provide up-to-date information after hours to subpoenaed witnesses. Providing educational and accompaniment programs to familiarize victims with the courtroom. Providing a waiting area for victims and witnesses and their families in the courthouse that is separate by sight and sound from the offender. These areas must be "child-friendly," safe and secure. Offering assistance to victims in completing victim compensation applications. Coordinating the inclusion of victim impact information, i.e. written statements, allocution, audio or video statements, into court proceedings (including plea bargains, pre-sentence reports and sentencing) with probation and the judiciary. Offering employer, landlord, and/or creditor intervention services. Expediting the prompt return of property, closely coordinating such efforts with law enforcement. Providing intervention, protection and recourse to victims and witnesses who are being intimidated or harassed by perpetrators.

In addition, many prosecutors are establishing "vertical prosecution units," especially for domestic violence cases, where specially trained prosecutors maintain caseloads of one type of victimization. Vertical prosecutors work on cases from the

initial filing of charges through disposition. This relatively new approach to administering justice streamlines this stage of the criminal justice system, for the victim. Instead of several prosecutors working on the case at various stages in the prosecution, one prosecutor is assigned the case from the point of charging through trial. Judiciary Judges can provide essential protections to victims. For example, when cases involve children, certain accommodations such as allowing the victim to testify through close circuit television or granting orders requiring defense counsel to lower themselves to the child's eye level and not raise his or her voice, as well as other methods of making the courtroom less intimidating to a child, can be ordered. Judges can also expedite trials so as not to further victimize the crime victim due to additional delays during an already difficult process. Judges can deny motions by the defense that are clearly aimed at offending the victims. One common technique is for a defense counsel to subpoena the victims' family members as potential witnesses, request that the court order that witnesses be excluded from the courtroom (sequester) and then never call the victim's family to testify - thereby preventing their attendance in the courtroom. However, the defendant's family is allowed to sit in the courtroom, showing support for their family member who is on trial, while the victim's family is not allowed in the courtroom. Such motions can, and should, be denied. Judges are empowered to sentence convicted criminals for the crimes for which they have been convicted. It is important that judges include information regarding the impact of the crime on the victim in their assessment of appropriate sentences. Often this information is provided through the prosecutor-based victim assistance program, a probation office, or another official source, and is typically referred to as a victim impact statement (VIS). VIS information is often the only comprehensive assessment of the injuries caused by the offender available to the judge; it is crucial that this information be conveyed to the sentencing court. Probation Prior to any agreement of probation, the probation officer should interview victims as part of the pre-sentence investigation (PSI) to determine the physical, financial and emotional impact the crime had on them. When an offender is sentenced to probation, he or she submits to community supervision from a probation officer. The probationer may be required to fulfill certain requirements -- called conditions of probation -- that might include: no contact with the victim; payment of monetary obligations to the victim, such as restitution, child support, mortgage payments, etc.; payment of fines (that often support law enforcement and victim services); no use of alcohol or other drugs (with an agreement to submit to random testing); specific treatment that addresses the probationer's criminal activities (such as sex offender

treatment, alcohol or other drug counseling, anger management, etc.); and/or community service. While restitution payments are monitored by probation agencies, they are usually collected by the court. Probation officials' roles and responsibilities to victims should include, but are not limited to:

Contacting victims to assess the psychological, financial and physical impact the crime had on them as part of the pre-sentence investigation (PSI). Incorporating any victim impact statement (allocution, written, audio or visual) into the official PSI report to the court. Determining any specific conditions of probation that will ensure the victim's safety and security. Soliciting victims' opinions relevant to appropriate community service sanctions for the probationer. Determining the amount of appropriate restitution payments, and developing a realistic schedule for the collection and disbursement of restitution to the victim. In some jurisdiction, probation officers are charged with physically collecting restitution payments, and forwarding them to victims. Supervising the probationer's involvement in any victim/offender programming, such as victim impact classes or panels, victim/offender mediation or conciliation, or "Impact of Crime on Victims" classes, that victims choose to participate in on a strictly voluntary basis. Notifying the victim of any probation violations that result in an offender's incarceration. Monitoring probationers to ensure full compliance with all conditions of probation that affect the victim's rights, safety and security, as well as the general orders of probation. Providing information and referrals to victims who require assistance. Participating in multidisciplinary efforts with other entities that comprise the criminal justice system to ensure a seamless delivery of rights and services to victims of crime.

Corrections When a convicted offender is sentenced to a term of imprisonment, the state Department of Corrections or Federal Bureau of Prisons assumes responsibility for his or her supervision. The offender's file that contains details from the crime, court case and sentence, victim impact statement (when applicable), recommendations for treatment and services during the period of incarceration and personal information, is utilized as a basis for offender classification. The purpose of classification is to place the offender in the most appropriate incarceration setting (minimum, medium, maximum, or super-maximum facility). The Department of Corrections and institutions house the offender for his or her period of incarceration; implement and monitor work, educational and treatment activities available to inmates; and coordinate any release into the community with paroling authorities.

Over half of America's state corrections departments and the federal system now have victim service programs. All the roles and responsibilities enumerated below are generally sponsored and/or implemented by such programs.

Obtaining relevant victim information -- including victim impact statements and protection orders -- from court documentation for inclusion in the offender's file. Protecting the confidentiality of victim information through protected automated databases or "flags" on paper files that delineate that this information is not available to inmates or their counsel. Providing victims and witnesses with information and recourse relevant to inmates who attempt to intimidate, harass, or harm the victim during their period of incarceration. Upon request, notifying victims of an offender's status, including but not limited to: current location, classification, potential release date, escape, or death. Implementing and monitoring victim/offender programming, such as victim impact panels, victim/offender mediation or conciliation, or "Impact of Crime on Victims" programs. In some departments (such as California), monitoring, collecting and disbursing restitution payments to victims and/or fines to state victim compensation programs. Ensuring that inmates receive programming that is commensurate with court orders relevant to victims, such as sex offender treatment, alcohol and/or other drug counseling, anger management, etc. Coordinating the physical location and logistics of parole release hearings with paroling authorities, victims, and victim service providers. Providing information and referrals to victims who require assistance. Participating in multidisciplinary efforts with other entities that comprise the criminal justice system to ensure a seamless delivery of rights and services to victims of crime.

Parole When an inmate is released from prison, his or her reintegration back into the community is accomplished through the parole process (with the exception of the federal system and many states where parole has been abolished). Parole is the early release of prisoners, with conditions attached to that release that are designed to protect the safety of both the victim and the public. Parole is considered part of the prison sentence, but is served in the community. In most states, paroling authorities are separate from the Department of Corrections. Parole board members in most states are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Governor. In some states -- including California, South Carolina and Virginia -- victims of violent crime serve as parole board members; each state varies in its number of board members.

Similar to probation, successful candidates for parole must agree to abide by certain rules, which include but are not limited to: not committing any crimes during the period of parole; honoring protective or "stay away" orders that prevent contact with the victim; submitting to random testing for alcohol or other drugs; finding and maintaining employment and housing; paying restitution and other financial obligations, including child support, fines and costs associated with their parole supervision; and/or limited driving privileges. In most states, victims have the statutory and/or constitutional right to provide parole boards with victim impact information about how the crime affected them. Since many offenders are sentenced for the crimes which they plead to in plea negotiations, it is imperative that parole boards know the facts of the crime that was actually committed. This important input also provides victims with an opportunity to request certain conditions of parole that make them feel safer, such as protective orders or requests that the offender be paroled to a geographic location that is a certain number of miles away from where the victim resides. In most states, victim impact statements are not confidential, offenders can access the statements (with protections afforded to the victim's contact information). Approximately half of states have victim service programs located in state parole agencies. These programs serve many important purposes, including providing victims with information and notification about a parolee's status, as well as with overviews of how the parole process works (and victims' rights that are inherent in this process). Such programs serve to make a system that has traditionally been "offender directed" also "victim centered." It is essential that victims know who their offender's parole agent is, and how the agent can be reached 24-hours-a-day. Parole officials' roles and responsibilities to victims should include, but are not limited to:

Providing victims with an overview of the parole process, including parole board hearings, community supervision, parole revocation, and all related victims' rights and services. Providing victims with the opportunity to submit victim impact statements to the parole board, including allocution, written, audio or video statements. Asking victims about any specific concerns they have related to their personal safety and security if an inmate is released to parole, and incorporating these reasonable concerns into parole conditions. When possible under state law, providing victims with the opportunity to personally present victim impact information to the board without the inmate present, and without providing access to such information by the inmate and/or his or her counsel. Continuing restitution orders emanating from judges or, in states where parole has authority, ordering restitution payments (and ensuring that such payments are collected, disbursed to the victim, and enforced).

Ordering important payments that help victims in interfamilial cases seek financial independence, such as child support, money for legal counsel or mental health counseling, mortgage or rent payments, etc. Providing victims with contact information for parole agents and paroling board members. Providing information and referrals to victims who require assistance. Participating in multidisciplinary efforts with other entities that comprise the criminal justice system to ensure a seamless delivery of rights and services to victims of crime.

Allied Professionals In addition to the core criminal justice system professionals discussed above, various allied professionals have a significant impact on the criminal justice system response to involving victims. These include, but are not limited to:

Medical personnel Mental health service providers Child protection professionals

Doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel provide tremendous assistance to victims of crime. In addition to police officers, medical personnel, who are often also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are commonly the first ones to come into contact with crime victims who have experienced some form of injury. In their roles, they are uniquely suited to make careful documentation of the condition of the victim and objectively report these findings (much of which can be utilized as evidence in criminal cases). Of course, the immediate and appropriate treatment of the victim is paramount; however, in the course of treatment, appropriate documentation provides useful information for prosecutors and victims in forwarding various criminal and other legal actions against the perpetrator. Of particular importance is the use of appropriate evidentiary collection kits to gather information in sexual assault and sexual abuse cases for later evidentiary use at trial. This needs to be done sensitively, but competently, so that the trauma of the rape examination is minimized and evidence is accurately collected. Mental health professionals are often involved in providing testimony at trial regarding the impact of crime on victims. In addition to treating victims, mental health professionals who are expert in the evaluation of the effect of trauma on victims are often used. It is important to note that these allied professionals and experts are heavily relied upon by the courts to make determinations regarding the damages and injuries incurred by the victims. These have important ramifications for the investigation and referral by law enforcement, by the handling of cases in prosecutor's offices, and in sentences handed down by judges.

Child protection officials have a significant role in cases involving child abuse and neglect. Depending on the jurisdiction and the nature of the victimization, these cases may be handled in a criminal court, juvenile court, or family court system. In each of these systems, it is important that the child protection official cooperate in developing the best investigation report possible for presentation at trial. As almost all victims of crime may require some medical, mental health or other social services intervention, the coordination of these efforts within and complimentary to the criminal justice system is crucial to providing the most victimcentered, victim-oriented criminal justice system response possible. Victim Impact Statements One of the most significant rights of crime victims is the right to submit victim impact statements (VIS) that include crucial information about the short- and longterm psychological, financial, physical and emotional effects of a crime on victims. Impact statements provide victims with a voice that should be heard by courts, as well as probation, parole and corrections officials. VIS not only give victims an important voice in a case that has had a profound impact upon their lives; they also often improve victims' overall opinions of the justice system. In research conducted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, twothirds (66%) of victims who were given the opportunity to present written VIS were "satisfied" with the criminal justice system. For those victims who were not allowed to submit VIS, three out of four (75%) were "dissatisfied" with the criminal justice system as a whole. SOCIAL SERVICE NETWORKS There's a need for agencies to work together in what's called a social service network so that communication and provision of services flows smoothly. Here's a diagram of what a typical community level network should look like:

INTERNET RESOURCES: Dynamics of the CJ System with Respect to Victim's Rights Sherman Report: Preventing Crime - What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising See Victim's Rights lecture PRINTED RESOURCES: Jacob, B. (1976) "The Concept of Restitution: An Historical Overview" In Restitution in Criminal Justice, J. Hudson (ed.) St Paul: Minnesota Dept. of Corrections. Karmen, A. (1995) "Towards a New Kind of Justice Professional: The Victim Advocate" The Justice Professional, Winter. VICTIM RIGHTS Here's how many of the rights have slowly become part of criminal law in relation to abusers and their victims. Legislation affecting victims and witnesses include:

The Victim & Witness Protection Act of 1982 The Victims of Crime (check out the fact sheet.) Victims Rights & Restitution Act of 1992 Violence Against Women Act of 1994

Act

of

1984

A number of states have enacted "victims' bills of rights." (At least 34 states have provisions which are designated as "Victims' Bills of Rights," "Rights of Crime Victims," or something similar. Twelve other states have legislation which might be considered a compilation of rights, protections or special guidelines for the treatment of victims.) Twenty states have passed constitutional amendments for victims' rights. (As of the end of 1994, the following states have passed victim constitutional amendments: AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, ID, IL, KS, MD, MI, MO, NJ, NM, OH, RI, TX, UT, WA and WI.) Most others have legislation in the wings. A Victim's Basic Rights Are:

The right to attend and/or participate in criminal justice proceedings; The victim can attend the trial, sentencing, and/or the parole. Many states also allow the victim to make an oral or written statement to be considered by the court or parole board at such proceedings. Some of you may remember the televised statements from families of victims of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Victims are increasingly being given the right to attend and sometimes address the court at other critical proceedings in the criminal justice process, such as: o Hearings on bail or pre-trial release of the offender; o Entry of plea agreements; o Post-trial relief or release hearings; o Probation hearings; o Commutation or pardon hearings. The right to notification of the stages/proceedings in the criminal process; This may not only include notification to the victim or victim's family of scheduled criminal proceedings and their outcomes, but also advance notice of proceedings where the victim has the right to attend and/or make a statement, as well as when hearings have been canceled and rescheduled. The right to be notified is a crucial one, because without it, victims cannot adequately pursue their other rights. The right to notification of other legal remedies; Victims may also have the right to be informed of the option to sue the offender for money damages in the civil justice system, to collect witness fees for their testimony, as well as other rights. The right to protection from intimidation and harassment; The right to protection from intimidation and harassment by the offender or the offender's family or associates may be extended to the victim's family members, as well as the victim. In the event you receive threats, bribes, or other attempts to persuade or intimidate you into testifying untruthfully, to forget, or to make yourself unavailable as a witness, report it immediately to the Sheriff's Office.

