Victimization In Adulthood

Terr, L. C. (1991). Childhood traumas: an outline and overview. Am J Psychiatry, 1, 48.

Theories of victimization essentially does something morally unpopular, by discussing how the victim caused their own victimization. Identified below are four theories of victimizations and examples of both strength and weakness of each. The goal for this paper is to briefly define at the four theories in order to grasp a better understanding of how individuals can lessen the opportunity to become a victim of a crime.

This prevalence rate is considerably higher than that of the general population, therefore confirming the theory that trauma occurring in childhood has the ability to play a significant role in the development of mental illness. In addition to broad and generalized findings, they also found specific age groups to be related to specific forms of trauma in terms of what can result in the most detrimental effects. In relation to emotional abuse, it is considered most damaging at ages 6, 14, and 16. Sexual abuse is most harmful at age 12. Non-verbal abuse was found to be more detrimental at age 14 (Schalinksi, 2016). All of these findings also proved to be predictive of the development of PTSD as well as other mental illnesses, such as

In the immediate, as well as long-term aftermath of exposure to trauma, children are at risk of developing significant emotional and behavior difficulties (CWIG, 2012). The most damaging types of trauma include early physical and sexual abuse, neglect, emotional/psychological abuse, exposure to domestic violence and other forms of child maltreatment (Hoch, 2009). Research has shown that children that are exposed to these types of trauma will experience developmental delays including language and verbal processing. Also, they will have risk of poor physiological and psychosocial functioning, and will be vulnerable to emotional and behavioral dysregulation disorders, thus, leading to an increase risk of poor outcomes including substance abuse, suicidality, teen pregnancy and paternity, criminal activity, and revictimization (Hoch, 2009).

“American Psychiatric Association defines trauma as an event that represents a threat to life or personal integrity. Trauma can also be experienced when children are faced with a caregiver who acts erratically, emotional and /or physical neglect, and exploitation” (Maltby, L., & Hall, T. 2012. p. 304). Trauma comes in many different forms including: war, rape, kidnapping, abuse, sudden injury, and

It has been known, for many years, that childhood maltreatment, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, interparental violence, and sexual abuse, has an adverse effect on a developing child. These effects have been thought to be linked to adults later having cognitive deficits and mental disorders when compared to adults with no history of childhood maltreatment (Tomoda, Polcari, Anderson, & Teicher, 2012). It has also been shown that adults who experience childhood maltreatment are more prone to many medical illnesses than their healthy counterparts (Keeshin, Cronholm, & Strawn, 2012). With more recent advances in technology, scientists have been able to research exactly how childhood maltreatment affects development through methods such as MRI, fMRI, and genetic tests (Teicher, Anderson, & Polcari, 2012). Using these findings, scientists have begun to show how childhood maltreatment affects adults later in life. The following literature will support the claim that childhood maltreatment leads to abnormal neurological development which can later have adverse effects on the adult’s mental and physical health.

Thesis Individuals who are abused and, or neglected as children are more likely to become violent and, or commit crimes as adults, unlike children who were free of childhood trauma. Introduction Childhood trauma is classified as any traumatic experiences that occur in children between the ages 0-17. The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children reported that 26% of children in the U.S. have witnessed or experienced a traumatic event before the age of four. Childhood trauma has become a key element in understanding why individuals act with violence, as it is explained by the article titled, “Understanding the Experience of Trauma in Childhood: A Socratic Ten Factor Model”.

