Victimization Prevention and CPTED

Victimization Prevention and CPTED

Introduction

Victimology is the study of psychological effects on victims and their relationship with offenders and the criminal justice system (Fisher & Lab, 2010). The importance of victimology includes its role in realizing the investigative and forensic objectives. In forensic victimology, the study on victim’s exposure to injury consists of situational and lifestyle exposure. In criminology, a victim is defined as a person injured individually or directly by an offender. Victimization refers to any crime related issues that have perceived negative impact on the wellbeing and safety of individuals. The crime-related problems include fear of retribution, sexual aggression, aggression, violence at schools, and fear of crime.

Victimization Prevention and CPTED

Victimization prevention refers to the assessment of risks, performance of security audits to identify points of vulnerability to minimize to a target’s attractiveness to criminals (Daigle, 2013). In Victimology, Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) refers to the use of multidisciplinary approaches in the reduction of crime through management and utilization of built environments as well as urban and environmental design. The CPTED involves designing physical spaces while emphasizing the connection between the use of the functional objective of space and behavior management. The CPTED also consists of four principles, namely natural access control, surveillance, territorial reinforcement, and maintenance.

The differences between Victim Precipitation and Victim Facilitation

In victimology, victim precipitation refers to the actions initiated by an individual that result in their injury, harm, or loss. Victim precipitation, therefore, involves the contribution of an individual’s behavior to their current victimized state (Fisher & Lab, 2010). For instance, a person known for shooting people may be attacked by other people in fear that the person may shot them when that is not the case. On the other hand, victim facilitation refers to the actions of individuals that unintentionally aid the perpetrators of crime in committing a crime against them. For instance, individuals who do not guard their luggage are to blame for any crime done against them because they carelessly assisted the perpetrators in carrying out the offense.

The Stages of Rape Trauma Syndrome

The rape trauma syndrome (RTS) is a sexual assault-related post-traumatic disorder. A rape trauma syndrome is also a group of behavioral, emotional, and physical disruptions reported by victims of completed or attempted rape (Wright, 2019). The clusters of reactions are in five stages, and these include acute, out-ward adjustment process, underground phase, and reorganization stage and normalization stage. The RTS consists of various major symptoms, which include recurrent flashbacks and nightmares about rape, social withdrawal, avoidance behaviors, and heightened physiological arousal characteristics. Also, studies indicate that rape survivors are at high risk of developing a generalized anxiety disorder, major depression, substance use disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder

In the acute stage of RTS, victims experience symptoms weeks after the initial shock of sexual assault. The symptoms for RTS at the acute stage include hyper-alertness, numbness, vomiting, disorganized thought content, dulled sensory, thoughts of suicide, and paralyzing anxiety (Petrak & Hedge, 2002). The outward adjustment stage begins with the ending of the acute phase and can last from a few months to several years. At this stage, victims adopt coping mechanisms, which include continued talk about the assault, pretending that all is well, and analyzing the incidence. The victims display symptoms such as mood swings, a sense of helplessness, insomnia, dissociation, panic attacks, persistent fear, and continuing anxiety.

In the underground stage, the victims build their former self and return to normal

activities. The underground phase may last for years with limited daily disruptions for the victims, although emotional issues may continue unresolved. Some of the symptoms of the victims include attempting to lead normal lives as though nothing happened, some depression, blocking thoughts of the assault and experiencing, and hypervigilance (Wright, 2019). The reorganization stage begins when an external trigger moves the survivor from an outward adjustment or underground stage or during a life transition. The period of reorganization ends when the survivor resumes to earlier stages or moves to the normalization stage.

In the renormalization stage, the survivors integrate their reprocessed experiences into their lives. The survivors’ feelings of guilt and shame resolve and rape is no longer their central focus (Petrak & Hedge, 2002). At the renormalization stage, the victims recognize and address the secondary effects of maladaptive coping mechanisms. While the survivor is aware of pain and memories, the feelings generated by the assault in other stages do not overwhelm or disrupt the victim. While most of the victims continue with their normal life activities, others may develop post-traumatic syndrome as a consequence of rape. The post-traumatic symptoms include recurring thoughts about the trauma and sleep disturbances.

Types of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

The post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD), is a psychological health condition triggered by a terrifying experience or event witnessed by an individual. The symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks, severe anxiety, nightmares, and uncontrollable thoughts about a situation. Mostly, individuals going through traumatic experiences, find it difficult to adjust and cope. However, with good hygiene, they get better. If symptoms persist for months to years and interfere with daily functioning, the chances are that an individual has post-traumatic stress disorder. The symptoms for post-traumatic disorder grouped into four types these include avoidance, intrusive memories, physical and emotional changes, and changes in mood.

In post-traumatic stress syndrome, intrusive memory symptoms include recurrent memories of the traumatic event, flashbacks, nightmares about the traumatic experience, and severe physical and emotional reactions to traumatic experiences (Regel & Joseph, 2017). The avoidance symptoms include attempting to avoid discussing the traumatic experience and also avoiding people and places, reminding them about a traumatic experience or event. In post-traumatic stress disorder, the negative changes in mood and thinking include self-negativity, future disillusionment, selective amnesia, and losing interest in hobbies. The symptoms for changes in emotional and physical emotions include insomnia, difficulties in concentration, overwhelming guilt, hypersensitive, being easily startled.

The characteristics of Homicide Victims and Offenders

Homicide refers to the volitional act of an individual killing another as a consequence of negligence, accident, or recklessness (Daniszewska, 2017).In a majority of homicides, the characteristics of homicide offenders include the history of depression, alcohol abuse, the identity of the offender, is also known, and stress is a factor in incidences related to intimate relationships. The characteristics of the homicide victim include feelings of suicide, hypersensitivity to the aggressor, difficulties in coping with life, depression, and increased psychological anxiety. Also, homicide victims experience short term and long term trauma reactions. The trauma reactions include shock and surprise due to unanticipated incidence and feelings of unreality. Such physical and emotional disruptions are typical fight or flight responses that occur in dangerous and risky circumstances.

Victimology is essential in understanding the psychological effects on victims of rape and homicide. Victimization prevention deals with accessing the risks and evaluation of areas of weakness to reduce the possibility of an attack on the victim. On the other hand victim facilitation refer to an individual’s actions that assist the offender in committing crime against them. For rape victims, rape trauma syndrome refers to a group of behavioral, physical, and emotional disruptions that result in attempted or complete rape. The different phases for rape trauma syndrome include the acute phase of disorganizations, out-ward adjustment process, underground phase, and reorganization stage and normalization stage. PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by a disturbing experience event or situation. The characteristics of homicide victims include depression and alcohol abuse.

References

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Daigle, L. E. (2013). Victimology: The essentials.Bottom of FormBottom of Form

Daniszewska, A. (2017). Serial Homicide: Profiling of Victims and Offenders for Policing.

Fisher, B., & Lab, S. P. (2010). Encyclopedia of Victimology and Crime Prevention. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

Petrak, J., & Hedge, B. (2002). The trauma of sexual assault: Treatment, prevention, and practice. Chichester, West Sussex, England: Wiley.Bottom of Form

Bottom of FormRegel, S., & Joseph, S. (2017). Post-traumatic stress. Oxford University Press.

Wright, E. Q. (2019). Rape Trauma. The Encyclopedia of Women and Crime, 1-3