If you are the victim of domestic violence (violence within the family) or repeat violence (two incidents), you can file an injunction for protection with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Other kinds of protection include:

Police escorts to and from court; Secure waiting areas separate from those of the accused and his/her family during court proceedings; Witness stands that are shielded from the direct view of the offender; especially if the victim is a child, in which case many courts now allow video taped testimony to be used to protect the child from the trauma of the courtroom and further exposure to the accused. Closing the courtroom to those who are not parties to the case; and Residence relocation. The Right to Notification Of Employer AND Creditors At your request, the State Attorney's Office or Sheriff's Office will inform your employer that your cooperation in their investigation and prosecution of the case may necessitate your absence from work. At your request, they can also contact your creditors to seek their consideration if you are unable, temporarily, to continue payments as a result of the crime. Credit card companies are usually willing to suspend interest and payments if notified of the situation by an authority. The right to confidentiality of records; Unlike many other criminal cases, police and court records are not public record if they involve a juvenile or if the case deals with sexual assault or rape. These records are usually only available to the attorneys and parties to the case. The right to speedy trial provisions; Usually, this Constitutional right is used as a tactic by defense attorneys to rush the prosecution to court before they have all their ducks in a proverbial row. But it's a two-edged sword. As a victim, YOU have the right to a speedy trial also. The right to prompt return of the victim's personal property seized as evidence from the offender; This can include photos, clothing, recordings, letters etc. The availability of the offenders' profits from the sale of the stories of their crimes; Victim compensation and restitution. State victim compensation programs are designed to provide financial assistance to victims and, in some cases, to family members and other eligible persons. Usually, a victim must have suffered actual physical harm or other tangible loss. Keep track of your losses such as destroyed or stolen property and cost of any emotional counseling. This includes medical bills AND lost wages as a result of the abusers actions. In most states, a victim must fully cooperate with law enforcement and prosecution efforts in order to qualify for compensation. Restitution, on the

other hand, is ordered by the court or in some states, by the paroling authority making the offender pay for the financial loss of the victim. However, as a rule, neither victim compensation nor restitution include punitive damages for injury or loss suffered by the victim. A lawsuit in civil court is usually required to recover punitive damages. VICTIM TRAUMA Psychological trauma impairs the ability and/or willingness of crime victims to cooperate with the criminal justice system. Victims must be treated better by the criminal justice system because it cannot accomplish its mission without the cooperation of victims. Victims whose crime-related fear makes them reluctant to report crimes to police or who are too terrified to testify, effectively make it impossible for the criminal justice system to accomplish its mission. Thus, it is important to understand:

Victims' crime-related mental health problems. What aspects of the criminal justice system process are stressful to victims. What can be done to help victims with their crime-related mental health problems. What can be done to help victims cope with criminal justice system-related stress.

Effective partnerships among the criminal justice system, victim assistance personnel, and trained mental health professionals can help victims with crimerelated psychological trauma and with criminal justice system-related stress. By helping victims through such partnerships, the criminal justice system also helps itself become more effective in curbing and reducing crime. There are several psychological theories that are useful in understanding why victims might develop psychological trauma and why interactions with the criminal justice system are usually stressful for victim. Classical Conditioning Theory A violent criminal victimization is a real life classical conditioning experience in which being attacked is an unconditioned stimulus that produces unconditioned responses of fear, anxiety, terror, helplessness, pain, and other negative emotions. Any stimuli that are present during the attack are paired with the attack and become conditioned stimuli capable of producing conditioned responses of fear, anxiety, terror, helplessness, and other negative emotions. Classical conditioning theory predicts that any stimuli present at the time of a violent crime are potential conditioned stimuli that will produce conditioned fear, anxiety and other negative emotions when the victim encounters them. Thus,

characteristics of the assailant (e.g., age, race, attire, distinctive features), or characteristics of the setting (e.g., time of day, where the attack occurred, features of the setting) might become conditioned stimuli. Thus, a woman who exhibits a conditioned fear response to the sight of her rapist might also experience fear to the stimulus of men who resemble the rapist through the process of stimulus generalization. Eventually, this stimulus generalization process may result in the rape victim showing conditioned fear to all men. The most common response to conditioned stimuli is avoidance behavior. Thus, there is a natural tendency for crime victims to avoid contact with such conditioned stimuli and to escape from situations which bring them in contact with such stimuli. A second classical conditioning mechanism with important implications for understanding the behavior of crime victims is second-order conditioning. If a neutral stimulus is paired with a conditioned stimulus (without presenting the unconditioned stimulus), this neutral stimulus becomes a second order conditioned stimulus that can also produce a conditioned response. Thus, any stimuli present at the same time a crime-related conditioned stimulus is present can become a secondorder conditioned stimulus that also evokes fear, other negative emotions, and a strong tendency to engage in avoidance behavior. This is important for practitioners as police, prosecutors, and victim service providers may become associated as a second-order conditioned stimulus. Involvement with the criminal justice system requires crime victims to encounter many cognitive and environmental stimuli that remind them of the crime. These range from:

Having to look at the defendant in the courtroom. Having to think about details of the crime when preparing to testify. Confronting a member of "second-order conditioned stimuli" in the form of police, victim/witness advocates, and prosecutors.

Such avoidance behavior is generated by conditioned fear and anxiety, not by apathy. Avoidance can lead victims to cancel or not show up for appointments with criminal justice system officers, or victim advocates. Crime-related Psychological Trauma Most crime victims achieve some significant recovery sometime between one and three months (1-3 months) after the crime. During this time period, they are shocked, surprised, and terrified about what has happened to them. They often have feelings of unreality, thinking, "this can't be happening to me." Many will also report having periods of rapid heart rate and hyperventilation. Such physiological and emotional reactions are normal "flight or fight" responses that occur in dangerous situations.

In the days, weeks, and first two or three months after the crime, most violent crime victims continue to have high levels of fear, anxiety, and generalized distress. This distress disrupts their ability to concentrate and to perform simple mental activities that require concentration. They are preoccupied with the crime (e.g., they think about it a great deal of the time; they talk about it, they have flashbacks and bad dreams about it). They are often concerned about their safety from attack and about the safety of their family members. They are concerned that other people will not believe them or will think that they were to blame for what happened. Many victims also experience negative changes in their pre-crime beliefs that the world is a safe place where you can trust other people, and where people get the things they deserve out of life. Long-term psychological trauma also takes on various forms. The DSM-IV diagnosis of PTSD refers to a characteristic set of symptoms that develop after exposure to an extreme stressor. Sexual assault, physical attack, robbery, mugging, being kidnapped, child sexual assault, observing the serious injury or death of another person due to violent assault, and learning about the violent personal assault or death of a family member or close friend are specifically mentioned in the DSM-IV as types of stressors that are capable of producing PTSD. When exposed to these stressor events, the person's response must (according to the DSM-IV) involve intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Characteristic symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder include: 1. Persistent re-experiencing of the event (i.e., distressing dreams, distressing recollections, flashbacks, or emotional and/or physiological reactions when exposed to something that resembles the traumatic event.) 2. Persistent avoidance of things associated with the traumatic event or reduced ability to be close to other people and have loving feelings 3. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (i.e., sleep difficulties, outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, constantly being on guard, extreme startle response). 4. Duration of at least one month of symptoms. 5. Disturbance produces clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD was significantly higher among crime victims than victims of other traumatic events (25.8% vs 9.4%). Rates of PTSD appear to be higher among victims who report crimes to the criminal justice system than among nonreporting victims. There is also evidence that many crime victims with PTSD do not spontaneously recover without treatment, and that some crime victims have PTSD years after they were victimized. Long-term, crime-related psychological trauma is not limited to PTSD. Compared to people without a history of criminal victimization, people with criminal victimization have been found to have significantly higher rates of major

depression, thoughts of suicide, alcohol and drug problems, panic disorders, agoraphobia, and obsessive compulsive disorders. In addition to these mental disorders and mental health problems, violent crime often results in profound changes in other aspects of the victims' life. Many victims experience problems in their relationships with family and friends. Among the relationship problems they can experience is difficulty in sexual relations with their partner. VICTIM EXPECTATIONS Most crime victims think that the criminal justice system should be responsible for providing them with counseling for crime-related psychological trauma. This is particularly noteworthy because virtually all crime victims are eligible for crime victim compensation coverage for their mental health counseling. Clearly, a problem exists because most crime victims expect the criminal justice system to provide them with access to counseling, but most victims -- including those with crime related PTSD -- say they don't get the counseling they need. VICTIM TREATMENT PROGRAMS Few criminal justice system professionals and other victim advocates are trained mental health professionals, so because they are not mental health professionals, criminal justice system professionals or other victim advocates are not expected to provide specialized mental health treatment to victims with crime-related psychological trauma. However, criminal justice system professionals and victim advocates do need to know about state-of-the-art specialized counseling procedures for crime-related psychological trauma. They also need to know how to help victims obtain access to adequate counseling. In order to appropriately refer crime victims to mental health counselors, criminal justice professionals must be familiar with the training and credentials of the various professionals who may be available. Mental health professionals differ with respect to the amount and type of training they received prior to getting their professional degree. Here is a brief description of the major types of "mainstream" mental health professionals and their training.

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who receive an M.D. degree after completing four years of medical school. They also complete a one year internship and at least two additional years of specialized psychiatric residency training. In addition to providing psychotherapy, psychiatrists can prescribe medications. Clinical psychologists receive at least four years of graduate training that includes supervised experience in the assessment and treatment of clients.

They also complete a one year internship prior to receiving a Ph.D. or Psy.D. degree. In most states, clinical psychologists must also complete at least one year's additional supervised experience after they receive their doctoral degree. Clinical social workers receive an M.S.W. degree after two years of graduate training including classes and field work. Some of this training involves supervised assessment and treatment of clients. Additional years of postgraduate training are often required to become a licensed clinical social worker, L.C.S.W. Marriage and family therapists must have at least a masters degree in some behavioral science field and two years of additional supervised clinical practice with couples and families. Masters degree clinical mental health counselors usually have two years of training that includes some type of supervised internship. These mental health counselors can be certified by the National Academy of Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselors. Additionally, many states provide an L.P.C. license, Licensed Professional Counselor.

In addition to these "mainstream" mental health providers, certain other groups also provide counseling services to victims. These include pastoral counselors from the clergy and some nurses with special mental health training. Traditional healers from Native American cultures may not fit into these traditional mental health professional categories, but have specific expertise and training based on the knowledge and mores of their culture. Another important issue in evaluating the credentials of mental health professionals is whether they are licensed, certified, or registered in the state where services are being provided. These usually require passing an oral and written exam. A final consideration in evaluating the credentials of mental health professionals is the extent of their specific knowledge and experience in working with crime victims. Unfortunately, there is no requirement that graduate training for any type of mental health professional include information about assessment and treatment of crime-related psychological trauma. Nor does the licensure process require possession of this knowledge and expertise. Thus, there is no guarantee that any given mental health professional will be knowledgeable about assessment and treatment of crime-related psychological trauma. Therapy for Crime-Related Psychological Trauma There are literally hundreds of different psychotherapies, but relatively few are designed specifically for use with crime victims and have had their efficacy evaluated. Most of the research on efficacy of treatment for crime-related psychological trauma has been conducted with adult victims of rape rather than with child victims or with adult victims of other types of crimes. However, much of

what has been learned from research on treatment of rape victims is probably applicable to treatment of other crime victims. How long treatment should be depends on a number of factors including the extent of the victim's crime-related psychological trauma and the amount of external social support the victim has. Most treatment should be relatively short term in nature, however. Crime-related psychological trauma does not end with the trial, so victims may need brief booster sessions at other stressful times in their lives including during parole hearings or release of offenders. Not all crime victims need or can benefit from specialized mental health counseling. Research has contributed to our understanding of which victims who are most likely to develop crime-related psychological trauma and who are most likely to require consultation with a trained mental health professional. Before a crime occurs, victims differ in respect to their demographic characteristics, whether they have ever been a crime victim before, and how well adjusted they were before the crime. Although there are some exceptions, most studies show that victims' demographic characteristics such as gender, race, and age have little (if any) impact on crimerelated psychological trauma. Prior victimization history has been consistently found to increase the likelihood of psychological trauma following a new crime. Specifically, victims with a prior victimization history suffer more crime-related psychological trauma after experiencing a new crime than victims without prior victimization. This highlights the importance of inquiring about prior victimizations. The prior mental health history of the victim appears to be related to the extent of crime-related psychological trauma a victim experiences. Women who had PTSD in the past were substantially more likely to get PTSD after experiencing a new crime than women who had not had PTSD previously. Prior history of most mental disorders did not increase risk of developing PTSD after experiencing a stressful, violent crime. However, a history of major depression did increase the risk that PTSD would develop, but only if the crime was highly stressful. This suggests that victims with PTSD or depression may be particularly vulnerable to crime-related psychological trauma, but also confirms the important role played by the stressful nature of the crime itself. In general, violent crime such as rape, aggravated assault, homicide and alcoholrelated vehicular homicide produce more crime-related psychological distress than property crimes like burglary. Also, victims' appraisals of how dangerous the crime was are related to crime related psychological trauma. In particular, a belief that one might have been seriously injured or killed in a crime is a more powerful predictor of distress than objective factors such as physical injury, force and use of

a weapon. Research evidence is clear that how serious and dangerous the crime is constitutes the most important factor in determining crime-related psychological trauma. Postvictimization Factors Two major postvictimization factors are thought to play an important role in victim recovery from crime-related psychological trauma. The first is social support. In general, most studies find that good relationships and support from family members and friends assist victims' recovery. Consequently, it is important to determine the extent and supportiveness of a crime victim's potential social support network. Victims with little social support are probably more likely to need professional counseling. The second major postvictimization factor is the degree and nature of exposure to the criminal justice system. Although participation in the criminal justice system is generally regarded as a negative factor in victims' recovery, there are some data suggesting that involvement with the criminal justice system need not always have a negative effect. A positive experience, however, is largely reliant on treatment of victims that is comprehensive, sensitive and inclusive. There is no question that the criminal justice system is stressful for victims. The whole point of making the criminal justice system more "victim friendly" is the assumption that doing so may actually reduce the trauma to the victims. It is also reasonable to assume that being believed and treated well by the criminal justice system could make things better for victims, notwithstanding the inherently stressful nature of the criminal justice system. How Can the Criminal Justice System Address the Needs of Traumatized Crime Victims?

Treat victims as human beings, not as evidence. Always provide victims with information about case status and prepare them for what will happen at trial. Pay close attention to any psychological trauma the victim may be experiencing. Arrange for someone to be present at the trial whom the victim can count on for emotional support. Inquire about any specific fears or concerns the victims may have about trial and testimony. Inform and consult with victims about potential plea-bargain procedures. Give victims opportunity for input into proceedings when possible, including the opportunity to make a victim impact statement. Refer victims who need help with stress management to mental health professionals specifically trained to provide it.

Tell victims you are sorry that the crime happened and ask how you can help. Health Impact of RESOURCES Crime Anonymous 06/19/03 Victimology

INTERNET The Mental Trauma Crisis, Grief, and Healing Last Lecture Instructor Home Page List

updated: for

INTIMATE VIOLENCE Intimate violence covers the areas of domestic violence, stalking, cyberstalking, elder abuse, child abuse, and various forms of rape. Domestic violence takes the form of murder, rape, robbery, or assault committed by spouses, ex-spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, or acquaintances of the victim. Intimate violence involves relatives, friends, significant others, acquaintances, or admirers. Approximately 13% of ALL victimization is intimate violence, and 35% of all murders are by acquaintances. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Spouse abuse is a significant area of study in victimology. The exact number of couples who experience it is a matter of speculation, but it is roughly estimated that about one-quarter (25%) of all married couples will engage in it at least once in their lifetime. Slightly less (22%) of dating partners engage in it. Other estimates put the overall figure as high as 50-66%. There is no one good theory of spouse abuse. Explanations tend to fall into one of three (3) categories: (1) psychopathological theory; (2) feminist theory; and (3) social learning theory. The following table summarizes some of the key ideas of each theory: Psychopathology theory The offender is seen as a mentally disturbed individual, also usually suffering from alcohol or drug addiction, who is venting frustration or anger at a substitute target. The victim is seen as mentally disturbed by tolerating such behavior, also usually suffering from masochism or guilt, who somehow induces their

mate to beat and hurt them. The offender is seen as acting upon the current patriarchal (male dominated) makeup of society. The victim is historically socialized to accept control and discipline, and keep quiet about violence in the home. Three variations: (1) intergenerational transmission of violence - in which adults learn it by having seen it as a child; (2) learned helplessness -in which victim stays in relationship because of economic and emotional dependency; and (3) cycle of violence - in which victim makes excuses, believes in changing offender, and facilitates a tension disinhibition - reconciliation cycle.

