Legal Psychology Gerhard Ohrband ULIM University, Moldova 3 rd lecture Victimology.

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Legal Psychology Gerhard Ohrband ULIM University, Moldova 3 rd lecture Victimology

Transcript of Legal Psychology Gerhard Ohrband ULIM University, Moldova 3 rd lecture Victimology.

Page 1: Legal Psychology Gerhard Ohrband ULIM University, Moldova 3 rd lecture Victimology.

Legal Psychology

Gerhard OhrbandULIM University, Moldova

3rd lectureVictimology

Page 2: Legal Psychology Gerhard Ohrband ULIM University, Moldova 3 rd lecture Victimology.

Course structure

Lectures: • 1. Introduction into Legal Psychology – Theories of crime • 2. Correctional treatment• 3. Victimology• 4. Police psychology• 5. Testimony assessment• 6. Criminal responsibility• 7. Judicial judgments• 8. Psychological assessment of families

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Course structure

Seminars:9. Eyewitness testimony10. Jury decision-making11. Child abuse12. Prostitution13. Rape14. Tax evasion15. Stereotypes and prejudices in the law system

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1. Victims of crime and violence

2. Secondary victimization

3. Fear of crime

Content

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1. Victims of crime and violence

Consequences of victim experiences

Unspecific consequences: physical, posttraumatic stress disorders (among others, flashback, sleep disorders, panic)

Specific consequences: depression, fears, changes of self-worth, self-accusation, social consequences (“secondary victimization”)

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Victim experiences

Individualresources

Socialresources

Type andseriousness

of theexperience

Individual resources: coping resources and mechanismsSocial resources: competent support, lack of secondary victimization

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2. Secondary victimization

• Definition: While “primary victimization” subsumes all kinds of damages directly caused by the deed, “secondary victimization” represents reactions from which result supplementary damages of the victim as well as his/her remaining in the role of a victim.

• Such faulty reactions can come both from the closer social field of the victims and from the formal control authorities.

• What kind of faulty reactions?• What kind of damages?

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Different dimensions of secondary victimization

1. Retraumatization

2. Long-term damages induced by the law process

3. Short-term damages induced by the law process

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Empirical studies

Methodological difficulties:

• separation of the damages caused by the deed from those caused by the law process itself.

• Control group of victim witnesses who do not participate in the process.

• Few systematic studies who examine different dependent variables

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Concrete stress factors

• Encounter with the accused

• Length of the process

• Repeated questioning

• Anticipation of the interrogation

• Insufficient knowledge in law

• Lack of inclusion in the process

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3. Fear of crime

Fear of crime – a topic with many facets:• Individual disposition (trait): Why does this

person (now) have fear, another not?• Actual situation (state): Why is there fear in this

situation, in another not?• Attitude: How often does one have fear, how

probable is the chance of a victimization, how does one react?

• Concern: How has crime changed, how threatening is it in general?

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Literature

• Berliner, L. & Conte, J.R. (1995). The effects of disclosure and intervention on sexually abused children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 19, 371-384.

• Campbell, R. & Raja, S. (1999). Secondary victimization of rape victims: Insights from mental health professionales who treat survivors of violence. Violence and Victims, 14, 261-275.

• Epstein, J.N., Saunders, B.E. & Kilpatrick, D.G. (1997). Predicting PTSD in women with a history of childhood rape. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10, 573-588.