Psychiatric Problems Related to Violence and Rape

Abstract

For a long time, the focus of psychiatric interest in violence and rape has been on the personality of violators and/or rapists, and the discussion has been restricted mostly to forensic papers or textbooks. As for victims, the focus was on the victimizing role in the act of violence and therefore on the description of their mental condition prior to and during the act. Only recently have the consequences of violence and rape on the mental condition of victims and their environment come into the centre of attention (Burgess and Holstrom 1974). The description of the mental condition of victims and the corresponding diagnostic categories — severe stress (F43) and enduring personality change after catastrophic experience (F62.0) — were first introduced by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the International Classification of Diseases 10 (WHO 1992).