Reactions Of Victims Research Articles

Variables involved in the acquisition and maintenance of racial aggression and its victims' reactions.

This study aimed to investigate how behavior analysis can contribute to the understanding of some variables and processes involved in the acquisition and maintenance of racial aggressors' behaviors, as well as the victims' reactions. We describe how the concepts of rule-governed behavior and motivating operations may be involved in institutional racism: Individuals belonging to ethnic groups who hold the social administration in a context may keep important reinforcers available for their own group, while other racial groups may have their access to those reinforcers hindered. For these privileges to be perpetuated, the ruling group can arrange contingencies that reinforce the behavior of following certain rules that contribute to the maintenance of relevant reinforcers for the ruling group and exclusion of Black individuals and other people of color. For those underrepresented groups, motivating operations can be manipulated and reinforcers can be provided only when their responses are deemed appropriate by the dominant group. Individual learning through discriminative training, equivalence class formation, transfer of functions, stimulus generalization, and function altering were also discussed. Patterns such as aggression, escape, and avoidance, were identified in the actions of racial aggressors. Finally, the victim's reactions were also identified as escape, avoidance, or aggression of racial aggressors, but also as effects of processes such as learned helplessness, extinction after elimination of benefits, countercontrol, and respondent conditioning. Despite the lack of research in the field, behavior analysis has the power to elucidate some variables related to this theme, aiding, thus, evidence-based intervention proposals.

Stratégies et réactions des victimes et de leur entourage face au harcèlement scolaire : une étude rétrospective

The negative consequences faced by students who are victims of school bullying are clearly documented. Nevertheless, few studies have examined victim's reactions and strategies to cope with bullying. Yet a better understanding of these reactions would allow a better support from health professionals and to improved prevention actions. This study aims to explore the victim's coping strategies through the content-analysis of 32 interviews conducted with former victims. Given their decisive influence on the bullying's situation, spontaneous or requested reactions of peers, teachers and parents are examined as well. To include these two aspects in a common theoretical framework, this research proposes to combine two distinct approaches: the coping strategies and the Participant Role Approach (Salmivalli, 2010; Salmivalli et al., 1996). The efficiency of each highlighted strategy is analysed and discussed regarding current scientific knowledge. Results suggest that victims generally experiment a large panel of reactions and strategies to cope with bullying. Nevertheless, few of these strategies seem to have an effect on bullying itself, but some can improve the emotional well-being of the victims. Victims who attempted to be liked by their bullies by changing their own behaviour reported no improvement of their relations with the bullies, neither did the ones who used humour in order to get closer to bullies. Bullies didn’t get tired when victims passively endured the bullying, hoping that it would stop by itself. Stand up (verbally or physically) to the bully led to increased bullying (one situation excepted). Physical avoidance of bullies (e.g. staying in classroom during playtimes) allowed some victims to temporarily reduce their emotional distress. Several victims experimented positive interactions with peers in extra-curricular activities (e.g. sport, art, scouting) that helped them recovering confidence in their social skills. Most of victims sought social support at one point of the bullying time. The efficiency of this strategy entirely belongs to the warned person's reaction and is thus highly variable. Based on participants’ report, only increased connectedness with a peer could have an impact on the bullying behaviour through a better integration in the peer-group. On the contrary, parents and teachers’ reactions are often perceived by the victims as not appropriate and as leading to a worse situation. In terms of practical implications, these results highlight the importance of raising teachers and parents’ awareness of the bullying, as well as the significance of the peers group dynamic. Following-up any bullying situation observed or reported in the school would probably help ensuring relevant interventions.