Feminist theory

Learning theory

Battery is the most commonly reported form of spouse abuse, although there are a number of behaviors involved, ranging from nonviolent to violent action. The most commonly used measure of domestic violence is a survey instrument called the Conflict Tactics Scale developed by Murray Straus in 1979. The CTS represents a wide range of behaviors, and subjects are asked how many times in the past year they might have done the following in response to a family conflict, spat, or disagreement (Never, Once, Twice, 3-5 times, 6-10 times, 11-20 times, more than 20 times, Don't Know): a. Discussed the issue calmly b. Got information to back up (your/his) side of things c. Brought in or tried to bring in someone to help settle things d. Insulted or swore at the other e. Sulked and/or refused to talk about it f. Stomped out of the room or house or yard g. Cried h. Did or said something to spite the other i. Threatened to hit or throw something at the other j. Threw or smashed or hit or kicked something k. Threw something at the other l. Pushed, grabbed or shoved the other m. Slapped the other n. Kicked, bit or hit with a fist o. Hit or tried to hit with something p. Beating up the other

q. Threatened r. Used s. Other (explain)

with a

a knife

knife or

or

gun gun

Males tend to use their fists or feet to batter their victims, and females are more likely to use weapons. Female victims tend to be young, African-American or Hispanic, poor (family income less than $10,000), and from inner city (urban) areas. Male victims tend to fit a similar profile, and are much more likely to be AfricanAmerican, a factor that greatly increases the risk of homicide victimization. The Domestic Violence Information Manual (1991) mentions seven (7) different forms of domestic violence: 1. Physical abuse -- hitting, punching, pulling hair, slapping, grabbing, biting, kicking, bruising, burning, twisting arms, throwing victims against walls or furniture, throwing objects, and using weapons. 2. Sexual abuse -- any unwanted sexual contact such as "makeup sex", sexual intercourse without consent, marital rape, forced sexual perversion, forced unprotected sex, and forced sex with others. 3. Verbal abuse -- derogatory comments, insults, humiliations, or constant putdowns, usually with the victim told they are not physically attractive, inferior, incompetent, unable to succeed on their own, and are not a good mother/wife/housekeeper. The intent is to keep the victim under total control. 4. Psychological/Emotional Abuse -- manipulation and/or intimidation intended to destroy the other's self-esteem or sense of self, usually over long periods of time, including but not limited to destroying or getting rid of other's property, deprivation of items for personal needs, food or sleep deprivation, and pet abuse. 5. Spiritual abuse -- For some victims, spiritual abuse occurs as a deep sense of betrayal by religious traditions or other agents of identification with the community where everyone seems to know about the abuse but maintain silence or enjoin the victim to endure the violence to preserve the marriage. 6. Economic abuse -- Forbidding the partner to work, insisting they turn over all their paycheck, having them beg for money, giving them insufficient funds or allowance for basic necessities, or refusing to let them participate in financial decision. 7. Social abuse -- Jokes, criticisms, or put-downs in front of other people, usually about appearance, sexuality, or intelligence; false accusations, suspiciousness, or constant monitoring and control of victim's activities, outings, friendships, or access to information; isolation. There are typical patterns in which the various forms of abuse occur. Verbal abuse tends to occur first, followed by psychological abuse. Then, physical abuse occurs, usually followed by some sort of sexual abuse. The Verbal-Psychological-PhysicalSexual chain of events is quite common. Economic, social, and spiritual abuse tend to occur after or independently of this chain of events.

There's also something called the cycle of violence associated with domestic violence.

Technically, the cycle of violence begins with Phase 1: Tension Building, which is mostly characterized by poor communication and stressful events. Phase 2: sometimes called the "Explosion" stage consists of the actual Battering. Phase 3: the "Honeymoon" is characterized by guilt, remorse, and promises of "I'll never do it again." The actual battering incident usually takes up little time, but the apology, gift giving, and "honeymoon" phase can last weeks. Then, the batterer starts fault finding and becoming verbally abusive. Jealousy develops, and the domestic partner can usually sense the tension building. This leads to a state of fear, helplessness, and inability to control the environment which usually serves as ample ground for a precipitating or provocation incident (provocation if the partner "provokes" a scene to get it over with) which leads to another battering incident. Each incident builds on the previous incident by serving as a sort of memory disinhibition, although in some cases, alcohol or drugs are required for disinhibition. As you can see, the cycle of violence was designed to explain repeat victimization. The thing that repeat victims and repeat offenders both share in common is denial and minimization. Studies have found that repeaters are much more likely to deny or downplay the importance of domestic violence. One in every five victims (20%) of spouse abuse are repeat victims. In fact, divorced and separated women have a higher rate of victimization than married women. Victimologists are often unsure of what to recommend about repeaters. More women who leave their batterers are killed than those who stay. The risk is 75% higher for those who leave. DANGER ASSESSMENT

There's an approach in the study of domestic violence that focuses upon risk assessment. Although there are a number of ways to do this, the most popular way is the "matrix factor" approach which doesn't use predictors, but instead uses "risk markers" or "factors". There are three areas in which such efforts have been concentrated: Risk of Wife Beating: Risk of Offending: Repeat Risk of Homicide:

1. Violence in family of 1. More openly 1. Increase in frequency origin aggressive or violent in or severity of violence 2. Low income/education public 2. Threats to kill; (especially if wife's is 2. Less apologetic choking high) 3. Suicide 3. Suicide 3. Chronic alcoholism attempts/gestures attempts/gestures 4. Assertiveness deficit 4. Stress is more and 4. Gun ownership 5. Fear of abandonment more job-related (prior use of gun in a 6. Strict disciplinarian of 5. More attempts to fight) child control daily activities 5. Constant 7. Workplace stress *The earlier in the drug/alcohol 8. Depression/low self- relationship the first intoxication esteem episode, the more likely 6. More and more the repeat offending. forced sex (obsessive jealousy and excessive control) There are neither cutoff scores nor weighting of items with these risk factors. They should be used for informal discussions between victims and nurses, advocates, or counselors. They are based on retrospective interpretations with women who have been beaten. As such, they are inappropriate as formal prediction tools or for court sentencing situations. Scientific prediction of violence is a rather inexact science that cannot be done intuitively. Prediction would require awareness on at least four different levels in recognizing events that trigger violence. At the biological level, for example, brain activity would need to be monitored. At the psychological level, how a person processes and distorts information should be considered. At the macrosocial level, interpretation of certain events in news coverage might need to be looked at. At the microsocial level, the history of communication problems and opportunities to offend without getting caught are probably the most important predictors. RANDOMIZED FIELD EXPERIMENTS Most experimental research has involved study of the police response. Such was the case with the most famous NIJ-sponsored study of 1981-2 -- the MINNEAPOLIS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EXPERIMENT. Sherman and Berk (1984) concluded that arrest was the most effective deterrent. Replications of the experiment were

carried out in Atlanta, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Miami, Omaha, and Milwaukee in subsequent years which shed doubt on the idea of arrest as the best policy. One of the consistent findings from these replications is that arrest may very well increase the incidence of domestic violence in cases of unemployed males with low socioeconomic status. The only clear deterrent effect of arrest comes from issuance of a warrant after the suspect has already left the household. Offenders who are steadily employed, married (as opposed to cohabitating), better educated, and have a stake in conformity are slightly more likely, however, to be deterred by arrest. Deterrence also tends to only have a short-term effect, because in the longterm, the abuse may reoccur several years later. The MINNEAPOLIS EXPERIMENT required police, when responding to a domestic violence call, to pull out a color-coded card from a deck. The color of the card (red, blue, yellow) determined whether the police should (a) arrest somebody; (b) send somebody away for a cooling off period; or (c) give advice and mediate the dispute. The experimenters then tracked whether police had to return to the residence for another dispute within a six-month period, and also telephoned the victims to obtain their self-reports. Here are the results of the experiment with the recidivism rates expressed as percentages : Intervention type ARREST COOLING OFF COUNSELING Police recontact: 10% 24% 19% Victim Self-Report: 19% 33% 37%

The results clearly show arrest to be the most efficient method, and this resulted in widespread adoption of MANDATORY ARREST policies across the nation. A mandatory arrest policy originally meant the police arrest somebody even if the victims didn't want an arrest. To be sure, some police departments went a little overboard with mandatory arrest policies, and were sued for false arrest. Other police departments in the 1984 time period did nothing, and the landmark case that year of Thurman v. City of Torrington allowed victims who received no help to get awards in the multi-million dollar range. By 1989, 84% of police departments in the country had some form of mandatory arrest policy, by this time, calling them "pro-arrest" or warrantless policies. Warrantless arrest policies became the most common, and still exist in about 10 states. Warrantless arrest requires an arrest if a protection order is violated, and it allows individual police officers to size up the situation and make their judgment (judgmental policies) based on corollaries to the legal doctrine of the in-presence requirement. Much more common today as a form of "pro-arrest" policy is the "preferential policy" (presumptive policies) which states that in domestic violence situations, arrest is the preferred recommended action, and the department's policies and procedures spell out exactly what the officer is supposed to consider

and not consider. Essentially, preferential policies boil down to police determining whether there's a weapon involved and if some other pretext (like intoxication) can be used for an arrest. Preferential policies do not allow the police to consider financial situation, emotional pleas or assurances, or other situational factors. This is the current state of domestic violence policing today, although there is a great contemporary interest in various other trial-and-error approaches. Many victims actually liked the judgmental policies and preferred to have the police officers engaging in lay scientific prediction, something along the lines of: "Just tell me when he'll hit me again, and how likely he'll do it if I do X, Y, Z"? Other victims want a return to times when the officer just took the offender out and gave him a taste of his own medicine. Viable solutions are hard to come by with domestic violence. The criminal justice system is the only societal institution with enough clout to do something about the problem, which occurs about every 18 seconds. Only a small number (10%) of police officers themselves think arrest works. Perpetrator treatment programs only have a success rate of about 2% at counseling wife beaters. Many jurisdictions rely on protection orders, and have eased the availability of getting them by creating 24hour night courts or thru some other procedure. Women's shelters tend to work best as a long-term solution as this almost always results in permanent dissolution of the abusive relationship and a degree of empowerment (economic, social, emotional) inside the victim. Mediation centers often take cases that have been deferred to them by the criminal justice system, but such activities are better described as arbitration than mediation. Long-term solutions are probably going to require sweeping societal changes. The Federal Violent Crime Control Act of 1994 addresses domestic violence to an extent by providing grant money to set up programs, building battered women's shelters, increased penalties (20 years) for things like interstate kidnapping, and decertification of law enforcement officers who beat their wives. INTERNET RESOURCES: Domestic Violence Prevention Online - the latest news and risk assessment instruments

STALKING Prior to it being called stalking, this crime was referred to as harassment, threats, annoyance, or domestic terrorism (as well as a number of other names). It all started in 1990 in California with the first antistalking law. Since then, all 50 states have something similar. Famous celebrities have been killed or injured by stalkers, and have led the victim's movement in this regard. Even women in domestic violence shelters often report being stalked. There are an estimated 200,000 serial stalkers in America, and there are an estimated 1.4 million people who are the victims of stalking. Women are four times more likely to be stalked than men . The

majority of stalkers have been in relationships with their victims, but a significant percentage either never met their victims, or were just acquaintances - neighbors, friends or co-workers. Stalking can be considered a type of antisocial behavior bordering on sociopathy. Many serial killers and rapists engage in stalking. Stalking is like a long-term rape. The following is a list of stalking behaviors:

Watching or following someone Making harassing phone calls or hang-ups Sending harassing mail Making threats to victim or victim's family Vandalizing personal property or a vehicle Making repeated drive-bys Sending unwanted love notes, flowers, gifts, and so forth

Stalking always begins innocently, in what appears to be a chance encounter. Initial contacts are at the most innocent of places -- health clubs, church meetings, schools, day care centers, etc., and then the relationship quickly becomes a nightmare. After about three weeks or so, the would-be stalker typically asks the victim to marry him. Then, the stalker begins to invade the victim's place of work. Then, the stalker tries to take control of the victim's finances, the victim's vehicle, the victim's house or apartment, any and all possessions or things that need fixed up or taken care of. Stalkers try to move quickly (possibly in order to be quicker than the criminal justice system) and are continually forcing the victim into early decisions, yes or no situations, and then they do what they want anyway. Most stalkers fit into three broad categories: (1) intimate partner stalkers; (2) delusional stalkers; and (3) vengeful stalkers. 1. Intimate partner stalkers are usually the guy who "cant let go." They are men who refuse to believe that a relationship has really ended. Often, other people - even the victim - feels sorry for them. Many have extensive criminal histories. About 50% of all stalkers fall into this category. With these types, the victim often unwittingly encourages the stalker by trying to "let him down easy," or agreeing to talk to him "just one more time." Such stalkers are just interested in dominance and control. 2. Delusional stalkers frequently have little, if any, contact with their victims. They have major mental illnesses like schizophrenia, manic-depression or erotomania, and come from an abusive or emotionally barren family background with a poor sense of their own identity. They hold tight to some false belief that keeps them tied to their victims. In erotomania, the stalkers delusional belief is that the victim loves him. This type of stalker actually believes that he is having a relationship with his victim, even though they might never have met. The woman stalking David Letterman, the stalker who killed actress Rebecca Schaeffer and the man who stalked Madonna are all examples of this.

Another type of delusional stalker believes he is destined to be with someone, and that if he only pursues her hard enough and long enough, she will come to love him as he loves her. These stalkers know they are not having a relationship with their victims, but firmly believe that they will some day. John Hinckley Jr. and his obsession with Jodi Foster is an example of this type of stalker. Delusional stalkers are typically unmarried and socially immature loners who are unable to establish or sustain close relationships with others. They rarely date and have had few, if any, sexual relationships. Since they are both threatened by and yearn for closeness, they often pick victims who are unattainable in some way; married women, a therapist, clergyman, doctor or teacher. Those in the helping professions are particularly vulnerable to delusional stalkers. Any kindness shown to this kind of stalker will be blown out of proportion into a delusion of intimacy. What these stalkers cannot attain in reality is achieved through fantasy While some seek out a victim of higher status (doctors, lawyers, teachers), others seek out celebrities. Celebrity stalkers often psychotically "hear" or "see" something in the words or appearances of the victim. They are often convinced that the celebrity is sending them cryptic messages intended only for them to understand. Erotomanic delusions last an average of ten years. 3. Vengeful stalkers are angry with their victims over something, real or imagined. Politicians, for example, get many of these types of stalkers who become angry over some piece of legislation. Disgruntled ex-employees also stalk their former bosses, co-workers or the entire company. Some of these types are psychopaths; others are delusional (most often paranoid), and all believe that they are really the victims. They stalk to "get even." In general, for any type of stalker, the less of a relationship that actually existed prior to the stalking, the more mentally disturbed the stalker.