PTSD is defined as moments where a person feels extreme terror, horror, or even when they could feel hopeless. Children, who may already feel like they can’t do anything, can have worse reactions to situations like domestic violence. A child witnessing or even being a victim of domestic violence can feel hopeless, useless or really any of the traumatic feelings from above and can develop PTSD. In a study about domestic violence exposure to kids they found that when boys encountered abuse they reacted more strongly than the girls did, even if girls reacted differently in other non-violence related instances (Evans). A different study in South Africa showed that kids who witnessed or who were the victims of domestic violence were more likely to get married later on in their life, and what they had went through as a child, could haunt them or their families for their entire life. It could even transfer over to their kids, and keep the cycle going for generations to come. These kids were also more likely to not graduate from high school. Which can keep them from getting important jobs to be able to take care of their families. These kids suffered from depression as well as PTSD. The danger of suicide is present in the lives of some of these children (Marais). It isn't right for them to go through this, especially while they are so young and impressionable. Adults have

Victimization comes in many different forms such as assault, child physical/sexual abuse, stalking, theft, rape, sexual harassment, and domestic/relationship violence. There are several negative outcomes that have been linked with childhood abuse and neglect such as neurobiological changes, emotional and psychiatric disorders, interpersonal issues and substance abuse problems (Min, Singer, Minnes, Kim, & Short, 2012). According to Reid and Sullivan (2009), children and adolescents are very vulnerable and are the most highly victimized individuals of the population and the kinds of victimization that they experience can come in many forms (Finkelhor et al., 2009). This victimization is known as poly-victimization (Finkelhor et al., 2009).

The pervasiveness of these correlations is high and suggesting childhood trauma could play a major role in the psychological health of a person later in adulthood, and there have many studies which have been conducted that could support these theories.

A person who experiences a traumatic event may be expected to experience a range of psychological effects, and, for many years, it was assumed that these psychological effects would be the same regardless of the cause of the injury. However, a growing body of knowledge is demonstrating that the impact of criminal victimization is different than the impact of other types of injuries because the intent element makes a difference in how the victim perceives the harm. In addition, victims of different crimes may respond differently to victimization. The psychological effects of victimization are important because they can help guide the criminal justice system for how to interact with victims and how to make the process more victim-appropriate. For example, victims of violent crimes, like sexual assaults, may benefit more from a victim-centered criminal justice approach than victims of other types of crimes (Resick, 1987). However, one of the problems with the traditional approach to victimology is that it has distinguished between different groups of victims. Emerging research suggest that victim needs are similar across the entire spectrum of crime, particularly the victims' needs for information about the crime and the needs for financial restitution to make them whole (ten Boom & Kuijpers, 2012).

Childhood trauma is one of the most heartbreaking situations to ever fathom happening. Childhood trauma includes neglect, maltreatment, physical and emotional abuse, and many other forms of mistreatment amongst children. Childhood trauma occurs between the ages of 0 and 6 years of age. When referencing to childhood trauma, one must take thought into who commits the abuse, who is affected by the abuse, and what long term effects can the abuse have on the victims. One must also take into consideration the sex differences when referring to childhood trauma. Numerous of studies have been conducted and many findings have been made. Prior to conducting this research paper, I only considered childhood trauma to be what it was and never considered the long term effects. Because of my assumption, I never even considered the other categories of the trauma.

The key concept of this literature review is to better understand how childhood trauma is associated with mental health, such as post-traumatic stress disorder

Throughout the course of one’s lifetime, there are countless events that shape the personality, actions and mentality of that individual. Some of these events will affect the individual in a positive way allowing great life opportunities, while other events will unfortunately affect the individual in a negative way which can lead to disorders. Among the various events that can affect a person, one of the most common occurrences that some children witness early on in their lives that deeply affect their long-term mental health is being a witness to domestic violence. Research and observations that were studied revealed that there are multiple factors that can contribute to a child witnessing domestic violence. The more categories that the

A traumatic childhood may predispose a child to violence against themselves or against others, in adolescence or adulthood. This information is and has been off the records, but so far no known relationship between the magnitude of traumatic experiences and different forms of violence at puberty. A study published in Pediatrics, which involved 136,549 U.S. students between 12 and 17 has been commissioned to evaluate this relationship. The researchers sought to determine six adverse experiences for which they had passed the boys in childhood and physical and sexual abuse, witnessing abuse or problems at home by alcohol or drugs taken by a relative. Then he saw the violent behavior at puberty: crime, harassment, bullying, dating violence,