A comparative study of elder mistreatment between community-dwelling elders and those residing in long-term care facilities

IntroductionElderly who live in settings other than their own homes or those of relatives have received little attention from researchers in Tunisia.AimsTo compare sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with elder abuse between community-dwelling elders and those residing in nursing home.MethodsA comparative study was conducted, including 50 subjects aged 65 years and older living in the community and 20 age- and sex-matched subjects living in a nursing home. Cognitive status, depressive symptoms and autonomy were assessed using mini-mental state examination (MMSE), geriatric depression scale (GDS) and activities of daily living scale (ADL). Elder abuse was evaluated with Indicators of Abuse Screen (IOA).ResultsElder abuse was more prevalent in elderly residing in nursing home (P = 0.009) with a prevalence of 35% and 8% and a mean IOA score of 12.75 and 7.74. Psychological, physical, financial abuse and neglect were reported by elderly residing in nursing home. Those living in community reported exclusively psychological abuse. The victim's reactions were passive in all cases.Elders living in nursing home were more single or divorced (0.000) and financially independent (0.003). They had lower scores of MMSE (0.002) and ADL (0.014), and higher scores of GDS (0.022). A binary logistic regression confirmed that elder abuse was significantly more prevalent in nursing home after eliminating these confounding variables: age, gender, MMSE, GDS and ADL scores (P = 0.018).ConclusionOur results confirm that elderly who live in long-term care facilities are at particular risk for abuse and neglect.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Characteristics of elder mistreatment's perpetrators in Tunisian community-dwelling elders

IntroductionWhile research is illuminating characteristics of elderly that are associated with mistreatment, far less research has investigated characteristics of the perpetrator that are involved in elder mistreatment cases.AimTo address the characteristics of elder mistreatment's perpetrators in a population of community-dwelling elders.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted, including 80 subjects aged 65 years and older, with sufficient cognitive ability to complete the interview. Elderly were asked about several characteristics of mistreatment's perpetrators. Indicators of Abuse Screen (IOA) was used to evaluate abuse.ResultsFindings show that 13.8% of the participants suffered from elder mistreatment, with a mean IOA's score of 8.35. According to subtypes, 10% reported psychological, 2.5% physical and 1.3% financial abuse. Abuse was recurrent and the victim's reactions were passive in all cases.Perpetrators were family members in all cases, with being a partner in 63.6%, a child in 18.2%, a sibling in 9.1% and a stepdaughter in 9.1% of cases. They were men in 72.7% of cases and their mean-age was 64.09 years. Financial difficulties and psychological problems were reported in 54.5% and 36.4% of perpetrators, respectively. Perpetrators were most likely living with the victims (P = 0.009). Partners were the perpetrators of half of the psychological abuse, and the totality of the physical and financial abuse. Abusive marital relationships were significantly associated with the perpetrator (P = 0.04).ConclusionOur findings suggest that the cause of elder abuse is rarely unique, and that this phenomenon is consequent to many pre-existing underlying problems affecting both elderly and perpetrators.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Cyber-harassment victimization in Portugal: Prevalence, fear and help-seeking among adolescents

Cyber-harassment is one of today's problems in adolescent health. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cyber-victimization among Portuguese adolescents. It also explored its nature, patterns and victim's reactions of fear and help-seeking. A representative sample of 627 adolescents, aged 12–16, enrolled in schools from northern Portugal and Azores answered an online survey. Cyber-victimization was widely experienced by these adolescents, mainly among older adolescents. Results evidenced a high prevalence rate of adolescents (66.1%) double involved as both cyber-victim and cyber-aggressor. Although not all adolescents reported fear (37%) or sought help (45.9%), persistent victimization increased fear. In turn, fear increased help-seeking behaviors. Cyber-victims were more afraid encountering unknown cyber-aggressors (vs. acquainted) and when victimized by older males (vs. younger females cyber-aggressors). Younger girls reported more fear and more help-seeking behaviors while older boys were more often victim-aggressors. The subgroup of victim-aggressors was both the target of a higher diversity of cyber-victimization behaviors than the victim-only subgroup and also engaged in fewer help-seeking behaviors. Those adolescents who sought help considered it helpful. Implications for educational, social and political practices are discussed.

When are victims unlikely to cooperate with the police?

Data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) are used to examine the tendency for victims of physical assault, sexual assault, and robbery to refuse to cooperate with the police (N= 3,856,171). Analyses of physical assaults involving homosexual and heterosexual couples did not support the hypothesis that women attacked by their male partners are less likely to cooperate than victims of other assaults. Analyses of violent offenses more generally showed that victims of violence were more likely to refuse to cooperate if they knew the offender in any way than if the offender was a stranger. In the case of physical and sexual assault, these effects were mainly observed for minor incidents. Finally, victims of sexual assault were more likely to cooperate with the police than victims of physical assault. The findings suggest the importance of comparing the victim's reactions to intimate partner violence and sexual assault to their reactions to other offenses.

