Dawn-Elise Snipes PhD, LMHC, CRC, NCC

November 20, 2008

 Rape is a pervasive medical, legal, psychological,
and social problem
 Affects people of all races, genders and SES
 Survivors must make difficult decision in the midst
of crisis
 PTSD is common in rape survivors
 Support from individuals, families, and
communities is essential
 Is labeling an experience as rape necessary for
recovery?
 Those who label their experience have greater
incidence of PTSD symptoms/ long-term
decreased physical and psychological well-being
 Those who do not may experience less severe
emotional reactions
 Some argue, could be necessary for a survivor to
fully “integrate” their experience
 Relationship between victim and perpetrator is
key
 Intimate partner rape is less likely to be reported
than acquaintance or stranger rape
 Belief in a “blitz” rape script
 Amount of force/injury suffered in assault
 Peer influence/ Acceptance of aggressiveness in
sexual encounters
 History of sexual victimization
 Non-genital injuries
 characterized intimate partner assaults
 are more severe in intimate partner rape than
in acquaintance or stranger rape (Logan, et al,
2007)
 Substance use most common in acquaintance
rape
 Typical psychological characteristics:
 Poor intimacy skills
 Low self esteem
 Loneliness
 Inability to cope/cope with sex
 Lack of empathy
 Cognitive distortions
 Cognitive Distortions
 Sexual offenders more likely to misinterpret social cues and perceive things in
ways that justify their offenses.
 Reasons for offending
 Rapists
 Anger, retribution
 Child molesters
 Sexual gratification, intimacy
 Lower Self esteem than rapists
Acute
 Expressed
 Controlled
 Shocked
Outward Adjustment
 Minimization/Suppression
 Dramatization/Life Domination
 Explanation/Analysis
 Escape
Resolution/Integration
 Rape survivors must contend with reactions of family,
friends, and society when they reveal their experience
 Fear being blamed, shamed, or ostracized
 Marital rape is perceived differently from other kinds of rape
(Munge et al)
 “Less serious” in general
 Responsibility is assumed using length of marriage and fidelity
of the wife
 Shorter marriage = less traumatic
 Wife who commits adultery is more “responsible” for being
raped than a wife who is faithful to her husband
 Rape tactics common in 55-74% of college aged
men
 Sexually aggressive men consume more alcohol
than non-aggressive men
 Sexual violence correlated with rigid gender roles
and stereotypes, psychopathology, and sensation
seeking behaviors, past history of sexual violence,
and hyper-masculine attitudes
 Women are more likely to disclose first to informal
supports (friends, family) than formal supports
(police, medical professionals)
 Positive reactions of support persons (empathy,
belief, understanding, offers of physical and
emotional support) promote healing and resiliency
in survivors
 Negative reactions (blame, anger, indifference)
increase psychological trauma, likelihood of PTSD
may revictimize the survivor
 Acute Stress Disorder is more likely to advance to
full PTSD
 Extremely common reaction to sexual assault
 Symptoms:
 Hypervigilance, anxiety, depression, panic
 Sleep difficulty, flashbacks
 Difficulty with personal and intimate
relationships, sexual dysfunction
 Assault severity, offender violence, severity of
sexual acts, and physical injury, self-blame,
multiple victimizations, and avoidance coping are
highly correlated with PTSD
 As assault severity increases, survivors may be
less likely to blame themselves and more likely to
label it as rape
 Natural coping mechanism that occurs
immediately following rape
 Denial, suppression- avoid stressful thoughts
 Person feels overwhelmed, lacks sufficient resources to
deal with trauma
 May be healthy way of dealing with acute trauma; but
can be maladaptive in the long-term
 Approach coping more healthy for long-term processing
of trauma: therapeutic interventions, talking about
experience, accepting lack of control in situation
 Rape alters a person’s view of the world and their
personal schemas
 Assimilation: integrate rape as something that
“just happened”; does not appear to alter
behavior of survivor
 Accommodation: Change schemas and world
views to include experience of rape; but do not let
it “take over” their lives
 Over-accommodation: World/people are now “all
bad,” threat, evil is everywhere. Survivor can no
longer trust anyone
 Common in acute phases, but maladaptive in
long-term
 Social support
 Availability of emotional and physical resources
 Positive reactions of formal support systems
 Denial of the problem of rape
 Racism, sexism, societal attitudes
 Lack of funding, poor salaries for workers
 High turnover, burnout
 Professionalism/Standardization
 Anti-feminist attitudes
 Lack of availability/accessibility of resources and
services