ZERO PROTECTION FOR MOST VICTIMS In most states, protection orders are available to stalking victims, but violation of a stalking protection order is only a misdemeanor resulting in civil or criminal contempt charges. Double jeopardy provisions of the constitution often prohibit the bringing of additional charges. Conviction on a stalking charge is also difficult. Several states require fairly rigorous mental states of maliciousness, and at least 10 states still require a documented or recorded threat of harm, some over a repeated period of time. By then, it may be too late for the victim. Some police departments (like the LAPD) have created Threat Management units to assist victims to help themselves, but still, victims must assume 100% of the responsibility for action.

It is therefore important that stalking victims (a) document every incident; (b) inform others; (c) do not antagonize the stalker; (d) obtain a protection order; (e) do not meet with the stalker; and (f) prevent any further contact with the stalker. INTERNET NCV List The Antistalking Website CYBERSTALKING Michigan was the first state to pass a cyberstalking law in 1998. Congress is currently (2000) considering making it a federal crime. Cyberstalking is defined as repeated threats or harassing behavior over email, the Internet, or other electronic communications. Most perpetrators are men and most victims are women who have met them before, but cyberstalking can be carried out anonymously. The technology makes it easy. Fewer than half of the states currently have cyberstalking laws, and most offenders, if caught, face only a misdemeanor. Police departments are fairly untrained in how to investigate these types of crimes. There are no clear statistics on the number of cyberstalking victims, but the Department of Justice estimates that there could be hundreds of thousands affected, and the numbers are growing. Cyberstalkers typically conceal their identities, and often do things like post fake web pages with doctored (or nude) photographs of their victims. They have usually researched their victim's geneology, hacked into their computer, and know everything there is to know about their victim that is available via the Internet. They sometimes hang out in chat rooms with sexy or sophisticated screen names. Typically, the cyberstalking victim is new online, and inexperienced with the rules of netiquette. Pedophiles, in particular, prey on new, inexperienced kids online. The more a child displays cyber-smarts, the less likely they will appeal to a predator online. Pedophiles look for loners. Many parents buy their children a computer because they don't have many real life friends. These kids are easy prey, since it's less likely they'll talk about the overtures to their friends, and they are more susceptible to someone trying to befriend them. They're lonely, and the pedophile poses as a much-needed friend. Pedophiles look for kids who are having problems at home. The pedophile tries to win the child over by further separating the child from their family, complaining about "parents" generally. Other cyberstalkers are just angry, young people. They are often paranoid, delusional, obsessional, self-centered, arrogant, manipulative, extremely jealous and possessive. They are usually "control freaks" and enjoy manipulating other people. They typically display behaviors associated with low self-esteem: they crave power over others, and enjoy the power to hurt others. The stalker mentality cannot take NO for an answer and cannot conceive that they might themselves be in the wrong. They are regulars in the online "flame wars" (wars of verbal abuse) and are about of Antistalking RESOURCES: Laws

as rude and obnoxious as can be. Their idea of fun is to hurl obscene abuse at other users to try to upset them. These kind of harassers are often loners who don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend. Their attempts to "hit" on a female will be clumsy and crude, but they are highly sensitive to rejection and humiliation. Turn down the cyberstalker and he will remember you, and will come back after you another day. Not all cyberstalkers are poor communicators who can't spell and can only speak in four-letter words. There are also suave and sophisticated abusers online, who initially appear as educated, articulate, sensitive people. Only later after private information has been revealed does it become apparent that they regularly violate anything entrusted to them. There appear to be at least four (4) different motives and perhaps types of cyberstalkers:

Sexual harassment Love-obsession Hate, Revenge,, Vendettas Ego & Power Trips

Sexual harassment is the most common form of cyberstalking. Female users will receive lots of unsolicited private messages in any chat forum, for example, that contain derogatory messages toward women in general. Love obsessions sometimes start in real life and carry over into cyberspace, but they also develop from online romances. Some cyberstalkers enjoy "breaking hearts" as a pastime; others are truly interested in love but live in a fantasy world where they get highly possessive and once they realize they can't have their fantasy come true, they start sending death threats. Vendatta cyberstalking starts out as a flame war, or the result of something somebody has said to offend another user. It's never clear what started it all in the first place, and this is the type of cyberstalking that's done about equally by both males and females. Ego cyberstalkers have nothing against you at all. They're just showing off their technological skills at your expense. Some of them use automated procedures to do their work for them. ZERO PROTECTION FOR MOST VICTIMS Anti-cyberstalking laws run the risk of violating the 1st Amendment. Any such law will probably have to be worded so broadly as to conceivably stifle a lot of forms of expression. That is, unless the wording is very specific. Another problem besides trying to formulate law is the tremendous variety of legal doctrines in the whole area of stalking that do not apply to cyberspace. Some states have followed the lead of other states in their stalking laws by allowing a "reasonable fear of risk" on the part of the victim to qualify for probable cause at least. Other states, the majority

of them, slap a different kind of standard on cyberstalking; one that requires "credible threats". With "credible threats", it's usually not good enough that the victim feels the stalker is capable of carrying out their threat, but physically able to do so. A threat coming from 2,000 miles across the country is less "credible" in a court of law than an email from someone living 50 miles away, or across town. While the legalities are being worked out, the Justice Department's main recommendation (as well as Congress' attitude) is to let the whole Internet industry regulate itself. That's why victims, again, must take 100% responsibility for documenting incidents, and for working with their ISPs (Internet Service Providers). It's extremely likely that cyberstalking is going to end up as a business crime rather than the crime of intimate violence that it is. INTERNET Wired Patrol a Justice Dept. 1999 Report on Cyberstalking ELDER ABUSE One of the lesser-known victimizations is elder abuse. Reliable statistics about the problem are hard to come by, and most studies fail to distinguish between abuse and neglect. "Elderly" in victimology generally means over the age of 75, but gerontologists dispute this definition. Most victims are female (as are the perpetrators), usually in ill health or some state of impairment, and residing in a household with their perpetrator. African-Americans have higher victimization rates than Whites, as do those with incomes under $7,500 a year and are urbanites. Victimization usually takes place in households that have unlisted phone numbers (or no phone), lack any means of transportation, and may be physically shuttered from the gaze of outsiders. Often, the motive for abuse is to collect a substantial life insurance settlement. It's estimated that at least half of the one million cases of elder abuse a year are related to some kind of financial exploitation scheme. The problem of elder abuse came into public attention around the year 1977. The problem area presents a number of unanswered questions; such as when passive neglect (being financially unable to provide care) turns into active neglect (a deliberate withdrawal of care, food, medicine, or other necessities) and turns into elder abuse (the willful infliction of mental or physical anguish, or unreasonable deprivation of care or confinement). As a group, the elderly make up about 14% of the population but only account for about 2% of all reported victimizations. Their fear of crime rates are heavily influenced by the mass media. Victimologists refer to this as vicarious victimization. Fraud, scams, and cons are also prevalent against the elderly, and those who live in dilapidated neighborhoods certainly have a right to be afraid, but even the safest of elderly people are afraid of crime. The elderly who live at home alone are three victim RESOURCES: support group

times at more risk of being the victim of a break-in. Offenders who prey upon the elderly tend to be under 30 years of age, but when it comes to intimate violence among the elderly, a son, a daughter, a nondistant relative, and in most cases, an elderly spouse is the perpetrator. Victims often blame themselves for any crime perpetrated against them. Elderly people rarely have social support systems. Victims rarely report their family members as abusers out of love. PERPETRATORS OF ELDER ABUSE The typical cause of elder abuse is caregiver stress. Caregivers simply give up trying to meet the economic and emotional needs of the elderly person under their care. Workplace stress can also add to this. In some cases, the perpetrator is financially dependent upon their victims, so a sort of "symbiotic relationship" develops in which the offender is using abuse as a way to get money or exert power. Again, financial exploitation is a common pattern, and this is sometimes called material abuse by some victimologists. Another pattern is self-abuse (harm that arises from a failure to care for one's own needs). In this scenario, the caregiver simply lets the elderly person deteriorate to the point where they get used to a rather unsanitary level of living, and the victim comes to expect a lessened standard of care, internalizes it, and deteriorates even further. One of the more interesting relationships between social service workers and the police is that when social workers identify any degree of self-abuse (not an uncommon thing to find), the police are instantly removed from any further involvement. A heavy reliance on drugs or alcohol characterizes most offenders. Abuse is more likely when the caregiver harbors a grudge or long-standing resentment against their elderly relative. Caregivers also suffer from a sense of inequity in that they feel they are getting nothing in return for their services rendered.

SYMBOLIC PROTECTION FOR THE ELDERLY The typical state-level response to the problem of crimes against the elderly is to form a task force. These task forces hold periodic meetings to discuss legislative remedies to issues confronting the elderly. Few victim's rights issues are discussed, however, as the focus is almost always on how to improve home service, nursing programs, or crackdown on nursing homes (only 5% of the elderly live in nursing homes; 7% of such homes are regularly cited for abuse). Some courthouses have loosened the testimonial requirements for elderly victims. Groups such as AARP and others tend to operate a "silver hair" lobby which politicians respond to with symbolic (feel-good) legislation.

Law enforcement operates about 600 TRIAD programs across the country in which sheriffs partner with other community groups to work towards more effective law enforcement services for the elderly. Most states have mandatory reporting laws for elder abuse. Several problems exist with these laws. For one, they violate doctor-patient confidentiality. They represent data collecting mechanisms with few resources to follow up on each and every report. They intrude on privacy. They reinforce ageism by focusing on the victim rather than the offender. A good deal of further research is needed on how to properly address the problem of elder abuse. INTERNET RESOURCES: National Center on Elder Abuse NCVC Crimes against Elderly (and links to other lesser known victimizations also) CHILD ABUSE Child abuse, or maltreatment (a broader term that includes neglect), is an area of victimization law that grew out of "cruelty to animals" provisions. Until recently, child abuse was difficult to detect. John Caffey, a pediatric radiologist, published a study in 1946 showing bone damage of mysterious origin that he found in his younger patients. He unknowingly started the whole child abuse victims movement with his diagnosis of "unspecified trauma." By 1960, professionals were referring to it as the "battered child syndrome." A wave of legislation was passed in the 1960s and early 1970s to criminalize any nonaccidental injuries to children, and allow conviction on the basis of circumstantial evidence alone. A "child" is generally defined in victimology as anyone under the age of 9. Every year, there are over two million reports of maltreatment against this age group, but only about 200,000 arrests are made. More victims come from the 1-4 age bracket than the 5-9 age bracket. Official statistics show that the problem is largely confined to the lower class in America, but this may be because other social classes have the resources to avoid detection. There are several theories about the causes of child abuse. Victimological research has also looked into profiling both perpetrators and victims. Theories about child abuse tend to fall into one of three general categories: Psychopathology theory Offenders represent the whole spectrum of psychological disorders. No one mental disorder predominates. It's believed they have some kind of personality deficit, but most are able to "beat" psychological testing ("sick but slick"). Low frustration tolerance and infantilism

are common as well as perceiving a child's crying and soiling as a child's rejection and lack of love. Stressful live events, family size, child spacing, and social isolation, as well as frustration, helplessness, and a feeling of being out of control are common variables of study that merit some empirical support. Conventional wisdom holds that rewarded or unpunished activities creep into the offender's repertoire of what is acceptable behavior. Other learning theorists apply a "cycle of violence" thesis (that abused children grow up themselves to become abusers). Yet another, less supported idea, is the notion that abusers are playing out a "script", and are programmed to abuse.

Sociological theory

Learning theory

The construction of psychological profiles is a fairly new development in victimology. Profiles are intended to be logical (deductive and/or inductive) inferences for use in conducting an investigation when there's nothing else to go on. Few, if any, of the profile characteristics contained in the following chart have been validated by compiling and analyzing data: Abuser profile: Victim profile:

1. Isolated from family and 1. Appear physically or emotionally community support systems different 2. Consistently failing to keep 2. Seem afraid of their parents appointments 3. Display bruises, welts, sores, or 3. Extremely distrustful other injuries 4. Reluctant to give information 4. Have been given inappropriate about child medication(s) 5. Overreaction or underreaction to 5. Are often left alone unsupervised queries about child 6. Are chronically unclean 6. Refusal of consent to diagnose child 7. Exhibit extremes in behavior 7. Delay or failure to obtain medical (crying, laughing) care for child 8. Wary of physical contact by adults 8. Overcritical of child 9. Show sudden changes in behavior 9. Unrealistic expectations for child (shyness) 10. Belief that children should be 10. Have undiagnosible learning harshly punished disorder

11. Seldom look or talk to child 11. Habitually truant or late to school 12. Ignore child's crying or react with 12. Often tired and sleep in school impatience 13. Are not dressed appropriately for 13. Keep child confined for long weather periods of time 14. Have unusual eating habits 14. Lack any understanding of child's 15. Engages in pet abuse or firesetting emotional needs 16. May exhibit self-mutilative 15. Seem to be hard to locate when behaviors away on trips 17. May exhibit sexual interests or 16. Appear to be misusing drugs or activity alcohol 18. Trouble sleeping, nightmares, or 17. Appear to lack control or have bedwetting fear of losing control 18. Appear to be irrational or cruel and sadistic MANY RIGHTS FOR CHILD VICTIMS Children are treated differently than any other group of victims. The law, for example, clearly defines crimes against children separately from the same offenses committed against adults. The crimes against children usually fall into one of five categories:

