Table Of ContentSOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
CONSEQUENCES OF
VIOLENT
νΙΕΠΜΙΖΑΓΙΟΝ
To my mother, Mary P. Ruback, and
the memory of my father, Norman Ruback.
—Barry
To my husband, Kip Kingree,
and my son, jack Kingree.
—Martie
SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
CONSEQUENCES OF
VIOLENT
VICTIMIZAnON
R. BARRY RUBACK • MARTIE R THOMPSON
kSage Publications
I International Educational and Professional Publisher
'Thousand Oaks • London • New Delhi
Copyright © 2001 by Sage Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
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publisher.
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Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ruback, R. Barry, 1950
Social and psychological consequences of violent victimization / by
R. Barry Ruback and Martie R Thompson,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 10:0-7619-1040-9 ISBN 13: 978-0-76I9-I040-4 (doth: alk. paper)
ISBN 10: 0-7619-1041-7 ISBN 13: 978-0-76I9-104I-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Victims of crimes—United States. 2. Violent crimes—
United States. I. Thompson, Martie P. II. Title.
HV6250.3.U5 R8 2001
362.88Ό973—dc21 00-012406
07 08 09 10 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Acquiring Editor: Nancy Hale
Editorial Assistant: Vonessa Vondera
Production Editor: Denise Santoyo
Editorial Assistant: Kathryn Journey
Typesetter: Janelle LeMaster
Cover Designer: Michelle Lee
Contents
Preface vii
1. Introduction and Overview 1
The Violent Crime Problem 3
Growth of Interest in Victims 4
Violence in the United States 6
Measuring Violent Victimization 11
General Theories of Victimization 23
Summary 27
SS Discussion Questions 27
2. Studying the Effects of Victimization 29
Data Sources for Measuring the Effects of
Violent Victimization 30
Framework for Considering the Effects of
Violent Victimization 46
η Discussion Questions 47
3. Violent Victimization and the Immediate Aftermath 49
Characteristics of the Participants in
Violent Victimizations 50
Actions During Violent Victimizations 57
Victims' Actions After Violent Victimizations 65
Influence of Others on the Victim's Recovery 77
Summary 81
R Discussion Questions 84
4. Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Consequences
of Violent Victimization on Direct Crime Victims 87
Affective Consequences of Violent Crime 87
Behavioral Consequences of Violent Crime 93
Cognitive Consequences of Violent Crime 98
Summary of Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive
Consequences of Victimization 103
Contextual Factors Affecting Outcomes 105
Postcrime Influences 112
Special Populations 121
Summary 127
Ιί Discussion Questions 131
5. Secondary Victimization: The Effects of Violence on
Family Members, Friends, Neighbors, and Professionals 133
Secondary Victimization 134
Effects of Nonhomicidal Crimes on Family Members,
Friends, Neighbors, and Coworkers 135
Family Members of Homicide Victims 138
Witnessing Violence 143
Professionals' Secondary Traumatization 150
Summary 153
i! Discussion Questions 154
6. The Effects of Violent Victimization on Communities 155
Characteristics of Neighborhoods 156
Effects of Violent Crime on Communities 157
Community Interventions to Reduce Violent Crime 170
Summary 179
ΪΪ Discussion Questions 179
7. Summary and Implications 181
The Effects of Victimizations on Individuals and
Communities 182
Individual-Level Interventions 182
Neighborhood-Level Interventions 191
System-Level Interventions 194
IS Discussion Questions 203
References 205
Author Index 231
Subject Index 239
About the Authors 247
Preface
A
violent crime is more than a single incident affecting a single
person along a single dimension of injury. Rather, it is typically
the beginning of a series of actions that the victim, the victim's
family, and the victim's friends have to take in order to cope with the
physical injury, emotional distress, and economic costs that result from
the violence. These actions include having to decide whether or not to
call the police, seek medical care, and obtain counseling. Making these
decisions is often more problematic when the victim and offender have
a prior relationship, because questions of perceived blame may be diffi
cult to answer.
The purpose of this book is to examine the impact of violent crime
on individuals, families, and communities. To do so, we have used the
literature from several disciplines, because the issues transcend levels
of analysis (i.e., individuals, groups, and communities) and they cross
traditional boundaries (e.g., between research and clinical practice and
between criminology and public health). One of our primary goals in
writing this book is to emphasize the need for multiple research meth
ods and multiple theoretical perspectives for understanding the effects
and implications of violent crime.
This book is primarily a product of our own thinking and research
over the past few years about the consequences of victimization. How
ever, at a more fundamental level, the book reflects our conversations
vu
viii CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLENT VICTIMIZATION
and collaborations with several individuals during the past 20 years.
Ruback first became interested in the topic through research con
ducted with Martin Greenberg at the University of Pittsburgh, much of
which is summarized in this book. Since then, his research collabora
tors (particularly Deborah Ivie, Kim Menard, and Jennifer Shaffer) and
the students in his courses on victimization have sharpened his focus
on questions of psychological impact and public policy. Thompson
first became interested in the effects of violent crime through her doc
toral research with Fran Norris in the community psychology program
at Georgia State University. Thereafter, her postdoctoral work with
Nadine Kaslow at Emory University School of Medicine, and her expe
riences as a scientist, working primarily with Linda Saltzman and Jim
Mercy in the Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Dis
ease Control and Prevention, have expanded her thinking on the
causes and consequences of violent crime.
We would like to thank the National Institute of Justice and the
National Institute of Mental Health, which have funded our research
and encouraged our thinking about the effects of victimization. We
would also like to thank our institutions, Pennsylvania State University
and Emory University, for their support. Thanks also to Neil Weiner at
the University of Pennsylvania for initially suggesting the need for this
book. At Sage we would like to thank Terry Hendrix, who was support
ive of the book from the beginning, and Nancy Hale, who shepherded
us through the publication process.
Violent crimes can have profound effects on individuals, neighbor
hoods, and society in general. Our hope is that this book will encour
age readers to think more broadly about how these consequences can
be measured, understood, ameliorated, and prevented.
1 «
Introduction
and Overview
Kathy, a 47-year-old married woman, related the
following assault:
My daughter and I usually run together in the early evening. On
that day, at about 5:30, she called to say that her husband had just
called, and he was held up at work, and I was a bit leery of going
alone as by 5:30 it was already getting dark, and I knew that the
area wasn't the safest place for women. But I was in a good rou-
tine, and I wanted to keep up my momentum so that I'd be in
form for the Bonnie Bell race. I left a note for my husband and
drove over to the jogging track. There was hardly anyone in the
parking lot, and I thought that maybe I should just not go, but I
thought to myself that I was just being an old fogy. So I warmed
up and went down the open stretch at the beginning of the track
where the streetlights flooded the path. Then I turned the curve. I
saw the outline of the woman's form painted on the path, which
was the place where a woman was raped, and which the Women's
Center had painted there as a reminder.
I was a bit taken aback, more so than usual. But again, I
chided myself for being silly. I ran a bit faster. It's a 5-mile course,
and as I passed the 3-mile marker I felt that I'd have been foolish
to stay home. It felt good to be moving. That's when he got me.
He must have been hiding in the bushes by the golf course, as all
