Abduction and confinement is a psychologically damaging crime since it leaves victims with psychological wounds that take long to heal. Victims get deep mental and emotional scars that affect their lives in terms of love, trust, respect, and independence. Individuals who have survived kidnapping have been found to have problems regarding the issues of trust for the rest of their lives due to the deprivation of freedom as well as being held against their will. However, for people like Elizabeth Smart who was abducted and later released feels that to deal with the ensuing psychological effects, one has to forget about their past and move on with life. This research work seeks to address the psychological effects if abduction and confinement using …show more content…
Emotional Effects The emotional effects of kidnapping and captivity include fear, anxiety, numbness, and shock. The individual becomes hopeless and helpless in addition to feelings of anger towards the kidnappers, family members, themselves, and authorities. One may also become depressed and have feelings of guilt. Agitation and anxiety may be misperceived as behavioral problems. Diminished Trust and Fear of Falling Asleep Kidnapping and confinement leads to psychological disturbances in all the aspects of the victim’s life. Such include having trouble sleeping since the victim develops the fear of falling asleep and letting their guard down thus risking being taken again. The individual may also experience sexual effects, especially if the previous abduction involved sexual abuse, which escalates to difficulties in trusting their partners. …show more content…
One may also have denial, which is shown by the failure to acknowledge the event as having happened. Denial delays the period of healing and adjusting to normal life. One may also exhibit behaviors, such as psychological infantilism and frozen fright. Attachment Some individuals develop an unconscious bond with their kidnapper and experience grief if the perpetrator is harmed. The victim may rely on the captor for basic needs, which makes the victim to associate with their feeder through the process of classical conditional. Discussion The shock of being abducted and confined against one’s will exerts psychological pressure leading to trauma-inducing thoughts. The unfolding events affect the individual psychologically as they get to know the reasons behind the ordeal. Conclusion Kidnapping is a very traumatizing experience for any individual as it leaves psychological scars that may take forever to heal. This research paper sought to address the psychological effects of abduction and confinement and to some extend borrowing from the case of Elizabeth Smart; child victim of abduction and prolonged confinement. The effects are social, emotional, and cognitive, which when not addressed at the right time might lead to lasting mental
Abduction n.- the action or an instance of forcibly taking someone away against their will. In the book, The Cellar by Natasha Preston, is about a teenager who decided to go have a fun, memorable night with friends and the ended up getting abducted and locked up for eight months. Coming of age is shown throughout this book. Coming of age is shown because Summer deals with being abused,the death of others, and being thrown back into society after a long period of time.
Originally, the crime of kidnapping was defined as the unlawful and non-consensual transportation of a person from one country to another. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, states began to redefine kidnapping, most notably eliminating the requirement for interstate transport. Under the laws of most states, kidnapping is a crime where the victim has transported a substantial distance or held in a place of isolation through the use of force. Kidnapping statutes also define a set of purposes for kidnapping including collecting ransom, inflicting bodily injury, or terrorizing
After the released from abduction, it is almost as hard to re-inter the world as it was being a victim. Survivors are faced with the media, the excess freedom and the added stress of “getting back to normal”. Families need to give emotional support,
In order to overcome human trafficking, it is imperative to give adequate support and protection needed to the victims. Support and protection prevent the victims from relapsing and risking their lives by getting involved again. Without the encouragement and care after a traumatic experience, it is probable for the victims to lose hope and fall back into their previous doings that
There are several physical and mental consequences for trafficking victims. Some of those consequences are sleeping and eating disorders, fear and anxiety, depression and mood changes, guilt and shame, and posttraumatic stress
1). Ms. Greenlee is one of the most identifiable survivors of this type of tragedy. Greenlee told Ms. Martin (2013), “ she was forced to go through anywhere from 25 to 50 men a day or she would receive unimaginable punishments,” (para. 3). Greenlee told Martin (2013), “punishments were beyond severe, if she was not able to go through the number of customers they told her to she would pay with beatings, multiple rapes by multiple men, or even worse they would force her to watch as they tortured one of the other women they had kidnapped as her punishment,” (para. 6). Martin (2013) reports that, “Greenlee, who was kidnapped at age 12, was part of about eight girls who were kidnapped by a group of men who injected them with heroin and sometimes handcuffed them to the bed,” (para. 4). The tortures that Ms. Greenlee faced are unimaginable. She is one of the few women who have been able to escape from that world and talk about it openly.