Neglect Abuse Abduction Exploitation Statutory rape

The assumption behind differential treatment is that children need additional sensitivity and guidance as they move through the criminal justice process. To better meet the needs of child victims, some states are requiring the use of multidisciplinary teams in the investigation and treatment of child abuse cases. Such teams combine the expertise of a variety of professionals, including child abuse investigators, social workers, child psychiatrists and legal professionals. A few states, like Illinois and Louisiana, have adopted a special "Children's Bills of Rights". Within the court system, many states rely upon a guardian ad litem system to protect the best interests of the child in legal proceedings especially in proceedings adverse to the child's parents or legal guardian. Other states use courtappointed special advocates to both protect the best interests of the child and to assist the court in making discretionary decisions such as the best placement for the child victim as well as to determine questions concerning the child's competency to testify. The duties of special advocates frequently include guiding the victim and victim's family through the investigative and judicial processes. He or she may also assist the child and the child's family in coping with the emotional impact of the offense. In addition, the Child Abuse Protection Act of 1990 allows children to

submit victim impact statements in a manner "commensurate with their age and cognitive development" such as hand-drawn pictures or letters. Mandatory reporting laws exist all across the country. Child abuse must be reported by educators, child care workers and medical professionals. Reporting by other people is encouraged, but not required. State law specifies the agency to which the report must be made, usually the police or a child protection agency. Typically, the law requires a telephone report, followed by a written report within a few days. Most states give immunity for any report made in good faith, and frequently claim confidentiality will be ensured, but this will not prevent the reporter from being identified in any legal proceedings which result from investigation of the initial report. Several states are experimenting with child abuse offender registries, much as sex offender registries are constructed. The purpose is to assist in the investigation and prevention of child abuse and neglect. By enabling officials to see a pattern in complaints of child abuse or neglect, states hope to make their protection programs more effective. Such registries also serve a purpose in conducting employment background screens. Police and other officials are authorized to take a child into protective custody in emergency cases. Courts can also issue protective orders on behalf of child victims. Child protection laws are continuing to evolve and change in this rapidly expanding area of victim's rights. INTERNET RESOURCES: Child Abuse Prevention Network (for the latest news) and their List of Bookmarks RAPE (ACQUAINTANCE, DATE, MARITAL) In the vast majority of cases (78% of the time), the victims knew their rapist. Acquaintance rape is a sexual assault by an individual known to the victim. The term "date rape" is a sexual assault by an individual with whom the victim has a "dating" relationship and the sexual assault occurs in the context of this relationship. Marital, or spousal, rape was not a crime until the late 1970s (1993 in North Carolina). Currently, rape of a spouse is a crime in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. PERPETRATORS The perpetrators of acquaintance rape do not fit an easily recognized profile. Some similar characteristics of acquaintance rapists include: (1) a propensity toward violence in problem-solving; (2) aggressiveness in intimate relationships; and (3) being overly demanding of partners. There is disagreement among scholars as to whether rape is motivated by the power achieved or by the sexual excitement, or both. It's sometimes assumed that people with violent sexual preferences are

sexually aroused by violence, but conversely, it's also assumed that sometimes sexual motivation is disguised in certain cases of assault, homicide, and even burglary. Others suggest that pornography inculcates a mindset that is conducive to a deviant sexual preference for violence, but support for this idea is weak or absent. The main research problem is that sexual preference is not equivalent to sexual acting out. Men who rape tend to have a history of alcohol abuse, and often a lengthy criminal history of alcohol-related charges. They are generally the products of unstable families, and may have been abused or neglected as a child. Some biological research points to temporal lobe dysfunction in the brain and hormonal imbalance. Ordinarily, they are not the smartest of offenders; at one time, mental retardation was suspected as having a causal relationship to rape behavior. From a learning perspective, rapists appear to develop their attitudes at about the time of puberty. Their sex-role socialization is, therefore, fairly well locked into attitudes that see aggression toward females as appropriate behavior, and something that society approves of. Childhood sexual victimization is also quite common among rapists, child molesters, prostitutes, drug addicts, and criminals in general. Antisocial personality disorder is diagnosed in sex offenders between 40-80 percent of the time. VICTIMS Most victims of acquaintance rape are female, but males can also be the victims of this type of sexual assault. Victims of acquaintance rape come from every socioeconomic, cultural, religious and racial background. Many myths incorrectly characterize rape victims as "sexually loose" individuals who are "asking for it." On the contrary, victims of acquaintance rape are victims of violence and domination. The prejudicial myths and attitudes surrounding rape victims are what hinder the criminal justice system. Quite often the evidence depends on the victim's word against that of the rapist's; therefore, instead of the offender being tried, the victim's morals, lifestyle, dress and actions are put on trial. As a result, convictions are difficult to get, and police and prosecutors are often reluctant to pursue acquaintance rape cases. Victims of acquaintance rape face problems which are very specific to their type of victimization. Because the rapists may have been a part of their lives or someone with whom they socialize, victims often have to face their assailants long after the rape. Victims of acquaintance rape frequently blame themselves. Because the assailants are previously known to them, many victims hold themselves accountable for not having better judged the character of their perpetrators, or for allowing themselves to be in the situation in which the rape occurred. Acquaintance rape victims also experience an extreme violation of trust.

The trauma caused by acquaintance rape is no less severe than the trauma that is associated with rape by a stranger. Victims can suffer physically, emotionally and financially. Rape-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (RR-PTSD), a condition suffered by almost one-third of all rape victims, includes sleeping and eating disorders, nervousness, fatigue, withdrawal from society and distrust of others. Many victims suffer from one or several of these symptoms, and some victims are affected for many years. Many acquaintance rape victims never reach out for the services and assistance they need in the aftermath of their victimization. Only 16 percent (16%) of acquaintance rape victims report the crime to police. Acquaintance rape victims have the fear of being blamed, fear of their families, fear of friends or the general public knowing about their victimization, or a sense of futileness due to the belief that justice will not be served. Preventing secondary victimization to acquaintance rape victims by the criminal justice system and society is a major concern of the victims' rights movement. Over the years, psychologists have learned a great deal about the trauma, or crisis, reactions of rape victims. Much of what we know about victim trauma in general is based on rape victims. With rape trauma, something called the crisis repair cycle posits a very predictable sequence of recovery. It consists of three stages. 1. Impact - This stage is characterized by shock. Victims run the gamut of emotions, including denial. Others are outraged and obsessed with revenge. 2. Recoil - This stage is characterized by the onset of rape trauma syndrome or PostTraumatic Stress Disorder. Flashbacks and nightmares start occurring, as well as chronic headaches and avoidance of people, fear, and anxiety. Victims often make major lifestyle changes in this period of recovery. Sometimes, suicide is committed by rape victims. 3. Reorganization - This stage is characterized by the moving on to other activities. Victims never attain a total or complete cure, but they learn to live with the emotional scars they carry.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM RESPONSE Prosecuting persons who know the victim for rape is difficult. Consent is often ambiguous. Also, police are often reluctant to take seriously charges of acquaintance rape, or when alcohol or drugs are involved. Historically, rape law required at least two independent sources of evidence: the sworn testimony of the victim that they were coerced or did not give consent; and the collection or recovery of semen. In about half of the states, the victim must make a special request that her offender be tested for HIV/AIDS; in others, the prosecutor files the petition on behalf of the

victim. Testing for HIV/AIDS almost always requires medical proof that bodily fluids were exchanged. Standard procedure for handling a rape case always requires two medical examinations (one for the treatment of injuries, disease and pregnancy testing; and another for the forensic collection of evidence using "rape kits"). Some states do not require the recovery of semen, and they go with the victim's testimony only. So-called "shield laws" prevent the victim's sexual background from being used against her, but this doesn't prevent defense lawyers from doing what they have to do -- impeach the testimony of the rape victim on the stand. The overall thrust of the criminal justice system response is to find ways to treat the victim with more dignity and sensitivity. Police departments are starting to use female investigators to handle all rape cases, and referral to community support groups takes place with some regularity. DATE RAPE Most date rapes, or nonconsensual sexual encounters, occur on college campuses. Some 16% of college coeds report being the victim of date rape, and other estimates run as high as 50%. It tends to occur at the end of an unplanned date or when the woman has been picked up in a social setting. Typically, sexual innuendo and verbal aggression are used by the perpetrator, with both victim and offender usually intoxicated. Rophypnol, an anesthetic prescribed for insomnia, has been a factor in date rapes. Men have allegedly slipped it into their companion's drinks, rendering them unconscious. When the woman wakes up, she often is able to tell she's been sexually assaulted. Most research into date rape has focused on the miscommunication that takes place in dating customs. There are distinct differences in perception between men and women in regards to what kind of clothes are worn, how much money is spent on a date, and what a "nightcap" means, for example. MARITAL RAPE Estimates are that 1:10 marriages involve at least one incident of marital rape. The states use four different techniques for criminalizing spousal rape. The majority of states simply remove the marital rape exemption, without adding any other language. Other states replace the exclusionary language with text specifying that marriage to the victim is not a defense. A few states have created a separate offense of spousal rape. In jurisdictions where the law does not specify spousal rape, courts generally interpret the law to include spousal rape. Marital rape cases are difficult to prosecute. Some states still grant the husband absolute exemption, or immunity, from spousal rape charges because of the privilege that a wife cannot testify against

her husband. Partial exemptions, excluding violence between intimates, is much more common. OTHER TYPES OF RAPE The area of lesser known victimizations includes sexual assaults and abuse by people in positions of trust and authority over a victim. Such cases include: doctors, therapists, priests, police officers, prison guards, custodians, and teachers (to name a few). Activities such as "sex for an A" in the teacher-student context is clearly a type of rape. A newly emerging area of study is school violence, where rapes, robberies, assaults, and even homicides occur between intimates. Scandals since 1985 have plagued church officials. The Catholic Church, with 63 million U.S. members and 1 billion worldwide, has been particularly involved, having paid more than $500 million for the misdeeds of more than 100 priests. It all seemed to start in 1985 when a Lafayette (Louisiana) priest admitted the sexual abuse of about 70 altar boys and boy scouts. A 1990 case in Minneapolis showed willful indifference to a 20-year history of abuse by a priest there. In 1992, it was discovered in Chicago that some 50 priests were involved in child sexual abuse going back at least 40 years. Multimillion dollar settlements became commonplace in 1997, starting with a case in Dallas that year. In 2001, incidents in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon (the latter involving the Mormon Church) came to light. During 2002, there have been scandals within both Boston and Philadelphia dioceses involving revelations of pedophilia. Church officials are normally exempt (unlike doctors, lawyers, and other professionals) from mandatory reporting laws regarding suspicion of child sexual abuse. INTERNET Sexual Spousal Assault Rape Laws: Information 20 Years RESOURCES: Page Later

PRINTED RESOURCES: Finkelhor, D., R. Gelles, G. Hotaling & M. Straus (eds.) (1983) The Dark Side of Families. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Hesselt, V. Van (ed.) (1988) Handbook of Family Violence. NY: Plenum Press. Johnson, K. (1995) "Attributions about Date Rape" Family & Consumer Res. Journal 23:3-14. Meloy, J. (1998) The Psychology of Stalking. NY: Academic Press. Mullen, P., Pathe, M. & R. Purcell (2000) Stalkers and their Victims . Cambridge Univ. Press. Ohlin, L. & M. Tonry (eds.) (1989) Family Violence. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. Pedrick-Cornell, C. & R. Gelles (1982) "Elder Abuse: The Status of Current Knowledge" Family Relations 31:457-65. Pillemer, K. & S. Frankel (1988) "Domestic Violence against the Elderly" Pp. 15883 in M. Rosenberg & J. Mercy (eds.) Violence in America: A Public Health

Approach. NY: Oxford Univ. Press. Reiss, A. & J. Roth (eds.) (1993) Understanding and Preventing Violence. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press. Saunders, D. (1995) "Predictors of Wife Assault" Pp. 68-95 in J. Campbell (ed.) Assessing Dangerousness. CA: Sage. Sherman, L. & R. Berk (1984) "The Specific Deterrent Effects of Arrest for Domestic Violence" Amer. Soc. Rev. 49:261-72. Sherman, L. (1992) Policing Domestic Violence: Experiments and Dilemmas. NY: Free Press. Shields, W. & L. (1983) "Forcible Rape: An Evolutionary Perspective" Ethnology & Sociobiology 4:115-36. Straus, M. (1978) "Wife Beating: How Common and Why" Victimology 2(3-4): 44358. Straus, M. (1979) "Measuring Intrafamily Conflict & Violence: The Conflict Tactics Scales" J. Marriage & Family 41:75-88. Straus, M., R. Gelles & S. Steinmetz (1980) Behind Closed Doors. Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. Widom, C. (1989) "The Cycle of Violence" Science 244: 160-66. Zuravin, S. (1989) "The Ecology of Child Abuse and Neglect: A Review of the Literature" Violence and Victims 4(2):101-20. STRANGER VIOLENCE Most violent crimes are committed by intimates or acquaintances, but an increasing amount of crime is being committed by strangers. By many accounts, stranger crime like child abduction has already reached epidemic proportions. The phrase "stranger crime" stems from Wolfgang's (1958) early research on homicide which divided murder into two categories: primary homicide, involving nonstrangers or acquaintances; and secondary homicide, involving assailants unknown to the victim. Rather than using the awkward phrase "secondary homicide", the terms "stranger crime" caught on. Wolfgang and at least one of his students, Marc Riedel (1993), held to a belief that understanding stranger crime unlocked secrets about the development and functioning of a society. Stranger violence is behind most fear of crime. It's what people think of when they talk about "street crime". It's what the criminal justice system spends the most resources on. Spontaneous encounters between strangers resulting in violence is a major threat to societal order. Stranger violence tends to occur in certain geospatial locations known for disorder, such as bars/taverns or wherever unruly people are jammed together. As people compete for space and recognition, stranger violence can erupt. Most criminological explanations are purely sociological, as certain circumstances are seen as "ripe" for arguments and conflicts to escalate into explosive encounters. Lifestyle and routine activities are the primary explanations for victimization. Other types of encounters, such as those involving serial killers and stranger rape, may take place in isolated locations, but strangers, in general, prefer the anonymity of big cities. Other

stranger crimes, like assault, cut across the urban-rural dimension, and occur everywhere. The following list summarizes explanations in the field of criminology for stranger violence:

Instincts Personality Drugs Guns Families Gangs Cultural values Regional values for these,

(Assignment: try to create a sensible acronym like P.F. CRAIG by substituting A for D as in Alcohol/Drugs)

Instinctual, or evolutionary, explanations are drawn from the fields of biology and anthropology, suggesting that males build up vast amounts of aggressive, sexual energy, and come to prey upon more vulnerable human beings to eliminate competition for sexual partners or to hoard more "stuff" than others in some kind of instinctual competitive instinct for survival. Even more speculative is the hunch that many investigators and profilers often have that even property crimes, like burglary, are somehow sexually exhilarating for the offender. Personality trait theories often include some mention of impaired neurological function, but psychologists also often link violence to watching TV, traumatic childhood experiences, low intelligence, mental illness, impaired cognitive processes, and abnormal personality structures. Stranger violence is an area where the diagnosis of psychosis is not all that uncommon. Drug, or psychopharmacological, explanations have strong empirical support. Up to 80% of stranger violence is drug-related. The alcohol-violence link is the strongest. Drugs can entrap people into a life of crime (the enslavement hypothesis), escalate already-existing criminal tendencies (the escalation hypothesis), and/or produce spin-off violence related to the drug trade (systemic violence). Gun, or firearm availability, is a facilitating factor in most stranger violence. Most guns (80%) used in crime are stolen or obtained via an illegal black market. The mere presence of handguns is strongly related to suicides and escalation of interpersonal conflicts. Family ineffectiveness, or dysfunction, has been implicated in stranger violence. Extensive research implicates rejecting, ineffective, or abusive parents. Parents who

fail to set appropriate limits or use inconsistent discipline (up to and including abuse) often produce children who become criminals later in life. Gang membership always requires that members embrace the use of violence. All other characteristics or motives for joining a gang are secondary to this primary valuation of violence. Nearly 100% of gang members possess a gun or other weapon. Gangs create stranger violence with initiation ceremonies, retaliations, and turf protection. Cultural values (sometimes called the subculture of violence thesis) posit that in large, inner-city areas, subcultural norms develop that are at odds (disreputable crime) with society's conventions and traditional ways of doing things, and that these norms are stratified along racial and class lines. It's believed by many criminologists that this is the primary explanation behind the growth of urban violence. Regional values (sometimes called the Southerness hypothesis or Gastil-Hackney thesis) involve the idea that there exists a distinctive Southern culture predating the Civil War that tolerates violence. Researchers often study such things as the South's propensity for violence, gun ownership, dueling, strong military traditions, frontier living, and exaggerated sense of honor among males. ROBBERY The most common motive for stranger violence is robbery. Seven out of ten robberies are committed by strangers. Each year, about 600,000 robberies occur in the United States, accounting for about 5% of all reported index crimes. Approximately 40-50% of robberies are committed with firearms. Robbery is a form of theft, distinguished from larceny by the use of threat or force or at least the possibility of force. If there is a struggle between the victim and the offender, it will very likely be classified as a crime of robbery. Robbery is also classifiable by the degree of force; thus, armed robbery can be considered a more serious crime than robbery without a weapon. Robbery is the most feared crime in our society because it's a hybrid crime. It's both a property and violent crime. Robbery occurs more frequently than either rape or homicide. Even when victims do not sustain extensive injury or loss, they are often forced to suffer threats of violence and bodily harm at the hands of their assailant. Both property and personal safety are placed at substantial risk during a robbery. The victim encounters the robber face-to-face, and a person who is robbed immediately experiences a total loss of control. When a weapon is involved, this reaction is even more acute, and can cause both short-term and long-term crisis reactions. Victim reactions include: Shock; Anxiety; Numbness; Anger; Disbelief; Despair; Fear; Depression; Confusion; Humiliation; Helplessness; Shame; Denial; and Guilt.

