Victim of Rape - Institutional Reactions

• NCJ Number: 91038
• Author(s): L L Holmstrom; A W Burgess
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 330 pages
• Sale Source: Transaction Publishers
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This book looks at how three major institutions -police, hospitals, and courts -- respond to rape victims and what impact these responses have on victims.

Abstract

A number of rape victims (146 persons admitted to the emergency wards of Boston City Hospital during a 1-year period) were followed from the time they arrived at the emergency ward until the end of the legal process. Victims included women and three men of varying employment status (from career women to housewives, students, and welfare recipients); they also represented various ethnic groups, levels of sexual experience, and marital status and ranged in age from 3 to 73. The female researchers (a sociologist and a psychiatric nurse) associated themselves with the victims as part of the hospital's counseling program and accompanied victims through all subsequent official encounters pertinent to the case, including the defendants' hearings and trials. Victim interviews focused on the assault, victims' actions after the attack, the social network of family and friends, and possible prior difficulties. Followup interviews concerning emotional problems were conducted by phone. The data clearly show that rape does not end with the departure of the assailant, but that victims' suffering is instead perpetuated by what occurs during institutional processing. Insensitive bureaucratic procedures make victims feel neglected and lost in the system, deprived of their privacy, and ignorant of the proceedings. Further harm comes from the conflict between victims' rights and the responsibilities of the institution. In essence, institutional procedures victimize the victim further. These findings raise theoretical questions about the part played in victimization by the groups and institutions that are supposed to protect victims. Analysis of the difficulties victims encounter, however, does suggest changes that can be implemented to promote adequate help for those victimized by rape. Tables, chapter notes, and an index are included.