victims of crime

Question 1

DPS Victim Services

Answer 1

-Implemented in 1997
-Provide state mandated victim assistance to primary/secondary victims and the victim’s family
-16 Behavioral Health Professionals
-Initiates crisis intervention during, or shortly after a crime has occurred
-Available after hours for urgent assistance

Question 2

the goal of victims of crime

Answer 2

To reduce the impact of crime and trauma on the citizens of Texas by timely crisis counseling, education, advocacy, referral, and other assistance as needed

Question 3

TRAUMA

Answer 3

a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury

Question 4

The crisis reaction

Answer 4

The normal human response to trauma follows a similar pattern called the crisis reaction.

Question 5

Physical response

Answer 5

The physical response to trauma is based on our animal instincts. It includes physicalshock, disorientation, and numbness: “frozen fright.”

Question 6

Fight-or-flight” reaction

Answer 6

*Adrenaline begins to pump through body.
*Body may relieve itself of excess materials, like ingested food.
*Physical senses, one or more, may become very acute while others “shut down.”
*Heart rate increases.
*Hyperventilation, sweating, etc.

Question 7

Exhaustion

Answer 7

Physical arousal associated with fight or flight cannot be prolonged indefinitely. Eventually, it will result in exhaustion.

Question 8

Psychological response

Answer 8

*Stage one: Shock, Disbelief, and Denial
-Denial in this sense means truly believing something did not happen, or that it wasnot as bad as it actually was. This is a psychological defense mechanism that kicks into protect a person from the full impact of what has happened.
*Stage two: Cataclysm of emotions
-Anger/rage, fear/terror, grief/sorrow, confusion/ frustration, guilt/self-blame,violation/vulnerability, and shame/humiliation.
*Stage three: Reconstruction of equilibrium
- Emotional roller coaster that eventually becomes balanced.

Question 9

Additional Psychological Responses

Answer 9

*Slowed thinking
*Fearful thoughts
*Memory problems
*Distressing dreams
*Blaming
*Illogical thinking
*Flashbacks of a previous trauma
*Intrusive thoughts
*Poor judgment
*Difficulty making decisions

Question 10

Behavioral Response

Answer 10

*Crying spells
*Extreme hyperactivity
*Change in activity level
*Withdrawal
*Increase/decrease in appetite, sleep, or sex drive
*Increased smoking, drug, and/or alcohol use
*Startle easily
*Conflicts with others
*Change in hygiene and/or self-care
*Change in social patterns and/or communication
*Significant increase or decrease in productivity
*Avoiding reminders of event
*Inability to stop focusing on what occurred
*Getting immersed in recovery-related tasks

Question 11

The Range of the Crisis Reaction:

Answer 11

*Shock
*Depression and loneliness
*Panic
*Hostility and resentment
*Hope
*Emotion
*Physical symptoms of distress
*Guilt
*Inability to resume normal activities
*Affirming reality

Question 12

Trauma is accompanied by a multitude of losses

Answer 12

*Control over one’s life
*Sense of fairness or justice
*A sense of immortality and invulnerability
*Trust in God or in other people
*Personally significant property, self, or loved ones
*Future

Question 13

Because of the losses, trauma responses involve grief and bereavement.
Trauma and regression:

Answer 13

*Trauma can be so overwhelming that it causes a person to revert or regress tochildhood, mentally and physically.

Question 14

Individuals may feel very childlike, for example:

Answer 14

*Feeling very “little”
*Wanting “mommy” or “daddy” to come and take care of you
*Feeling very “weak”
*Feeling like you did when you were a child, and something went terribly wrong

Question 15

Individuals may do things that seem very childish later, for example:

Answer 15

*Singing nursery rhymes
*Assuming a fetal position or crawling instead of walking
*Calling a law enforcement officer or other authority figure “mommy” or “daddy”

Question 16

Recovery from immediate trauma

Answer 16

Many people live through a trauma and can reconstruct their lives without outside help. This assumes, however, that they get a lot of informal support and assistance from friends, co-workers, peers, etc. in talking about what happened, in re-experiencing the emotions it triggered, and in trying to make sense of what happened. Most people find some type of benign outside intervention useful in dealing with trauma.

Question 17

Recovery from immediate trauma is often affected by:

Answer 17

*Severity of crisis reaction
*Ability to understand in retrospect what happened.
*Stability of victim/survivor equilibrium after event
*Supportive environment
*Validation of experience (e.g., it was terrible; the feelings/thoughts someone is having are natural and understandable given what they have been through, etc.)

Question 18

Recovery issues for survivors include:

Answer 18

*Getting control of event in victim/survivor’s mind.
*Working out an understanding of event and, as needed, a redefinition of values.
*Re-establishing a new equilibrium/life.
*Re-establishing trust.
*Re-establishing a future.
*Re-establishing meaning.

Question 19

Long-term crisis reactions:

Answer 19

*Not all victim/survivors suffer from long-term stress reactions. Many victims may continue to re-experience crisis reactions over long periods of time. Such crisis reactions are normally in response to “trigger events” that remind the victim of the trauma.

Question 20

“Trigger events” will vary with different victims, but may include:

Answer 20

*Identification of the assailant.
*Sensing (seeing, hearing touching, smelling, tasting) something similar to something thatone was acutely aware of during the trauma.
*“Anniversaries” of the event
*The proximity of holidays or significant “life events”
*Hearings, trials, appeals or other critical phases of the criminal justice proceeding.
*Media articles about a similar event.

