NCJ Number
128875
Date Published
1990
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This chapter compares the treatment models for Vietnam veterans and male sexual assault survivors as well as the symptomatology and treatment protocols of rape trauma and delayed stress syndrome.
Abstract
Vietnam veterans constitute a population of males who were victimized and have not hidden or denied it in the usual ways. Clinically, their experiences can be used to help predict issues facing male sexual assault survivors, a group that has only recently been studied. There is apparently a strong link between rape and warfare; the motivation to rape and to kill in battle come from the same root. The link between men as victims of sexual and military violence has only recently been discussed. The separation in clinical treatment perceptions between these two types of male-to-male violence has lessened as researchers have challenged the view that the rape of males, unlike the rape of women, is more sexual in manifestation. It is now recognized that male sexual assault, like military combat, is predominantly a projection of power and control. Parallel symptomatology in Vietnam veterans and sexual assault survivors include sleep disorders, social and behavioral problems, sexual dysfunction, difficulty in maintaining a support network, and guilt. Treatments ranging from behavioral intervention to psychoanalysis and self-help groups currently are used for both Vietnam veterans and sexual assault survivors. Male Vietnam veterans and male sexual assault survivors with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder could benefit from treatment in the same groups. 76 references