Of all violent crimes, robbery is the most likely to be committed by more than one offender. About 50% of all robberies involve co-offenders. About 8% of robberies involve groups of four or more offenders. 91% of robbers are male, 64% are under the age of 25, and 59% are African-Americans. Robbers typically attack their victims on streets or sidewalks (55%), near the victim's home (24%) in a variant called "home invasion robbery", or at a commercial establishment such as parking lots or garages (21%). Victims are typically robbed while shopping or traveling within five miles of their home. Young black males between the ages of 12 and 15 have the highest victimization rates for robbery. Poor families with incomes less than $7,500 are also frequently robbed. The higher the income and educational level, the less likely the person will become a robbery victim. Chances of becoming a robbery victim also decrease with age and substantially increase with unemployment. It's a poor person's crime. The offense pattern of robbery is changing. Robbers are increasingly targeting ATM machines, pedestrians, and people in their homes. And, they are becoming more lethal. While the presence of a gun can contribute to no one getting hurt, the fatality rate for gun robberies is four per 1,000, about triple the rate in knife robberies and ten times the rate in robberies with other weapons. Victims sustain physical injury (usually by "pistol whipping") in 32% of robberies. Street "muggings" tend to result in an average take which is about $50. The average "take" for most robberies, however, is $873, with this dollar amount reflecting an average of $400 from convenience stores to $4,015 in bank robberies. Most of the costs of robbery are tied up in the pain and suffering of victims as well as the enormous expenses invested in this crime by the criminal justice system. Robbery victims experience recurrent and intrusive thoughts and dreams of the incident. Changes in eating and sleeping habits are common. A robbery is a violent, life-threatening situation, and victim reactions vary from person to person depending upon how they handle stress and what kind of support system they have. Only 4% of robbery victims seek or take advantage of mental health treatment. Each robbery victim is different; they heal at their own pace. Over time, the incident will begin to be put into perspective and be integrated into their life. The law enforcement response typically involves giving advice like the following to the public: Remain calm! Obey the commands of the robber and do exactly as you are told. Inform the robber of any moves you intend to take which the robber may not anticipate and could mistake as an aggressive action on your part. It is not recommended to resist the robbery. Do try to get the very best description of the robber as possible. Try to remember everything you can about the robber, including mannerisms, clothing, etc. As soon as the robber departs, immediately dial 9-1-1. Describe everything you can to the operator, including any vehicles or direction of travel. Do not hang up until the complaint operator says it is okay to do so. Protect the scene and try not to touch

anything until the police arrive. Ask any witnesses to remain to talk with police about what they might have seen. Answer all questions from the police as accurately as possible. You must try to avoid becoming injured or worse. Give the robber what he or she wants, and then call the police as soon as possible. BURGLARY About 4.8 million burglaries are committed every year in America, and the number is declining somewhat steadily, especially for nighttime burglaries. The average "take" from a burglary is $1,300, but this includes both residential and commercial burglaries. The average burglar works with a team of accomplices or partners (61%), and is most likely to be male (92%) and African-American (52%). Those most likely to be burglarized are relatively poor (annual income under $7,500) Hispanic and African-American families. Rental units and multi-family dwellings are more likely to be burglarized than single-family owned homes. It's predominantly an urban crime that extends out to the suburbs and medium-sized towns. Burglary is typically an economic crime which is mostly committed by drug users in order to support additional drug use and "keep the party going". These crimes are not inherently violent, but may become violent. The strongest indicator of a violent burglary is that the offender committed the crime as a result of an addictive compulsion for drugs. Burglary is the most common crime committed to obtain money for drugs, and it's the most common prison sentence. A typical burglar is a stranger who poses as an acquaintance, or is a newly-made acquaintance. They must have inside information, so they often rely on tipsters about what the victim has, stake out the victim's routine, or pose as someone with a legitimate business for visiting the residence. Phone calls (from a pay phone to see if it's still ringing when they get there) often precede the burglary. Some dispose of goods through a professional fence; others pawn the goods; exchange them for drugs; or sell them to friends and relatives. A few keep things for themselves, especially guns and jewelry. CARJACKING Carjacking is the theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle by force or threat of force. It accounts for 2% of 2 million auto thefts per year. 52% of the time, the carjacker is successful in stealing the vehicle. 65% of offenses happen within 5 miles from the victim's home. In less than 1% of cases, the victim is killed, but 24% of the time, the victim is injured. Most offenders use a gun (77%) and operate with one or more co-offenders (50%). Most carjackings occur at night. An average of 50,000 carjackings occur each year. Men (over age 35) are more likely to be victimized than women. Both victim and offender tend to be African-American. In recent years, there has been an increase

in chop shops and export rings. Fewer and fewer stolen vehicles are being recovered. Auto theft has become a global problem. It's also likely that a few carjackers steal vehicles to use them for short-term transportation (to get to another city) or for commission of another crime. Joyriding is rarely a common motive anymore. Certain types of vehicles (like large, expensive SUVs) tend to be targeted more than other vehicles. Victims often report that what caused them to be injured was that they reacted too slowly (in turning over the keys, or getting out of the other side door). Carjacking trauma often includes shock in how quickly the incident happened. Victims also often blame themselves. MURDER The number of murders in the United States fluctuates between 20,000-25,000 annually. As many as 25% of murders go unsolved. Handguns are involved in 54% of the murders. Perpetrators of stranger murder have a better than 80 percent chance of going unpunished. Homicide grief experts estimate that for each murder, there are seven to ten people left behind to mourn called "homicide survivors". Any loss due to murder will be grieved in different ways because relationships with the victim were all different. Spouses will have to adjust to being a widow or widower. Parents will believe that the older generation should die first, so they will have great difficulty with the fact that their children are dead while they themselves are still live. Siblings will feel guilt in moving on with their lives, and will behave differently. Family and friends who have had a conflicted relationship with the victim will suffer a loss of hope that things could have been worked out while the victim lived. Some family members may feel that others should not "dwell" on the murder -- that they should "give it up" or "put it behind them." Others may feel that they must learn everything that they can about the murder and fight for revenge or victim's rights through the criminal justice system. Depending somewhat on the suddenness of the death and the stigma of the murder itself, survivors may find themselves making drastic changes in their lifestyle, including: a sense of having "changed" from the person they used to be; a greater need for dependence on others or the institutions of society; a sense of loss in social standing; and a questioning of faith or religion. Homicide survivors may experience symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, but they are much more likely to experience a phenomenon known as "complicated mourning." Years after the murder, survivors also find themselves having uncontrollable crying. These feelings have been called "grief spasms" or "memory embraces". When homicide survivors first learn about the murder, they experience shock and disbelief, numbness, changes in appetite or sleeping patterns, difficulty concentrating, confusion, anger, fear and anxiety. In cases where homicide survivors

have not been able to view their loved one's body -- either because it was not permitted or they felt unable to do so -- it is often difficult for them to accept the reality of the death. Many experts suggest that family members be permitted to go through the viewing process, as painful as it might be. Then, there's usually a feeling that "the world has stopped"; they cannot understand how everyone else is able to go on about their daily routine. Later reactions often include a desire for revenge. It's not uncommon for homicide survivors to have tremendous feelings of rage toward the person(s) responsible for the murder, and they may also experience anger toward the victim for "being in the wrong place at the wrong time" or for having a lifestyle which placed them at greater risk for victimization. There are four "tasks" of the grieving process. These include:

Accepting the reality of the loss Feeling the grief Adjusting to a life in which the deceased is no longer present Emotionally relocating the deceased so that life can go on

The first task is that of acknowledging and accepting the reality of the loss -- that the loved one is dead. Survivors often report a sense that their loved one will come up the driveway as usual at the end of the day. Others have reported that they felt compelled to follow someone who looked just like their deceased loved one. The second task is that mourners must acknowledge and experience the pain associated with losing their loved one, whether it be physical and/or emotional pain. Homicide survivors often find that they must put their feelings on hold as they follow court hearings, trials and numerous appeals. No matter how the pain of the loss is held back or "put aside," the mourner must experience these feelings or carry the pain of the loss for the rest of their lives. The third task is to adjust to a life in which their loved one is no longer present. At this point, family members begin to make personal or lifestyle changes which will take them in very different directions from those planned while their loved one was still alive. The survivors will feel some guilt around these new decisions, wondering whether they are being disloyal. It is important for survivors to recognize and come to terms with these reactions and feelings. The fourth task is that the mourner must somehow find a place for their loved one within their emotional life which can, at the same time, permit them to go on in the world. Survivors should not forget their loved one, but eventually they must realize that their lives can and do go on. When more than one family member is lost through murder (as sometimes happens), this magnifies the "sensational" aspects of the crime, and invites more

media intrusion. Homicide survivors have little privacy. Their identities and the circumstances of the murder often become public knowledge, and they may find a microphone thrust in their faces after a court hearing. The media also tends to report inaccurate or inappropriate information about the case and may portray the offender as a victim. In some cases, a murder victim may have been in a same-sex relationship and have not "come out" to the family before the murder. Not only must the family then come to terms with their loved one's death, but they must also confront issues surrounding his or her deviant lifestyle. In their desperate need to determine "blame" for the homicide, they may consciously or unconsciously blame the victim. When the crime is unsolved, the family will often try to pursue any avenue to obtain information or insights about what happened -- not only to bring the guilty party to justice, but also to protect themselves from unknown threats. Some families hire psychics or profilers to try to come up with new leads, and others become police "wannabes", listening to a scanner all day and night. Factors which complicate the grieving process have to do with ongoing exposure to homicide-related material -- such as autopsy reports, crime scene photos, repairing or cleaning up the crime scene, trying to obtain the victim's personal effects (which may have been held as evidence), and other potentially trauma-inducing events. Criminal Justice System Response

Most criminal justice professionals are well-trained and have sensitivity skills. However, re-victimization of family members can easily result from the way in which family members are notified of the murder, whether their loved one's body can be released by the coroner in a timely manner, how they are given information from the autopsy report, whether or not a suspect is caught, and the manner in which the investigation and/or prosecution are conducted. Law Enforcement: Generally, the family is frantic for information. In murders where little is known or where family members have not been ruled out as suspects, the police must withhold information. This causes the family to hate the police. In addition, death notification is not a pleasant police duty. It requires the notifier to have: (1) extensive, correct information; (2) avoidance of euphemisms like "He's gone to a better place"; (3) gauge how the bereaved reacts; and (4) make referral to social or community service providers. Some police departments hold special debriefing sessions in the case of multiple deaths or mass disasters. Coroner: In a murder investigation, the victim's body is considered to be the primary "evidence" and there may be a delay in releasing the body to the funeral home. For this reason, funeral or memorial arrangements may be delayed, causing further

distress to the surviving family. Autopsy reports may be given to family members with no explanation of the forensic or medical terms used. Judiciary System: Homicide survivors quickly learn that there is a great deal of difference between their expectations and the reality of how the criminal justice system works. The surviving family members often find themselves drawn into a world of legal technicalities which leave them wondering, "Where are our rights?" Survivors find that arrests do not always result in prosecution; prosecutions do not always result in convictions; and convictions do not result in stiff sentences. Family members find that the crime has been committed against the state, not against them or their loved one. Their loved one becomes "the body," "the victim" or "the deceased" and is rarely referred to by name, which is dehumanizing. Sometimes the victim's character is called into question during the trial, causing dismay. Homicide survivors are usually told to show little or no emotion in the courtroom so that they will not "influence the jury." This is difficult when they face the killer and hear painful details. If they are called as material witnesses by either the prosecution or defense, they will not be able to stay in the courtroom for part or all of the trial. It is not uncommon for survivors to be listed as witnesses by the defense in order to keep them out of the courtroom. If they want to know what went on in the courtroom, they have to pay a per-page fee with the court reporter afterwards. If a "not guilty" verdict is returned, or if the sentence is perceived as too lenient, the family will feel betrayed and enraged. If the assailant was not caught, survivors must go on without a sense of closure. Victim/witness assistance programs help by providing information about the way the criminal justice system works and what rights and provisions exist for victims and survivors. The victim/witness coordinator typically lets the family know about changes in scheduled hearings and often assists in making arrangements for overnight stays. Since the times and dates of proceedings frequently change, family members often feel as though they are living on "pins and needles". If and when the defendant is found guilty, a victim impact statement will be presented to the family as part of the sentencing procedure. For most, this will be the only opportunity they have to speak on behalf of their loved one or to describe the impact the murder has had on themselves and their family. The VIS is a description of how the crime has impacted every area of their lives. It's a way for the family to describe who the victim was as a person, as well as their pain and anguish and the ongoing ways in which the murder continues to affect them. Surviving family members can also ask to be notified and to be present when the convicted felons come up for parole or release. Procedures for requesting notification vary; some states require that this request be put in a letter format, and

other states have a specific form which must be completed and returned. Usually family members can request that their addresses not be given to the defendant or his attorney. Additionally, survivors can often request that the parole board include in their parole instructions and conditions that the assailant not contact the family in any way. If contact is made, the felon will then be in violation of parole. If the terms or conditions of parole are violated, the felon may then be forced to return to prison. INTERNET Rights of Survivors of Homicide Victims ASSAULT Aggravated assault is defined as an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. Assault is the most common violent crime in America. Each year, there are an estimated 1.1 million incidents of aggravated assault, accounting for 61% of all violent crimes. Dangerous weapons or blunt objects, excluding knives and firearms, are used in 33% of all aggravated assaults. Firearms were used in more than 23% of all incidents (three times less than the use of firearms in homicides). 52% of assaults are committed by strangers and 48% are committed by nonstrangers. Unlike other violent crimes, incidents of assault are represented almost evenly by strangers and nonstrangers. 55% of assaults occur during the day (6 A.M. to 6 P.M.). Assault rates have steadily risen over the past several years. It's a crime that occurs in both urban and rural areas. A disproportionate number of those arrested are white males; specifically, 82% were male and 18% were female, while 60% were white, and 38% were black. The pattern of criminal assault is quite similar to homicide, except that common everyday stress tends to be more closely associated with the reasons for assault. Motorists sometimes assault one another in something called "road rage" (see this Aggressive Driver Checklist from AAA). Angry passengers experiencing unnecessary delays in airports, bus stations, and other transportation hubs have been known to suddenly turn on workers and each other. Sporting events and other public ceremonies often involve brawls or "hooliganism". Recent victimological attention has turned to the study of medical treatment, since the effectiveness of this is usually what separates a homicide from an assault. The "golden hour" describes a period of time in which life-saving measures can be effective. Some hospitals are not sufficiently equipped to handle crime trauma cases, and victims have to be airlifted sometimes far away. Most preventive advice given by police department includes the suggestion to scream loudly and run away. Never, under any circumstances, should victims try to fight or provoke the attacker. RESOURCES:

INTERNET NCJRS Report on Firearm Injuries PRINTED RESOURCES:

RESOURCES:

Cook, Philip. (1991). "The Technology of Personal Violence." In Michael Tonry, ed., Crime and Justice: A Review of Research . (Volume 14). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Doerner, W. & S. Lab (1999) Victimology. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing. Hall, H. (1998) Lethal Violence: A Sourcebook on Domestic, Acquaintance and Stranger Violence. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Kleck, Gary. (1991). Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America. New York: Walter de Gruyter, Inc. National Crime Prevention Council. The Art of Street Smarts: Knowing How to Protect Yourself and Your Friends Makes Good Sense . Washington, DC: National Crime Prevention Council. Reiss, A. & J. Roth, eds. (1993). Understanding and Preventing Violence. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Riedel, M. (1993) Stranger Violence: A Theoretical Inquiry. NY: Garland Publishers. Wolfgang, M. (1958) Patterns of Criminal Homicide . Philadelphia: Univ. of PA Press.

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE Physical attack or assault resulting in death or physical injury of an employee in a place of business is the standard definition of workplace violence (a topic that attracted national attention in 1987), but victimologists have argued strongly that psychological and verbal abuse ought to be included in this definition. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) therefore defined workplace violence in 1991 as any physical assault, threatening behavior or verbal abuse occurring in the work setting. These violent acts include homicide, forcible sex offenses, kidnapping, assault, robbery, menacing, reckless endangerment, harassment, disorderly conduct, berating language, physical or verbal threats or vandalism of personal property. About the only thing that is not included (and sometimes is) in the definition of workplace violence is terrorism. Each year, at least 1,000,000 people are victims of workplace violence, and about 1,000 of these cases are homicides. Accurate numbers are hard to come by since at least 50% of the more minor incidents go unreported and there are other reporting problems. In some states, more people die from being murdered at work than in traffic accidents. Homicide is the second leading cause of death for most retail, industrial, and office jobs, accounting for 17% of all injuries, and females are three times as likely to be murdered than males. Homicide is the first leading cause of death for people who work in mobile occupations which come in contact with

unstable or volatile persons, such as taxicab drivers, health care workers, social service, school or criminal justice settings, and males are three times more likely to be the victim of homicide. Homicide in the retail domain is often associated with robbery or attempted robbery, where resistance increases the risk of violence about 50 percent. Homicide in other domains is more likely to involve the unexpected presence of someone who is not supposed to be at a certain place. Most workplace violence incidents involve persons known to each other, and no place or occupation is immune from violence. The following are the domains (places) where workplace violence occurs, and the relative frequency of occurrences based on analysis of Labor Department statistics: Taxi Driving Tavern/Liquor stores Convenience stores Fast restaurants Business offices Police work Post offices School Source: O'Connor (1997) Victims of workplace violence are most likely to be 25-44 years of age, white (75%), slain with a firearm (80%), and come from a middle-sized city (population: 80,000500,000). Gender depends upon the domain. Perpetrators are most likely to be 3060 years of age, a middle class white male (97%) employees (41%), ex-employees (46%), or domestic partners of an employee or a client (13%), familiar or comfortable with firearms, intent on revenge, lethal in his intentions, and quite capable of murdering several individuals in the short course of his crime. In addition, the perpetrator will sometimes kill randomly and take his own life at the crime scene or somewhere in the proximity. The attack is often well-planned, and interestingly enough, well-telegraphed by the perpetrator long before the incident, but some sort of denial, ignorance, or dismissal takes place among supervisors and coworkers who downplay the significance of warning signs. In some cases, the perpetrator is a model employee, but most often they are disgruntled. Nearly 100% of fatal workplace violence is acquaintance crime. food 23% 19% 17% 12%

Health care facilities 10% 6% 4% 3% 1% Government offices 5%

Nonfatal assaults are more scientifically researched than homicides. Precious little data exists on workplace homicides other than news media reporting (which may be distorted). Each year, approximately 500,000 employees need an average of five days off work to recover from nonfatal assaults, totaling $55 million in lost wages and productivity. The most common forms of nonfatal assault are (in descending order): unarmed physical attack, shooting, stabbing, and rape. Attackers typically include co-workers, ex-employees, customers, visitors, relatives, and robbers. 60% of nonfatal workplace violence involves acquaintances or persons known to the victim, and 40% are attacked by strangers. CATEGORIZATION EFFORTS There have been numerous efforts to categorize or classify the types of workplace violence. Incidents are typically divided into categories based on relationship between the assailant and the victim or workplace:

Strangers with no legitimate relationship to the worker or workplace entering the premises to commit a robbery or other violent act. Current or former customers, clients, or patients, some of who may be inherently violent (such as prison inmates, drug abusers and mental health patients). Situational violence may also occur when otherwise non-violent people lash out in frustration at delays in receiving, or denial of, services. Current, former or prospective employees; co-worker violence may occur between supervisors and subordinates or between employees of the same rank. Anyone who has a personal relationship with an employee -- even someone who is not a current or former spouse, partner, relative or friend entering the premises to harass, threaten, injure or kill an employee with whom he or she has a personal dispute.

OSHA offices also categorize incidents based on relationship, type of occupation, and relative risk. Their typology is not intended to be mutually exclusive, however:

Type 1 events (60%) -- The offender has no business being in the workplace and usually enters the area to commit a robbery or other criminal act. Latenight retail establishments are most at risk of this event. Type 2 events (30%) -- The offender is someone who is the recipient of an object or a service provided by the workplace. Hospital workers, police officers, correctional workers, social service providers, and teachers are particularly susceptible to this type of event. Type 3 events (10%) -- The offender has some employment-related involvement with the workplace as a disgruntled employee, ex-employee, or prospective employee. Retail establishments are most at risk, although other occupation categories may experience this rare event.

Other categorization efforts look at the motivation behind the crime, and sometimes the target of the violence:

Robbery -- The event is seen as a crime of opportunity since the target (usually some high-risk cash business) is often attacked during late evening or the early morning hours. Domestic or misdirected violence -- The event is a private problem, such as a domestic dispute, which has spilled over into the workplace. Employer-directed violence -- The event involves an employee or former employee who feels they have been disciplined or discharged unfairly. Terrorism and hate crimes -- The event involves someone motivated by political revenge or hatred of the government, and the random killing of innocent people. VIOLENCE:

UNDERSTANDING WORKPLACE HARASSMENT/OBSESSION IN FAST FOOD JOBS

One of the things we know about workplace violence is the fact that it's tied into a complex web of relationship expectations that are built up along certain cultural expectations about the meaning of work. Restaurants are typically the kinds of places where we meet people. Customers expect to be able to chat with other customers, and they expect the employees to provide some kind of "atmosphere" that reflects the personalities of the workers. Customers also expect good service, value for their money, and to get it quick. The fast-food industry generally consists of low-end, low-wage, time-consuming, stressful jobs that are demeaning and degrading. Take a look at the people working behind the counter the next time you go into one of these stores, and you'll see that the personnel consist mainly of economically exploited immature, pessimistic, angry teenagers who pay more attention to the verbal banter going back and forth between coworkers than with customer service. Fast food restaurants, like many other occupations, are breeding grounds for harassment, specifically co-worker harassment. Most of it is nonsexual in nature, involving insults, barbs, or provocations traded back and forth between the coworkers relating to who got the most drunk at last night's house party, who's got the "hots" for whom, who drives the fastest car, who's the biggest brown nose with management, or who couldn't operate a cash register if you trained 'em for twenty years, etc. At this level of deskilled occupation, assignment becomes important, and some of the most devalued job assignments are dishwashing, stocking, taking out the garbage, and cleaning tables or parking lots. Employees in these positions are the constant target of ridicule and harassment by other employees. Their anger consists of a perceived occupational blockage in being labeled only capable of being a dishwasher, for example, for the rest of their lives, perhaps being promoted to fry cook in a year or two. The other employees fantasize with futility over how their cooking or cashiering positions might possibly prepare them for careers as a chef or in the information economy. The fact is, however, that these are dead-end jobs.

In addition, management and supervision are typically lax, unskilled, and often part of the ongoing harassment dynamic. Females make up an extraordinary number of fast food managers, and they have to deal with constant come-ons, requests for time off, drunken/threatening behavior, tardiness, and absenteeism. Worker scheduling and discipline consumes at least 50% of the manager's time. Employees always have disputes and ongoing grudges against their supervisors over hours scheduled ("She cut me back to 15 hours a week"), assignments ("She put me down to close every night this week"), and discipline ("You mean I'm fired just for coming in five minutes late"). The turnover in personnel also supports the bringing in of fresh, psychologically unscreened, new applicants. A second type of workplace violence resembles stalking and consists of sexual obsession. Another one of the things about the meaning of work in our society is, that like church and school, the workplace is traditionally considered an appropriate place to find one's life partner or spouse. Hence, unmarried employees (and even married ones sometimes) look at their place of work as a pool of potential new boyfriends or girlfriends. Culturally, part of the expectation is that it's better to find your mate at work than having picked him or her up in a bar or tavern, and there are other expectations, both practical and impractical. Sexual obsession is sometimes called love obsession or romantic stalking, and it occurs in at least three varieties:

The spurned ex-lover or spouse whose primary motivation is revenge The delusional erotomaniac who engages in bizarre, unrealistic fantasies The pathological dependent who finds it difficult to function without the attention of another

The second type is a DSM IV subtype called delusional disorder, subtype erotomanic, and it's not all that commonly diagnosed in cases of workplace violence because it requires the offender to believe that their victim is in love with them. Much more common are cases in which the victim has clearly communicated something like "I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last man on Earth", and the offender simply refuses to give up, and more closely fits the diagnosis of dependent personality disorder. The coworker relationship is more of a power struggle than a romantic entanglement. This type of offender is much more likely than the erotomaniac to write letters, make telephone calls, engage in gift giving, and keep the victim under surveillance. Also, the erotomaniac tries to keep their financial condition in order (so that they are worthy of their victim), while the dependent personality lets their finances and material condition deteriorate in a rapidly escalating pattern of attempts to maintain some kind of relationship, any kind of relationship, even one where the victims is constantly telling them to "get lost". The whole pattern is similar to various other kinds of disorders, such as histrionic and borderline, where the person gets some kind of (presumably) sexual thrill out of making advances that are constantly rejected. Victims will, of course, find it to be a very disturbing form of harassment, and at the risk of promulgating stereotypes that feminism hopes would be put to rest, almost every place of work in

society has something similar in the form of an "office tease" or "looker". It's not so much the psychological characteristics of the parties involved, but the sociological role expectations people bring to work with them. INTERNET RESOURCES: Dr. Irene's Verbal Abuse/Love Addiction/Codependency Website Gunman shoots 5 Dead at Wendy's 05/25/00 The Mindless Jobs and Waitressing Sucks Webpage PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE IN THE WORKPLACE The terms "psychological abuse or injury" refer to a legal convention known as "pain and suffering". Generally, courts do not distinguish between the two with "pain and suffering" including physical pain, fright, nervousness, grief, worry, mortification, shock, humiliation, indignity, embarrassment, apprehension, terror, and ordeal. In most cases, the abuse aggravates a pre-existing condition or prior susceptibility. Susceptibility by itself is no defense at law to a liability claim, and neither are pre-existing conditions which are degenerative by nature, or only have their degenerative nature temporarily exacerbated. At law, abuse in the workplace must be shown to be greater than "life is tough for everybody" and less than (but similar to) permanent physical deficits of an organic etiology with great practical consequences. Most legal arguments focus on "precipitate or triggering" events with legal causation defined as anything understandable and credible (Frye standard). Collecting monetary damages for psychological abuse will often require medical or expert proof of a "soft tissue" injury. Soft tissue is everything but the bone or vertebrae, and the pain is located in the nerve endings. The victim's complaints are regarded as subjective or psychosomatic, but nonetheless real since soft tissue injuries don't normally result in objective symptoms like swelling or bleeding. Soft tissue injuries result, however, in scar tissue, which is permanent, and cannot be fixed with surgery. The pain and suffering, in the form of severe restrictions on the victim's range of motions, mobility, and resumption of normal activities, is permanent. Perhaps this diagram, commonly used as demonstrative evidence, will provide an overview of how many layers of soft tissue there are:

With numerous exceptions, negligent conduct which results in psychological injury only is not actionable. Actually, the law is clearer on trauma caused to bystanders of workplace violence. Some courts, under a clear and convincing standard, have allowed recovery for emotional disturbances caused by witnessing injuries to a third party victim, but usually only when the bystander was in a "zone of danger", had a special relationship to the victim (close friend or family member), or was under a legal duty to be cognizant of the victim's safety. An example of legal duty would be such as a lifeguard's responsibility for a drowning swimmer. Another legal doctrine is the theory of premises liability, which considers whether the employer failed to exercise reasonable care in securing the premises (Lopez v. Rouse Co. 1994). Some of the principles of vicarious liability can be used in criminal charges against an employer, not just in attempts to recover money awards under civil law. Workplace violence is one such area, and criminal charges are appropriate if the offender commits an act of violence with the employer's actual or apparent authority. In addition, criminal penalties are possible for attempts to conceal "serious dangers" or any fraudulent misrepresentation of safety and security. Under the respondeat superior doctrine, an employer can be held liable for injuries to others caused by an employee, but two conditions apply. First, the act of violence must occur within the course and scope of employment. This usually requires that the employee uses the employer's equipment or is motivated by their job duties. Secondly, the employer must have had knowledge that the employee is violent but did nothing to correct the problem; thus, the forseeability standard is applied. For example, an employer is liable if an employee reports sexual harassment, the employer does nothing, and the employee is later attacked or injured.

