Working with Victims of Crime: A Manual Applying Research to Clinical Practice

4.0 The Basics - How Victims Cope

Coping

• When victims' lives are upset by a crime, they will try to cope in the best way they know how.
• Coping strategies can be divided into positive strategies and negative strategies. Using negative strategies can make the victim feel worse (Dempsey 2002).
• Table 3 lists the different coping strategies often used by victims.

• ¹ Davis et al. (1998)
• ² Everly et al. (2000)
• ³ Gilboa- Schechtman and Foa (2001)
• ⁴ Greenberg and Ruback (1992)
• ⁵ Hagemann (1992)
• ⁶ Harvey and Bryant (2002)
• ⁷ Holman and Silver (1998)
• ⁸ Layne et al. (2001)
• ⁹ Leymann and Lindell (1992)
• ¹⁰ Martínez-Taboas and Bernal (2000)
• ¹¹ McFarland and Alvaro (2000)
• ¹² Mezy (1888)
• ¹³ Mikulincer et al. (1993)
• ¹⁴ Nolen-Hoeksema and Davis (1999)
• ¹⁵ Norris et al. (1997)
• ¹⁶ Ozer et al. (2003)
• ¹⁷ Resick et al. (2002)
• ¹⁸ Stillwell and Baumeister (1997)
• ¹⁹ Thompson (2000)
• ²⁰ Ullman (1999)
• ²¹ Wolkenstein and Sterman (1998)

Updated references

• ²² Daniels, Bradley and Hays (2007)
• ²³ Green and Diaz (2007)
• ²⁴ Green and Diaz (2008)
• ²⁵ Janoff (2005)
• ²⁶ Löbmann et al. (2003)
• ²⁷ Manktelow (2007)
• ²⁸ Nordanger (2007)
• ²⁹ Peleikis et al. (2004)
• ³⁰ Ystgaard et al. (2004)

Positive coping: social support

• Social support is very important for many victims as they try to make sense of their victimization (Greenberg and Ruback 1992; Leymann and Lindell 1992; Norris et al. 1997).
• Victims find support from their family and friends more useful than support from professionals (Leymann and Lindell 1992).
• Victims need to known that support is available, even if they do not access it (Norris et al. 1997; Ozer et al. 2003).
• Supports can be a key source of information (Hagemann 1992).
• Emotion focused coping may decrease distress (Green and Diaz 2007 and 2008).
• Professional supports could be important when family and friends are overwhelmed (Mikulincer et al. 1993; Nolen-Hoeksema and Davis 1999).

Negative coping: avoidance

• Avoidance, either through drugs, avoiding locations, denial or dissociation is a common way victims cope with overwhelming emotions (Bromberg 2003; Everly et al. 2000; Hagemann 1992; Mezy 1988; Thompson 2000; Wolkenstein and Sterman 1998).
• Although avoidance may help the victim deal with initial distress (Hagemann 1992; Harvey and Bryant 2002; Ullman 1999), it is linked to long-term problems (Bromberg 2003; Halligan et al. 2003; Ozer et al. 2003; Ullman 1999).
• Avoidance through the use of drugs and alcohol can interfere with decision-making and problem-solving, which creates even greater challenges to positive healing.

Resiliency, self-efficacy and post-traumatic growth

• Resilience refers to a person's ability to maintain a balanced state in the face of challenges (Bonanno 2004).
• Resilience is common (Bonanno 2004; Westphal and Bonanno 2007).
• Self-efficacy refers to the belief a person has the tools and resources to successfully handle a challenge or task (Bandura 1997).
• Self-efficacy is a merging of self-esteem with a belief that you can affect your environment.
• High self-efficacy may reduce the chances that a victim will have a negative reaction to trauma (Thompson et al. 2002).
• Self-efficacy can affect coping choices by people picking those coping strategies that they feel will succeed (Bandura 1997).
• Successful treatment programs include elements of building self-efficacy to help victims (Nishith et al. 2002; Resick et al. 2002).
• Post-traumatic growth (PTG) refers to when a person is affected by the trauma and learns new coping strategies or gains a new perspective by facing the problem. It is important to note that PTG does not mean that dealing with trauma is a positive experience in these people's lives.
• PTG can be seen in how a person sees himself or herself (personal strength; new possibilities), and relates to others and his or her life philosophy (appreciation; spiritual) (Calhoun and Tedeschi 2006).
• Characteristics associated with resilience and growth include:
  1. Hardiness/Autonomy/Self-confidence (Bonanno 2004; Bondy et al. 2007; Haskett et al. 2006; Williams 2007).
  2. Having a Positive Personal Identity.
  3. Being Adaptable (Bonanno 2005; Tugade, and Fredrickson 2007).
  4. Having a Positive Outlook (Bondy et al. 2007; Williams 2007).
  5. Being a Repressive Coper ---people who tend to avoid negative thoughts, emotions and memories (Bonanno 2004).
  6. Experiencing and Managing Complex Emotions (Coifman et al. 2007; Haskett et al. 2006).
  7. Experiencing Positive Emotions (Bonanno 2004 and 2005; Fredrickson 1998; Tugade and Fredrickson 2007).
  8. Having Social Support (Bonanno 2005; Gewirtz, and Edleson 2007; Haskett et al. 2006; Sun and Hui 2007; Williams 2007).
  9. Having Social Competence (Bondy et al. 2007; Gewirtz, and Edleson 2007; Haskett et al. 2006).
  10. Cognitive skills (Bondy et al. 2007; Gewirtz, and Edleson 2007; Haskett et al. 2006; Williams 2007).
• Exceptionally resilient people may miss this growth opportunity since they are, by definition, essentially unaffected by the crime (Pat-Horenczyk and Brom 2007; Tedeschi and Calhoun 2004).