Le libre arbitre au service du jugement émis envers des victimes de sexisme

Research has shown that belief in free will promotes self-control and personal responsibility for outcomes and behaviours. Belief in free will also increases helping behaviours and decreases aggression. Belief in free will is positively linked to prosocial behaviours and arouses moral responsibility. On the contrary, belief in determinism undermines feeling of responsibility. In this experiment, the aim was to examine whether the belief in free will is likely to improve the judgment toward a victim of a sexist act when she protests discriminatory treatment. Despite that confronting perpetrators of sexism is a necessary behaviour in order to eradicate discrimination as well as to improve intergroup relations, target of prejudice are reluctant to confront prejudice because of the fear of social costs. We suggest that impacting evaluators’ feeling of responsibility would moderate their judgment toward a victim who confronts the perpetrator of a sexist act. They should rate that the victim's reaction is appropriate and judge her more positively. Thus, the salience of belief in free will should improve the evaluation of a victim who confronted the perpetrator compared to the control condition, whereas the salience of belief in determinism should deteriorate this evaluation. This effect would be mediated by the perception of the victim's reaction as appropriate. To test this hypothesis, female participants completed an autobiographical recall task in order to make salient the belief in free will, or in determinism, or no belief (control condition). Then, they read a fictive testimony of a victim of sexism in workplace who confronted (or did not confront) the perpetrator. Finally, they had to judge this victim. Results showed that in case of confrontation, the salience of free will belief improves the judgment toward the victim compared to the control condition, and the salience of determinism belief. Moreover, as expected, this effect was mediated by the perception of the victim's reaction as appropriate to the situation. However, the salience of those beliefs did not impact the evaluation of the victim who did not confront the perpetrator. Such results extend previous research concerning the impact of free will and determinism beliefs on social regulation of behaviors. The impact of believing in free will to struggle against sexism seems relevant to explore.

Épidémiologie de la SEP en réseau : une pyramide des âges et un handicap spécifique

Cette étude vise à explorer les réactions et stratégies mises en place par les victimes et par leur entourage (pairs, enseignants, parents) pour faire face au harcèlement scolaire, en combinant deux perspectives théoriques distinctes mais complémentaires : les stratégies de coping et la Participant Role Approach (Salmivalli, 2010). L'analyse de 32 entretiens rétrospectifs montre que loin de rester passives, les victimes tentent généralement une diversité de réponses face au harcèlement. Si certaines stratégies peuvent améliorer leur état émotionnel, la plupart n’ont toutefois pas d’impact sur le harcèlement lui-même. Par ailleurs, les réactions des adultes sont souvent jugées inadéquates. Il semble néanmoins primordial de ne pas laisser les victimes seules face au problème, car elles sont prises dans un cycle d’impuissance qui les épuise. Une série d’implications pratiques sont présentées au sujet du soutien et de l’accompagnement des victimes ainsi que des interventions concrètes visant à mettre fin au harcèlement.The negative consequences faced by students who are victims of school bullying are clearly documented. Nevertheless, few studies have examined victim's reactions and strategies to cope with bullying. Yet a better understanding of these reactions would allow a better support from health professionals and to improved prevention actions. This study aims to explore the victim's coping strategies through the content-analysis of 32 interviews conducted with former victims. Given their decisive influence on the bullying's situation, spontaneous or requested reactions of peers, teachers and parents are examined as well. To include these two aspects in a common theoretical framework, this research proposes to combine two distinct approaches: the coping strategies and the Participant Role Approach (Salmivalli, 2010; Salmivalli et al., 1996). The efficiency of each highlighted strategy is analysed and discussed regarding current scientific knowledge. Results suggest that victims generally experiment a large panel of reactions and strategies to cope with bullying. Nevertheless, few of these strategies seem to have an effect on bullying itself, but some can improve the emotional well-being of the victims. Victims who attempted to be liked by their bullies by changing their own behaviour reported no improvement of their relations with the bullies, neither did the ones who used humour in order to get closer to bullies. Bullies didn’t get tired when victims passively endured the bullying, hoping that it would stop by itself. Stand up (verbally or physically) to the bully led to increased bullying (one situation excepted). Physical avoidance of bullies (e.g. staying in classroom during playtimes) allowed some victims to temporarily reduce their emotional distress. Several victims experimented positive interactions with peers in extra-curricular activities (e.g. sport, art, scouting) that helped them recovering confidence in their social skills. Most of victims sought social support at one point of the bullying time. The efficiency of this strategy entirely belongs to the warned person's reaction and is thus highly variable. Based on participants’ report, only increased connectedness with a peer could have an impact on the bullying behaviour through a better integration in the peer-group. On the contrary, parents and teachers’ reactions are often perceived by the victims as not appropriate and as leading to a worse situation. In terms of practical implications, these results highlight the importance of raising teachers and parents’ awareness of the bullying, as well as the significance of the peers group dynamic. Following-up any bullying situation observed or reported in the school would probably help ensuring relevant interventions.