Question 21

Criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder:

Answer 21

*The patient has experienced or witnessed or was confronted with an unusually traumatic event that has both elements:
- The event involved actual or threatened death or serious physical injury to the patient or to others.
- The patient felt intense fear, horror, or helplessness.

Question 22

The patient repeatedly re-lives the event in at least one of these ways:

Answer 22

• Intrusive, distressing recollections (thoughts, images).
• Repeated, distressing dreams.
• Through flashbacks, hallucinations, or illusions, feeling or acting as if the event were recurring (includes experiences that occur when intoxicated or awakening).
• Marked mental distress in reaction to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble some part of the event.
• Physiological reactions (such as rapid heartbeat, elevated blood pressure) in response to these cues.

Question 23

*The patient repeatedly avoids trauma-related stimuli and has numbing of general responsiveness (absent before the traumatic event), as shown by three or more of these:

Answer 23

• Tries to avoid feelings, thoughts, or conversations concerned with the event.
• Tries to avoid activities, people, or places that recall the event.
• Cannot recall an important feature of the event.
• Experiences marked loss of interest or participation in activities important to the patient.
• Feels detached or isolated from other people.
• Experiences restriction in ability to love or feel other strong emotions.
• Feels life will be brief or unfulfilled (lack of marriage, job, children).

Question 24

The patient has at least two of the following symptoms or hyper-arousal that were not present before the traumatic event:

Answer 24

• Insomnia (initial or interval)
• Angry outbursts or irritability
• Poor concentration
• Excessive vigilance
• Increased startle response
• The symptoms above have lasted longer than one month.
  These symptoms cause clinically important distress or impair work, social, or personal functioning.

Question 25

The phases include:

Answer 25

*Impact: This phase occurs immediately after the violence (crime). Victims feel as if theyare in shock. Some cannot eat or sleep, while others may express disbelief that theviolence (crime) actually occurred. Many victims feel exposed and vulnerable or expressfeelings of helplessness.
*Recoil: Victims attempt to accept or adapt to the violence (crime) and begin to reintegrate their personalities. Victims commonly experience a wide variety of emotions, including guilt, fear, anger, self-pity, and sadness. Some struggle to accept the painful feelings while others deny experiencing them at all. *Reorganization: After a period of time the recoil stage will give way to the reorganization stage. The victims become more normal as feelings of fear and rage diminish in intensity. The victim becomes more normalized as they begin to put the experience in perspective and commit energy to the task of living in the present.

Question 26

ripple effect

Answer 26

A ripple effect describes how the impact of crime can spread beyond the immediate victim

Question 27

The ripple effect progresses as follows:

Answer 27

*Immediate victim
*Secondary victims: family and friends
*Service providers, EMS, police

Question 28

potential for secondary victimization by the criminal justice system

Answer 28

*The criminal justice system
*The media
*Family, friends, or acquaintances
*Clergy
*Hospital and emergency-room personnel
*Health and mental health professionals
*Social service workers
*Victim service workers
*Schools or educators

Question 29

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #1

Answer 29

Receive adequate protection from harm and threats of harm arising from cooperation with prosecution efforts.

Question 30

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #2

Answer 30

Have their safety considered by the magistrate when setting bail

Question 31

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #3

Answer 31

Upon request, receive information, on request, of relevant court proceedings, including appellate proceedings, cancellations, and rescheduling prior to the event, and of appellate court decisions after the decisions are entered but before they are made public.

Question 32

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #4

Answer 32

Receive information, on request, from a peace officer about the defendant’s right to bail and criminal investigation procedures, and from the prosecutors office about general procedures in the criminal justice system, including plea agreements, restitution, appeals, and parole.

Question 33

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #5

Answer 33

Provide pertinent information concerning the impact of the crime to the probation department conducting the pre-sentencing investigation.

Question 34

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #6

Answer 34

Receive information about Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund and payment for a medical exam for a victim of sexual assault

Question 35

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #7

Answer 35

Upon request, receive information on parole procedures, notification of parole procedure and the inmate’s release, the right to participate in the parole process, and the right to submit information to the board to be considered prior to parole.

Question 36

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #8

Answer 36

Be provided with a separate or secure waiting area at all public court proceedings

Question 37

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #9

Answer 37

Prompt return of any property that is no longer needed as evidence.

Question 38

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #10

Answer 38

Notification to the victim’s employer by the prosecutor that the need for the victim’s testimony may involve the victim’s absence from work.

Question 39

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS#11

Answer 39

Request Victim-offender mediation

Question 40

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #12

Answer 40

Be informed of the use and purpose of a victim impact statement, complete a victim impact statement, and have the statement considered before sentencing and acceptance of a plea bargain and before an inmate is released on parole.

Question 41

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #13

Answer 41

for a victim of an assault or sexual assault who is younger than 17 years of age or whose case involves family violence, as defined by Section 71.004, Family Code, the right to have the court consider the impact on the victim of a continuance requested by the defendant; if requested by the attorney representing the state or by counsel for the defendant, the court shall state on the record the reason for granting or denying the continuance

Question 42

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS #14

Answer 42

) If the offense is a capital felony, the right to:
A) receive by mail from the court a written explanation of defense-initiated victim outreach if the court has authorized expenditures for a defense-initiated victim outreach specialist;
B) not be contacted by the victim outreach specialist unless the victim, guardian, or relative has consented to the contact by providing a written notice to the court; and
C) designate a victim service provider to receive all communications from a victim outreach specialist acting on behalf of any person.