NCJ Number
82040
Date Published
1982
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This study examines the effects of burglaries, robberies, and assaults on victims in an inner-city, a middle-class, and a mixed-income neighborhood in New York City. It discusses victims' problems, formal and informal sources of aid, and the consequences of their choices to themselves and their supporters.
Abstract
Victims typically suffered from psychological problems, including fear, anxiety, nervousness, self-reproach, anger, shame, and insomnia. Indigent minority-group members with little education, living in the inner city, suffered most on all counts. Fifteen percent of the victims in the sample sought assistance from service agencies; only one in five victims knew of such agencies of support to crime victims. All but 2 of 274 victims interviewed received help from friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, and a few strangers. Most helpers reported suffering some form of secondary victimization, such as increased fear; providing financial assistance to victims was particularly burdensome for helpers, and most were unable to provide 'professional' services such as counseling and legal assistance. Victim assistance programs should place an increased emphasis on providing services for the poor, who are less successful than other victims in getting the help they need. Areas for further research are discussed; tabular data and 113 references are provided.