Other forms of civil liability exist for employers. Negligent hiring is the term used to describe not doing an adequate background check on an employee during the hiring process. Negligent supervision refers to situations in which it cannot be known that the employee had violent tendencies before hiring, but later develops them on the job, and the employer fails to discharge or discipline the employee. Negligent training applies to jobs in which dangerous instruments or potential weapons exist, and employees are not sufficiently trained on proper use of such equipment. The most common form of psychological abuse in the workplace is supervisor bullying. Examples of this behavior includes yelling or screaming, use of derogatory names, the "silent treatment", withholding of necessary information, aggressive eye contact, negative rumors, explosive outbursts of anger, and ridiculing someone in front of others. So-called "back-stabbing" coworkers also play a part in these behaviors. Perpetrators are typically suffering from narcissistic personality disorder, and display other symptoms indicative of a serial offender pattern.. INTERNET Bully Online: Profiles Campaign Against Foundation for the MyBossSucks.com WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION Discrimination in the workplace most commonly involves sexual, racial, or disabilities discrimination. Sexual harassment claims, of which the most common forms are quid pro quo (an exchange of sexual favors in return for keeping a job or getting a promotion), sometimes are considered in this category. Sexual discrimination can also take the form of unwelcome sexual advances or verbal comments of a sexual nature, in which case it constitutes a hostile work environment, however, this is the most common form of racial discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the area where claims of racism and sexism are made. In order to prove hostile work environment, a plaintiff must show (1) unwelcome harassment; (2) based on race; (3) which is so severe and pervasive that it alters the conditions of employment and creates an abusive atmosphere; and (4) some basis for imputing liability to the employer. Courts use a totality of circumstances test to see whether the actions were severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of employment or create an abusive atmosphere. Congress has outlawed discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin", but it has not yet seen fit to include "sexual orientation". A handful of states (Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, NJ, and Wisconsin) and cities (NY, LA, Chicago) do, however, protect sexual orientation or "affectional preference", but employees who get fired on account of health reasons (AIDS or HIV) have to file disability discrimination suits. Gay and lesbians are not a protected class of people set up by the "equal protection" clause of the Constitution. Federal guidelines RESOURCES: of Workplace Bullies (UK) Workplace Bullying (US) Study of Workplace Trauma

prohibit workplace discrimination on the supposed characteristics of an entire class of people. So-called "glass walls" (job assignment) and "glass ceilings" (lack of promotion) are contemporary concerns. Gender, racial, and disabilities discrimination commonly involves various Civil Rights Acts that have been passed into law in the United States, and some of these are as follows: (1) The Civil Rights Act of 1866 - this one is enforced by private lawsuits only. It is Part 42 of the USC (United States Code), and the subparts are referred to by Section (1981, 1982, 1983): (a) 42 USC Section 1981 - deals with private employment. It allows the victim to sue for compensatory and punitive damages if discriminated against by a private employer. (b) 42 USC Section 1982 - deals with parks & playgrounds. It allows the victim to sue if they are discriminated against by their neighbors while using sidewalks, common playground equipment, common areas outside the curtilage, etc. It doesn't come up much except in some gated community or homeowner association cases. (c) 42 USC Section 1983 - deals with actions by government officials, and allows what are called "class action suits" by a victimized group in society. (2) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 - this one is enforced by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), and their policy is to first issue an injunction (stop) order before prosecution. (a) Title II - deals with public accommodations. It lays out a laundry list of places (hotels, restaurants, gas stations, theatres, barber shops, taverns, health clubs, golf courses, swimming pools) were discrimination is not allowed. The victim must prove they were victimized through clear and convincing evidence. It comes up a lot with so-called "private" clubs, and the courts have ruled that private must not simply be a for-profit organization. To be legally private, the club must have self-governance and member-ownership. (b) Title III - deals with state facilities other than school and colleges. It's mostly used to desegregate prisons and jails. Action must be initiated by the Attorney General of the State who is supposed to monitor these things. (c) Title VI - deals with financial assistance programs, all federal aid, like AFDC, Student Grants/Loans, etc. It doesn't apply to private banking programs. (d) Title VII - deals with all matters of employment (hiring, firing, compensation, comparable worth, job transfer, etc.) It only applies to employers with 15 or more employees and engaged in interstate commerce. This area of law has produced the

distinction between "disparate treatment" (individual victimization) and "disparate impact" (group victimization). Disparate treatment, to be proven, requires a showing of intent (usually quid pro quo; intimidation, ridicule, an insult). Disparate impact, to be proven, requires a showing of statistics, and a social scientific interpretation of those numbers. There are exceptions, however, in this area because something called BFOQ (Bona Fide Occupational Qualifier) allows employers to do a job audit and discriminate against people who have, say, disabilities, if there is no way to make reasonable accommodations for them, or the job skills require discriminating. (e) Title VIII (of the 1968 Civil Rights Act) - deals with real estate. It outlaws "refuse to rent" signs and policies as well as plain talk about what percentage of minorities might live/move in/move out of a neighborhood. To be proven, race must only be shown to be a significant factor, not a deciding factor. Constitutionally, discrimination cases are tested by the court using one of three tests:

Minimal Scrutiny - applies Rational Basis Test, if legitimate government interest involved, used in public health & safety cases mostly. Strict Scrutiny - applies Compelling Government Interest Test, if compelling (not just rational) interest & law is narrowly tailored, used in race & religion cases mostly, reverses burden of proof. Intermediate Scrutiny - complicated test devised primarily to deal with gender discrimination cases

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects workers age 45 and above from various forms of blatant age discrimination, but subtle forms remain, such as downgrading job descriptions, lessened expectations of job performance, and newfound ways by management to put someone "out to pasture" such as "emeritus" status which has been regularly used in academia for many years to push elderly college faculty out. Victim trauma reactions vary in response to harassment, bullying, and discrimination. Suicide is quite common. Far more subtle, however, are behaviors that psychoanalysts refer to as regression -- childlike drawing, doodling, scratching on desks, writing graffiti on walls. Regression is a way of denying one has a need to be seen or heard. It eventually leads to anger, and then to work rage, where the worker may engage in sabotage or terrorism. INTERNET Stress and Other Workplace Afflictions RESOURCES:

GOING "POSTAL"

Despite the headlines, relatively few workplace homicides involve stressed-out workers "going postal", yet the news media promulgates this type of workplace violence as the norm. In all fairness, such events do lend themselves well to sensationalism. Here's a sample of some notorious cases from 1986-1999.

July 29, 1999: Mark Barton, 44, walks into a day trading firm in Atlanta about 3 p.m. and began shooting, then walked across to street to another brokerage firm and continued shooting; 9 people were killed, and a dozen others wounded.. April 15, 1999: Sergei Babarin, 71, opens fire in the Mormon Family History Library in Salt Lake City, killing two people and wounding four others before police shoot him to death. March 18, 1999: Walter V. Shell, 71, turns himself in after allegedly shooting to death his attorney and one of his clients in Johnson City, Tenn. Shell blamed the lawyer for a $100,000 loss in a dispute over his ex-wife's will. Jan. 14, 1999: Di-Kieu Duy, 24, allegedly opens fire in a Salt Lake City office building, killing one person and wounding another. March 6, 1998: Matthew Beck, 35, a Connecticut Lottery Corp. accountant involved in a pay dispute, fatally shoots the lottery president and three of his supervisors before killing himself. One of the victims also was stabbed. Dec. 18, 1997: Arturo Reyes Torres, 43, walks into a maintenance yard in Orange, Calif., with an AK-47 and kills his former boss and three others. Torres, who blamed the supervisor for getting him fired, is later shot by police. Oct. 7, 1997: Charles Lee White, 42, opens fire with a rifle at the San Antonio paging company where his ex-girlfriend worked, killing her and another woman before shooting himself to death. Sept. 15, 1997: Arthur Hastings Wise, 43, allegedly opens fire at an Aiken, S.C., parts plant, killing four and wounding three others. Wise had been fired two months before from his job at the plant, June 5, 1997: Daniel S. Marsden, a plastics factory employee in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., fatally shoots two co-workers and wounds four others after an argument at work, then kills himself less than two hours later. April 3, 1995: James Simpson, 28, a former employee at a refinery inspection station in Corpus Christi, Texas, shoots and kills the owner of the company, his wife and three workers before shooting himself to death. March 14, 1994: Tuan Nguyen, 29, recently fired from a Santa Fe Springs, Calif., electronics factory, uses a still-valid security code to gain access and shoots three people to death before killing himself. Dec. 2, 1993: Alan Winterbourne, 33, an unemployed computer engineer, opens fire in a state unemployment office in Oxnard, Calif., killing three state workers and injuring four others. Winterbourne flees, killing a police officer before police fatally shoot him. July 1, 1993: Gian Luigi Ferri opens fire with two assault weapons and a pistol in the San Francisco law offices of Pettit & Martin, killing eight people before taking his own life.

Oct. 16, 1991: George Hennard crashes his pickup into a Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, then opens fire and kills 24 people, including himself. June 18, 1990: James Edward Pough goes on a shooting spree in a General Motors Acceptance Corp. office in Florida, killing 10 people and wounding four others before killing himself. Sept. 14, 1989: Joseph T. Wesbecker, a 47-year-old pressman on disability for mental illness, kills eight people and wounds 12 others at a printing plant in Louisville, Ky., before taking his own life. Feb. 16, 1988: Richard Wade Farley, 40, angry that a former co-worker at ESL Corp. in Sunnyvale, Calif., had rejected his advances, storms into the company building and shoots seven people to death with a shotgun before surrendering. Farley is currently on California's death row. Aug. 20, 1986: Pat Sherrill, 44, a postal worker who authorities say was about to be fired, opens fire at a post office in Edmond, Okla., killing 14 people, then fatally shooting himself.

In recent years, there's been an interest in "profiling" the lethal employee. One of the first attempts to do so was by Anthony Baron (1993) which is a widely published checklist that says there's a 90% probability of lethality if the offender has one or more of the following characteristics:

History of violence Psychosis and/or projection Romantic obsession Chemical dependence Depression Pathological blaming Impaired neurological functioning Elevated frustration level Interest in weapons Evidence of personality disorder Vocalization of violent intentions prior to act Evidence of strange or bizarre behavior over time

Kelleher (1997) offers a somewhat different checklist which finds that certain features, like impaired neurological functioning, are uncommon, and that other features, like psychosis and personality disorders, are unknown. The most common features are:

History of violence One or more triggering events within a year Social isolation Romantic obsession Chemical dependence Severe or chronic depression Elevated frustration level

Interest in weapons Vocalization of violent intentions Strange or bizarre behavior

A history of violence is the most reliable indicator. Often, the lethal employee has been an angry person since they were a young man, and they usually have a tendency toward pathological blaming. A triggering event can be any incident, however minor, but usually is a series of incidents that threaten the person's ability to cope. A socially isolated individual will have lived alone for many years, recently changed job locations, or suffered a separation or divorce. The connection between social isolation and workplace homicide is strong. Romantic obsessions occur in a number of variations. Chemical dependence, or addiction, is assumed to be common. Depression is the most common psychological disorder in the United States, and between 7-15% of people with it act out violently at some point. Elevated frustration is exhibited by an unwillingness to work with others and (sometimes) harassment toward coworkers or suicide gestures. It generally takes a few years before the frustration becomes chronic enough to be called "elevated". Kelleher calls the interest in weapons a "weapons fetish" and says they are preoccupied with weaponry or paramilitary subjects. Another strong indicator is a vocalization, or otherwise acting out, of violent intentions prior to committing a violent act. A final, often overlooked, indicator is that fellow employees are often able to notice significant changes in behavior; hence, manifestations of strange or bizarre behavior are anything that causes concerns to coworkers. Workplace violence has become a breeding ground for litigation wherein victims seek compensation for injuries. Such victims have the burden of establishing that the violence and injuries were foreseeable and that the defendant's conduct (their employer's) was unreasonable. The 1991 state supreme court case of Woodson v. Rowland (or the Woodson theory of recovery) puts forth a stringent burden in proving that the employer's conduct was "substantially certain" to cause violent act or injury. Since most state Worker's Compensation programs prohibit recipients from suing their employers, victims who intend to sue cannot collect worker's compensation. The more creative approach is to sue parent corporations, security consultants, security services, employee assistance programs, or any entity that played a role or shares responsibility. INTERNET Killers in the Workplace LITTLE OR NO CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM RESPONSE Generally, the criminal justice system takes a "hands off" approach to the problem of workplace violence. The area of study is inundated by contradictory research, numerous consultants, and news media hounds. Federal law requires employers to provide a place of employment "free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees". OSHA further requires the RESOURCES:

keeping of OSHA Form 200 (Injury and Illness Log) and federal law also requires paperwork in the form of Workers' Compensation claims. There are no requirements to document employee complaints, incidents with supervisors, or reports of suspicious activities (these are referred to in industry jargon as "lowintensity conflicts or threats"). Victimologists also concur with the relative infrequency of at least a Type 3 event, which are often called "rare events". The Postal Service has experimented with various predictive instruments, but so far, none have achieved much scientific validity and reliability. There are, however, numerous preventive checklists and risk assessment instruments. It's unknown how well private business has incorporated this knowledge into standard operating business practices. They tend to be little more than safety and security audits, or indicators of employee behavior needing supervisor intervention, and as an example include: 1. Persistent blaming or unwarranted criticism of coworkers, supervisors, or the organization 2. Unexplained, persistent mood changes 3. Evidence of depression or social withdrawal 4. Unprovoked outbursts of anger or aggression 5. Significant changes in work habits (tardiness, performance decline) 6. Evidence of substance or alcohol abuse 7. Refusal to follow work directives (work errors) 8. Bizarre or outlandish behavior in social get-togethers with coworkers 9. Argumentative, threatening, or combative behavior among coworkers 10. Persistent discussions that revolve around the subjects of weapons or homicide INTERNET AFSCME Workplace Violence Security American Industrial Hygiene Society BLS Report of Nurses and Workplace OPM Workplace Violence Report OSHA Workplace Violence Report OSHA Article on Workplace School Violence Links Workplace Violence Research Workplace Violence from a Law Enforcement Perspective RESOURCES: Checklist Checklist 2000 Violence of 1999 of 1999 Violence Institute

PRINTED RESOURCES: Baron, A. (1993) Violence in the Workplace. Ventura, CA: Pathfinder. Baron, A. & E. Wheeler (1994) Violence in our Schools, Hospitals & Public Places. Ventura: Pathfinder. Campbell, R. (1995) Substance Abuse in the Workplace . Boca Raton: CRC Press. Fox, J. & J. Levin (1994) Overkill: Mass Murder & Serial Killing Exposed . NY: Plenum.

Green, G. (1990) Occupational Crime. Chicago: Nelson-Hall. Kelleher, M. (1996) New Arenas for Violence: Homicide in the American Workplace . Westport: Praeger. Kelleher, M. (1997) Profiling the Lethal Employee: Case Studies of Workplace Violence. Westport: Praeger. O'Connor, T. (1997) "Social Correlates of Workplace Violence" J. of Security Administration 20(1):28-39. Smigel, E. & H. Ross (1970) Crimes Against Bureaucracy. NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold.