Physical Injuries Of Victimization

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One of the factors that influence a victim’s ability to cope is the degree of the threat to life and depth of physical injury incurred during the crime (Cook, David & Grant, 1999). A victim would have a more difficult time adjusting to life and coping after a crime when the possibility of death was eminent. Here, the level of trauma would be immense when they narrowly escape death. The same applies when there is a lot of physical injury. The rationale for this is that one would be reminded of what happened all the time, which makes it harder for them to cope. It is profoundly difficult to forget events that had a lot of impact on both the body and mind. In addition to this, one would have a harder time coping with the occurrence of a crime …show more content…

Moreover, another factor that perpetrates this situation is the presence of a history of victimization. In this case, if an individual has been victimized before, they would not cope as well as those who face victimization for the first time. There is a lot of trauma and distress involved in the former than it is in the latter. One other factor that has been justified by research is comparison to other victimsHow a victim compares him or herself with the others more often than not determines how they will cope. For instance, a victim can initiate the aspect of upward comparison, where they compare themselves to the victims they come across that are better off. Optionally, they can use the downward comparison, where they see their situation as being better off than that of other victims. Those who use the former tend to have a difficult time coping, while those who employ the latter will have a much easier time doing the …show more content…

They help victims navigate through the justice system and attain the kind of closure they need to move on. The first of such programs are police-based victim services. Here, police departments work hand in hand with the community and create units that are meant to help victims cope better after a crime. The units provide crisis interventions, counseling, information, and general practical assistance to victims of crime. They are usually confidential units that involve professionals both from the community and police departments that work hand in hand with the victims of crime. In other cases, such unites usually provide victim protection services in cases where a victim is required to testify for closure of a case or so as to propel justice. The services of such a unit or program are often carried out over a specific period, for instance, two to three weeks(Freedy, Resnick, Kilpatrick,Dansky& Tidwell, 2014). Apart from this, there is also crown or court based services. Such have services like victim assistance and are nearly available in all courthouses. Here, the services help the victims to understand their participation in the processes involved in the criminal justice system as appropriate to their involvement in a crime. They are given the needed orientation, introduced to the court system, and tutored on what is expected of them in the process

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