What is Victimisation
Victimisation ( or Victimization) is the process of being
victimised or becoming a victim.
Peer victimisation
Peer victimisation is
the experience among children of being a target of the aggressive behaviour of
other children, who are not siblings and not necessarily age-mates.
Secondary victimisation
Secondary victimisation (also known as post
crime victimisation or double
victimisation) relates to further victimisation following on from the
original victimisation. For
example, victim blaming, inappropriate post-assault behaviour or language by
medical personnel or other organisations with which the victim has contact may
further add to the victim’s suffering. Victims may also experience secondary
victimisation by justice system personnel upon entering the criminal justice
system. Victims will lose time, suffer reductions in income, often be ignored
by bailiffs and other courthouse staff and will remain uninformed about updates
in the case such as hearing postponements, to the extent that their frustration
and confusion will turn to apathy and a declining willingness to further
participate in system proceedings.
For example, rape is
especially stigmatising in cultures with strong customs and taboos regarding sex and sexuality. For
example, a rape victim (especially one who was previously a virgin) may be viewed by society as
being “damaged.” Victims in these cultures may suffer isolation, be disowned by friends and
family, be prohibited from marrying, or be divorced if already married.
The re-traumatisation of
the sexual assault, abuse, or rape victim
through the responses of individuals and institutions is an example of
secondary victimisation. Secondary victimisation is especially common in cases
of drug-facilitated, acquaintance, and statutory rape.
Revictimisation
The term revictimisation refers to a pattern wherein the victim
of abuse and/or crime has a statistically higher tendency to be victimised
again, either shortly thereafter or
much later in adulthood in the case of abuse as a child. This latter pattern is
particularly notable in cases of sexual abuse. While an exact percentage is almost
impossible to obtain, samples from many studies suggest the rate of
revictimisation for people with histories of sexual abuse is very high. The
vulnerability to victimisation experienced as an adult is also not limited to
sexual assault, and may include physical
abuse as well.
Reasons as to why
revictimisation occurs vary by event type, and some mechanisms are unknown.
Revictimisation in the short term is often the result of risk factors that were
already present, which were not changed or mitigated after the first
victimisation; sometimes the victim cannot control these factors. Examples of
these risk factors include living or working in dangerous areas, chaotic
familial relations, having an aggressive temperament, drug or alcohol usage and
unemployment.
Revictimisation of
adults who were previously sexually abused as children is more complex.
Multiple theories exist as to how this functions. Some scientists propose a
maladaptive form of learning; the
initial abuse teaches inappropriate beliefs and behaviours that persist into
adulthood. The victim believes that abusive behaviour is “normal” and comes to
expect it from others in the context of relationships, and thus may
unconsciously seek out abusive partners or cling to abusive relationships.
Another theory draws on the principle of learned
helplessness. As children, they are put in situations that they have little to
no hope of escaping, especially when the abuse comes from a caregiver. One
theory goes that this state of being unable to fight back or flee the danger leaves the last primitive
option: freeze, an off-shoot of death-feigning.
In adulthood, this response remains, and some professionals have noted that
victimisers sometimes seem to pick up subtle cues of this when choosing a
victim. This behaviour makes the victim an easy target, as they sometimes make
little effort to fight back or even vocalise. And after the fact, they often make excuses and minimise what happened to them, sometimes never
even reporting the assault to the authorities.
Self-victimisation
Self-victimisation (or
victim playing) is the fabrication of victimhood for a variety of reasons such
to justify abuse of others, to manipulate others, a coping strategy or attention
seeking.
Self-image of victimisation (victim mentality)
Victims of abuse and manipulation often get trapped into a self-image of victimisation. The psychological
profile of victimisation includes a pervasive sense of helplessness, passivity,
loss of control, pessimism,
negative thinking, strong feelings of guilt, shame, self-blame and depression. This way of thinking
can lead to hopelessness and despair.
No comments:
Post a Comment