Détermination de l’incapacité totale de travail au sens du Code pénal : mise en œuvre des recommandations de la Haute Autorité de santé en pratique clinique

Total incapacity to work (TIW) is a legal concept that allows magistrates to assess the severity of violence against persons. The TIW is the duration of the victims' inability to fulfil their usual activities and is determined by physicians. Professional guidelines from the French National Authority for Health indicate that TIW applies both to physical and psychological problems. The law of 9 July 2010 makes explicit reference to TIW in cases of psychological violence and intimate partner harassment. Prosecutors base criminal penalties on the duration of TIW in cases of assault and battery. Whatever the physician, they should describe the mental state of the victim and identify the signs that may indicate the mental impact of reported assaults. Identifying combinations of symptoms can be useful in deciding whether the duration of TIW should be increased because of the psychic state. In case of stalking, assessment of TIW can allow prosecutors to link the reported facts to a criminal offence. In complex situations, the physician may be unable to assess a duration of TIW and can suggest expert assessment. In all cases, the duration of TIW needs to be based on functional criteria. The extent of harm to the life of relationships results from suffered violence, from the victim's reaction, and from the perception of their family and friends. In this area, we suggest to limit the first assessment of TIW to a few days and to reassess it later, according to real information reported by the victims, to careful observation of their behaviour, and to results of a questioning that should be as little suggestive as possible. At either end of the age scale and in case of preexisting functional impairment, assessment of TIW should take into account the actual and global capacity of the person before the assault.

Person × Context Effects on Anticipated Moral Emotions Following Aggression

AbstractWe investigated person (sex, aggression level), context (witness type, victim reactions), and person × context effects on children's anticipated moral emotions following hypothetical acts of aggression against a peer. Children (N = 378, mean age = 11.3 years) were presented a series of hypothetical vignettes in which the presence of witnesses (no witnesses/most liked classmates/all of the class) and victim's reactions (neutral/ sad/ angry) were manipulated. The results indicated several person effects (e.g., girls anticipated more guilt and shame but less pride than boys; aggressiveness was related to less guilt and shame), as well as context effects (e.g., anticipated shame depended on who witnessed the situation and the emotional reactions of the victim). However, person × context effects predominated. The overall pattern of results indicated that girls and low‐aggressive children were more sensitive to contextual cues than boys and high‐aggressive children. The findings support the importance of a person × context approach to understanding the emotional reactions of different children in different situations.

Experience of workplace violence during medical speciality training in Turkey

To determine the type, extent and effects of workplace violence among residents during postgraduate speciality training in various departments of medical schools in Turkey. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in seven medical schools representing all geographical regions of Turkey. All physicians in speciality training in the selected medical schools were asked to complete a semi-structured 'violence questionnaire' addressing the type (emotional, physical and sexual) and extent of violence experienced, the perpetrators of the violence and the victim's reactions to the experience. A total of 1712 residents out of 2442 completed the questionnaire. In all, 68% indicated they had experienced some form of workplace violence, 67% had experienced verbal violence, 16% had experienced physical violence and 3% had experienced sexual violence. The victims' most prevalent reactions to violence included being deeply disturbed but feeling they had to cope with it for the sake of their career (39%), being distressed (26%) but considering that such events are common in all occupations and discounting it and being confused and bewildered and unsure how to respond (19%). The most frequently named perpetrators of verbal violence were relatives/friends of patients (36%) and academic staff (36%), followed by other residents/senior residents (21%), patients (20%), heads of department (13%) and non-medical hospital staff (6%). Physicians in speciality training in medical schools in Turkey are subject to significant verbal, physical or sexual violence. Precautions to prevent such exposure are urgently needed.

Therapiekonzepte und Therapieformen im Rahmen der Langzeitbetreuung von Opfern sexueller und häuslicher Gewalt

Domestic violence differs from the nonrecurring trauma e.g. in the context of rape by a stranger in different aspects, emphasising the complexity of the victim's reaction and the enmeshment of the perpetrator The violence takes place in an established system of an intimate relationship which the woman was contracting voluntarily. Violence happens repeatedly and often several individuals (partner, children are directly and indirectly involved, which abide a relationship with the perpetrator Therefore the treatment of the posttraumatic stress disorder outstands in several aspects. The victims initially shows difficulties in talking about the experienced violence and are afraid to become unloyal; a therapeutic approach is often possible only after a fairly long time. Most authors agree that trauma therap the three phases (1 security and protection, psychoeducation and stabilisation, (2 trauma confrontation and (3 reintegration. Establishing a secure environment and intrapsychic stabilisation are a requirement for the therapeutic confrontation with the traumata in order to avoid re-traumatisation. Working with domestic violence victims is complex and demanding, experience in the work with trauma victims and regular supervision are fundamental.

Computer-Based Production of Comparison Overlays from 3D-Scanned Dental Casts for Bite Mark Analysis

Bite mark analysis assumes the uniqueness of the dentition can be accurately recorded on skin or an object. However, biting is a dynamic procedure involving three moving systems, the maxilla, the mandible, and the victim's reaction. Moreover, bite marks can be distorted by the anatomic location of the injury or the elasticity of the skin tissue. Therefore, the same dentition can produce bite marks that exhibit variations in appearance. The complexity of this source of evidence emphasizes the need for new 3D imaging technologies in bite mark analysis. This article presents a new software package, DentalPrint (2004, University of Granada, Department of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Odontology, Granada, Spain) that generates different comparison overlays from 3D dental cast images depending on the pressure of the bite or the distortion caused by victim-biter interaction. The procedure for generating comparison overlays is entirely automatic, thus avoiding observer bias. Moreover, the software presented here makes it impossible for third parties to manipulate or alter the 3D images, making DentalPrint suitable for bite mark analyses to be used in court proceedings.

Attributions of Responsibility in Cases of Sexual Harassment: The Person and the Situation1

When observers learn about a case of sexual harassment, it is common for them to assign responsibility to the victim and perpetrator. However, attributions of responsibility are complex judgments often based on variables beyond the case's details (e.g., attitudes). The present study examined how victim response, victim and perpetrator gender, and participant gender and gender‐role attitudes influenced participants' attributions. Victim and perpetrator responsibility were measured before and after participants knew the victim's reaction in order to examine whether new information would alter participants' attributions. Consistent with previous research, gender differences were found for attributions and attitudes. Victim and perpetrator gender did not affect attributions. However, biases appeared in open‐ended responses. Finally, only females made distinctions of responsibility across victim reaction condition.

The Identity Formation of the Victim of 'Shunning'

This study investigates the concept of shunning, which can be differentiated from other types of bullying through focusing on the victimizing process. Shunning represents the collective exclusion of an individual by being ignored by their peers and it is the typical type of Ijime (bullying) in Japan. I present two brief cases that describe experiences of classmates being shunned. I examine the cases and then introduce four different positions of the victim's reaction to the experience of being shunned which correspond to four different identity statuses. Papadopoulos (1999) put forward the idea of'storied community' through his clinical work with refugees, which provides victims with coherent narratives and transitional space as a secure base. This concept seems to have useful applicability in the phenomenon of shunning. However, the devastating dilemma for shunned victims in Japan is that the most available storied community, which could offer them refuge, is the one of 'suicide as revenge on the tormentors'. In this way, the choice is impossible between finding refuge in that story or losing the sense of identity. The implications for the clinician to relate to the victim of shunning are discussed, within the context of this approach.

Beyond Rape Myths: A More Complex View of Perceptions of Rape Victims

This research examined personal beliefs and perceptions of cultural stereotypes surrounding rape victims. Students (ages 18–21) at a primarily Caucasian University listed either their personal beliefs or their perceptions of cultural stereotypes surrounding rape victims and rated a specific rape victim either according to their personal beliefs or their perceptions of cultural stereotypes. Personal beliefs about rape victims tended to focus more on perceptions of victim reactions to the rape (e.g., depression, anxiety, etc.) rather than on rape myths (e.g., she asked for it, was promiscuous, etc.). Perceptions of cultural stereotypes, however, comprised rape myths rather than the victim's reactions to rape. We propose that perceptions of rape victims are more multifaceted than has previously been suggested.

Reactions to Crime Victims: Effects of Victims' Emotional State and Type of Relationship

Two experiments investigated the impact of potential supporters' relationship to a crime victim (communal—very close friend, exchange—casual acquaintance) and the victim's emotional reactions (fear, sadness, or anger) on appraisal of the victim's needs, the costs of helping, and intentions to offer assistance. Results of the first experiment (N = 246 women), which involved a robbery victim, showed that those in a communal relationship judged the victim to be more needy, whereas those in an exchange relationship judged the costs of helping to be greater. Communal participants expressed stronger intentions to offer help. The victim's emotional reaction influenced appraisals of need (anger < fear and sad) and intentions to help (anger < sad), but not appraisals of costs. Needs and costs were significantly correlated with intentions for those in the communal and exchange conditions. These results were essentially replicated in the second study, which included modifications designed to correct for alternative explanations of the results and to test the generalizability of the findings to other types of crime victims (burglary). Results from Study 2 (N = 233 women) yielded interaction effects for needs and costs, indicating that whether communal participants perceived the victim to be more needy, or whether exchange participants judged the costs of helping to be higher, depended on the type of emotion expressed by the victim. Regardless of their relationship to the victim, participants expressed the weakest intentions to assist the angry victim.

A policy capturing analysis of federal district and appellate court sexual harassment cases

A policy capturing analysis of 206 federal district and appellate sexual harassment cases showed that federal judges were moderately consistent in their judgments, with 29% of the variance in case outcomes accounted for by the regression model. Judges used Victim's Reaction, Form of Harassment, and Coercion, to make their ruling, and these three cues accounted for 20% of the variance in judgments. Appellate judges were slightly less consistent than district judges, and there were differences in judgment policy between appellate and district level cases. These findings are consistent with key aspects of the EEOC's Guidelines on Sexual Harassment and suggest that federal judges use the Guidelines to make their judgments. The model could be used by potential plaintiffs or defendants in sexual harassment cases to generate a prediction of the likely outcome of their case, to decide whether to pursue the case in court or seek a settlement.

Defining Sexual Harassment in Workplaces: A Policy-Capturing Approach

In this study, college and university equal employment opportunity officers and university students judged 80 incidents of possible sexual harassment. They were asked if the incidents were cases of sexual harassment and if they would advise that EEOC charges be filed. The subjects were moderately consistent in their judgments and made similar decisions for both questions, weighting three aspects of the incidents most heavily: evidence of coercion, the victim's reaction, and job consequences.

Attributions of responsibility for an incident of sexual harassment in a university setting

The present study replicated and extended research on the effects of observer characteristics (i.e., gender and traditional vs. less traditional attitudes) on attributions of responsibility in a case of sexual harassment. Participants (120 males, 120 females) were randomly assigned to one of six conditions that varied the gender of the victim and the victim's reaction. A sexual harassment scenario involving a university student and professor of the opposite gender was presented as an audiotape of the victim's account. Participants with less traditional attitudes attributed less responsibility to the victim than did participants with traditional attitudes. Females attributed more responsibility to the perpetrator and the victim of the same gender than did males. Victim reaction interacted with participant gender; males responded in a manner that was consistent with the reaction manipulation, whereas females attributed less responsibility to the self-blaming victim than to either the perpetrator-blaming or control victims. The results are discussed in the light of attribution theory and previous research.