Interventions, such as Cognitive Behavior therapy, is essential in treating victims of human trafficking. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help victims and families deal with the traumas of human trafficking. CBT will help survivors distinguish their human trafficking experience from the present moment. Methods used are meditation which may include body scan from head to toe or vice versa, breathing exercises along with short phrases or sentences during the meditation to create calm and tranquility. CBT will also help survivors remember and mourn their experience by realize that they are safe. This approach helps the survivor to work through their traumatic experience (Rappaport,
This paper is on the Psychological effects that Human Trafficking has on a society and the individual. It will describe stories of experiences and stories of hard ache. As this is not only a major factor here in the United States but is also a major factor and issue around the world. I will briefly describe the national and worldly effect that this may have on the way people are treated on an everyday occurrence and how sheltered people, mainly women have become.
There have been over 60,000 reported abductions worldwide. In most cases, the victims are returned but don’t remember a thing. And in some, the victims are lost forever. The story I’m about to tell you is one of the most bizarre ones ever recorded. So bizarre that it took more than ten years to be able
Children are forced to forfeit their homes, their safety, their public and self-image, and their primary source of comfort and affection (Bernstein 2005). A national survey found that almost 70% of children when present when their parent was arrested (Bernstein 2005). Researcher Christina Jose Kamfner interviewed children who had witnessed their mother’s arrest and found that many suffered from post-traumatic stress symptoms; they could not concentrate or sleep and had flashbacks of the arrest (Bernstein 2005). The majority of the children at the scene of an arrest are taken away in a police car which is more intimidating than to say if they were taken away in a child welfare worker’s car (Bernstein 2005). Many of these children (is no other family is available) are shuffled around in the course of an arrest; the hospital for physical examinations first, then the police station for appropriate , “paperwork,” then to a juvenile detention center and lastly, they are deposited at a foster home (Bernstein 2005). Anyone can vouch that the process of what to do after the arrest is clearly a traumatizing one at that. After the arrest, children wait anxiously for the level of the sentence that their parent has to face. In most cases, children are unaware of why their parent is being sentenced because they were unaware that their parent was involved in the crime. Carl, for example, only remembered
Statistics have shown that one in every five children has seen their parent’s arrest. For young children, who were present at the incarceration have numerous short term effects. Children that are under the age of seven experienced nightmares and flashbacks from
Jaycee was kidnapped in 1991 by a man and his wife at the age of 11. She was put through rapes, and unusual living situations for 18 years. Unlike most kidnappings that society knows, Jaycee was never abused other than the rapes. Her kidnappers, Phillip and Nancy never mentally or physically abused her. They wanted to keep her happy so that she wouldn’t try to escape or rebel against them. But as an 11 year old girl it was hard for Jaycee to be happy. Her life became her being handcuffed and laying on a bed naked for hours or days on end. Eventually Phillip would
When a victim of a crime gets rescued, it is very hard for the family and the victim to recover from their horrible experience. Bonds with loved ones can be shattered, broken, and torn. When a victim is home, safe and sound from the terrible incident, they could develop trust issues with family members. The situation fills the room with the stress of being home for the victim, and the loving people around them can feel it too, causing them to react differently from which they would normally react. Their reactions could be just never talking about it and the victim
Loss of speech, sleeplessness, self-harms, nightmares, having suicidal thoughts or actions are some signs that indicate a child that has experienced a traumatic event. Trauma is a reflective emotion, triggered by how an individual /child may react to a frightening or shocking situation. It is defined by the reaction of the child to a specific event. However, trauma to one child may not be trauma to another. But the child that experiences this can be scared for a lifetime. This strain can begin as soon as birth is given to a child, throughout his /her eighteen (18) years of childhood. Nevertheless that child can have flashback of the event straight over into their adulthood depending on how they cope with the situation.
Imagine being 6 or 7 years old and being ripped from your mothers grip as some stranger takes you to a different unfamilar place. There are two major types of kidnapping stranger and parental. Today every 40 seconds in the