Rape Trauma Syndrome Analysis

(Oltmanns,Emery, 2015) A trauma may include rape, which in Melinda Sordino’s case is what she experienced. Melinda Sordino can be diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder, as opposed to acute stress disorder, because her disturbance after the trauma had lasted longer than a month. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder include intrusive re-experiencing, avoidance of reminders of the trauma, increased arousal or reactivity, negative moods or thoughts, and often dissociation. (Oltmanns,Emery, 2015) Weeks after the terrifying experience, Melinda Sordino experienced all of

Lucy Berliner spoke about at a sexual abuse at Penn State University. She stated that Berliner stated that “you can be affected, without being ruined”, I feel that it is a statement that can be used as a power tool for victims of abuse. It does not matter what happens to you in the past as long as you have the will and determination to live through it. Ms. Berliner explained that there are many different psychological outcomes of victimization stating that 70% with PTSD has some form of depression. Treatment for Trauma includes Trauma Focused CBTs which work all over the world for adults and children, with 80-85% of individuals benefiting from multi-traumas and diverse ethnic/racial backgrounds.

The Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI), originally published by the Psychological Assessment Resources, in 1995 and created by John Briere Ph. D., is utilized to evaluate acute and chronic posttraumatic symptomology. The materials associated with administering this test include the use of a computer with Windows XP, 7, 8, or 10, must maintain a NTFS file system, CD-ROM drive for installation, internet connection or a telephone in order to activate. One can download all of the other necessary materials from PariConnect, which include the introductory kit, necessary software, professional manuals, scoring sheets, among other reusable booklets. Prices range from $52.00 upwards to $375.00.

They gave an account of a young woman who went to a college orientation and was raped. After reporting the crime, she received a lot of doubt and disbelief from the university’s faculty and staff. Due to the trauma of the event and the lack of help received, she eventually committed suicide. Oftentimes, victims of traumatic crimes experience psychological effects such as depression, reductions in self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. Compulsive behavior, isolation, and self-harm are also common aftereffects to victimization.

When working with those involved a sex offender or an individual that presents sexually maladaptive behavior in many cases these individuals have undergone some type of sexual, physical or emotional abuse. Whether it was a single event or abuse and maltreatment that lasted for years there will be psychological consequences that present themselves in a multitude of ways. If this trauma would go untreated the individual that was subjected to it would face a lifetime of negative consequences stemming from this abuse. One viable intervention option to treat the abuse and maltreatment is Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This type of therapy addresses both the child and caregivers trauma related to this abuse (Allen and Johnson, 2012).

The article "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Rape Survivors" from the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress reviews what PTSD is defined as, the criteria, the cause, and the recovery. To put it simply, PTSD is a common human reaction to an an extremely stressful situation. PTSD affects hundreds of thousands of people who have had traumatic experiences such as rape, domestic violence, child abuse, war, accidents, and natural disasters. It is normal to be affected by trauma. There is help, and it is ok to ask for help. Symptoms may come shortly after the event or even 50 years later. Symptoms of PTSD are intense fear and hopelessness, flashbacks of the event, nightmares, denial, feeling of numbness, depression, isolation…and many

This treatment approach is based on cognitive and learning theories, tackling-misleading beliefs related to the traumatic events of acknowledgments related to the abuse and provides a supportive environment of which individuals are encouraged to talk about their traumatic experience. A numerous amount of research has been carried out to investigate into how effective CBT really can be for PTSD. (Resick et al, 2002) carried out an investigation comparing CBT with strong cognitive restructuring focus and CBT with a strong exposure focus and to a waiting-list control of rape survivors. Prior to this experiment approximately 80% of patients who completed either form of CBT no longer met the criteria for PTSD. Once this investigation was complete a follow up treatment took place of which it was noted 2% of the waiting list group had lost the PTSD diagnoses. Only a year after this investigation Bryant, Moulds, Guthrie, Dang & Nixon, (2003) restructured the experiment comparing exposure alone, exposure plus cognitive restructuring, and supportive counselling in civilians with PTSD resulting from various traumatic events. At this particular follow up 65-80% of participants who either completed either form of CBT were now clear of PTSD diagnosis, compared to less than 40% of those who completed supportive counselling.

When looking at the direction the Criminal Justice System should take in reference to the future, one needs to look into the past. This is a concept that most governmental bodies fail to due adequately. The saying “history repeats itself” is a proven fact which is ignored over and over. The military is a clear example of this as it relates to our veterans. The most ignored aspect of the military is the re-introduction of the returning veteran into the community. This aspect has now become a growing issue in the criminal justice system and will continue to grow as we fight the war on terror around the world.

