Who do young adult victims of physical assault talk to about their experiences?

Abstract

AbstractMany victims of physical assaults do not report the assault to the police. In this study we examine whom these victims talked to and how satisfied they were with the help they received. A sample of 374 participants of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (DMHDS) who had been assaulted in the preceding 12 months, were asked questions about an assault that had the greatest impact on their life and who they had talked to about it. It was found that not only did very few participants report the assault to the police; most victims talked to no one. If they did talk to someone, they were more likely to talk to friends and family and find them more helpful than the police and other services. Talking to others appears to be influenced by the nature of the assault, as participants were most likely to report serious assaults resulting in injuries requiring medical attention. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 32: 479–488, 2004.