Over 92% of sexual assault survivors disclose the assault to at least one person, and the types of responses they receive vary. The negative social reactions can cause maladaptive coping strategies for the survivor, and result in PSTD symptoms. A common negative response to an assault disclosure include blaming the victim, treating the victim as if they are broken or they have changed, as well as attempting to control the victim’s situation or even completely disregarding the victim’s emotions and focusing on their own feelings. Often times, when a person is assaulted it is by someone they know (unlike the common stereotype where a person jumps out of the bushes and attacks the weak victim), and the victim feels as if they cannot trust people again, making negative responses to disclosure almost like a stab in the back because the survivor has ran out of people to trust. When a person gives negative feedback to an assault disclosure, it prolongs the victims recovery time. A victim can feel as if they are not in control of their recovery and makes them question their actions and feelings. Also, in addition to the “loss of control”, they could disengage from seeking support and aid from others, falling into maladaptive coping strategies to avoid the feelings of anger, sadness, and anxiety. Often times, survivors can seek out alcohol or drugs to aid them in their recovery process, although they do not know they are causing more harm to themselves. However, negative reactions may not necessarily impair individual forms of adaptive coping, especially for survivors who do not rely on others for support during recovery. Some survivors can use the negative responses to encourage themselves to not rely on others for support and focus on individual strategies for coping (i.e. meditation, cognitive

Imagine yourself running out of gas in your vehicle, there is a gas station a few blocks away from where your car stopped. At the gas station, there is a Samaritan offering you a ride back to your car once you finished filling the gas container. Trusting this Samaritan, you accept the ride and you notice he has willfully passed your car. Panicking, the child lock is on and there is no way to escape. With all the thoughts rushing through your head, he has reached a destination where he drags you out the car and begins to wrestle you on to the floor to rape and possibly kill you. You are being beaten and forced to cooperate in sexual activity, but there is a sharp object on the floor that saves your life. With no hesitation you puncture the rapist and flee immediately as he sobs in pain. After this traumatic event, there is a great possibility of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD can develop following a traumatic event that threatens your safety or makes you feel helpless (Smith, Lawrence, & Segal, 2015). According to Julian D Ford, PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that affects as many as one in 14 adults and adolescence at some time in their lives as many as 1 in 20 children before they begin kindergarten (Ford, Grasso, Elhai, & Courtois, 2015 ).It personally affects those who witness it as well as their family members. Those with occupations that require exposure to traumatic events such as military, emergency workers, and law enforcement officers can

Rape Trauma Syndrome has three stages, Acute Phase, Outward Adjustment Phase and the Resolution Phase.17 The Acute Phase occurs after the initial attack (initial shock, anxiety).The Resolution Phase where the assault is no longer the focus of their life and have moved beyond it. The Outward Adjustment Phase is the stage that could last months or years and the one that the military system can affect positively with appropriate mental health care. In the Outward Adjustment Phase an individual may appear normal but have internal turmoil.18 Within this phase a majority of male survivors attempt to process it with two primary coping techniques: Minimization, the “everything is fine” and Suppression, act as if it did not happen.19 Men may use these coping mechanisms based on maintaining society’s definition of a man, so they try to minimize, suppress or internalize their perceived feelings of being weak or less of a man. This may cause anxiety in which they withdraw from relationships and avoid seeking

Existing controlled examinations of intervention efficacy specific to only sexual assault and rape are presently minimal in comparison to intervention examinations of combination or other types of trauma (Regehr, Alaggia, Dennis, Pitts, & Saini, 2013). Psychotherapeutic interventions that fail to differentiate sexual assault and rape victims from other types of trauma victims may decrease the treatment effectiveness or inadvertently harm participants in this subgroup. Trauma associated from rape or sexual assault differs from other forms of trauma and treatment efficacy should be examined in this manner. Trauma from rape or sexual assault entail symptoms of PTSD, depression, suicidal ideations and sexual dysfunction. Individuals may also indicate feelings of vulnerability, loss of control, fear, shame, self-blame, societal blame and stigma (Russell & Davis, 2007; Regehr et al., 2013; Ullman &Peter-Hagene, 2014). This research proposal intends to explore the long term effectiveness of Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) at reducing distress and trauma explicitly for adult victims of sexual assault and rape.

While receiving proper medical treatment the victim will need to be offered therapy to help her begin to recover. The goal of this therapy is to minimize suffering and reduce trauma symptoms so that the person can resume a funcional life.1 This can either be short-term therapy or long-term therapy

Sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and severe injury are all results of rape. Sexual assault is a criminal act in which a predator forcibly has intercourse with a person.

Most people think that rape is about sex but it is not. If rape was about getting sex the person would just go and have sex with someone who wants to give it to them. Paying for sex is better than going out and raping someone. Rape is also called sexual assault. Rape is about having power and control over someone. Rape is defined as one person forcing another person, without his or her consent and using violence or threatening violence, to have intercourse or other forms of sexual activity. Usually when people hear about rape they think of a man raping a woman, but rape can happen to anyone. It is one of the worst things that can happen to someone. Some people think that rape is