Rose Marie Lichtenfels, MSW, MA, LCSW Intro to Victimology Rose Marie Lichtenfels, MSW, MA, LCSW

Brief History of Crisis Intervention National Save-a-Live League (1906) The first known crisis phone line. Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire (1942) Dr. Erich Lindemann’s clinical assessment of the survivors. This caused victims to be rediscovered. Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963 Large state-run asylums were replaced by community mental health centers.

The Importance of Volunteerism Tasks completed by volunteer workers may range from menial administrative chores to frontline crisis intervention with clients. The greatest number of frontline volunteers are used to staff 24-hour suicide hotlines in major cities. More than 75% of all crisis centers in the United States report that volunteer workers outnumber professional staff by more than 6 to 1.

Crisis Intervention as a Grassroots Movement Crisis intervention typically remains unrecognized by the public until victims/victim advocates exert enough legal, political, or economic pressure to cause change. As crisis agencies become crisis organizations, they gain power, prestige, and notoriety. Offer opportunities for research, clinical training sites, and employment for recent graduates. Grassroots movements helped shape crisis intervention into an emerging specialty. Children's rights Vietnam veterans Women’s movement during the 1970s

Transition from a Grassroots Movement to a Specialty Area Large influx of crisis organizations from the 1970s-1990s. Recognition that immediate intervention is essential in alleviating stress related to trauma. Professional recognition within the helping fields. Division 56: Trauma Psychology, American Psychology Association (2006) Accreditation standards set by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Educationally Related Programs (2009) and National Association of School Psychologists (2010). The media has a significant influence on public consciousness of crisis after a large-scale disaster.

The Case Against Too Much “Helping” “Trauma tourism”-burgeoning industry in post-intervention psychological trauma replete with trade shows, trade publications, talk shows, and charitable giving. There is an assumption that experiencing a disaster will invariably lead to psychopathology. The reality is that in most instances, victims of disaster do not panic. Victims of disaster create an “altruistic or therapeutic community”-characterized by the disappearance of community conflicts, heightened internal solidarity, charity, sharing, communal public works, and a positive attitude.

Were Does Victimology Belong Benjamin Mendelsohn felt that victimology needed to move away from criminology and into its own domain of Victimology. He felt this was necessary as vicimologists aim to “investigate the causes of victimology in search of remedies” There were more ways for people to become victims then just criminal acts.

5 Types of general Victimology Those affected by a criminal act Victim’s of one’s self (suicide) The social environment i.e., victims of class or group oppression. Such as racial discrimination, genocide and war atrocities Technological, such as nuclear accidents and improperly tested medicines The natural environment, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes

There are 3 Ways to Measure Crime Official records of police departments know as Uniform Crime Reports, UCR Surveys, that ask people about offenses they have committed Question victims about their how they were victimized

1. Official records of police departments know as Uniform Crime Reports, UCR Uniform Crime reports are produced every year by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and it began in 1932 It has been influential in providing a standardized crime definition A drawback is that it only gathers information on crimes police know about and no information on victims

2. Surveys of Offenders These are surveys, that ask people about offenses they have committed They are not affective for our purposes as they do not give us the information that victomoligist need to work with victims.

3. Victimization Surveys These surveys are used to question victims about how they were victimized These types of surveys are only 40 years old and entails contacting people and asking them if they have been a crime victim. There are 4 Generations of these types of surveys. In 1979 the latest generation was launched and it is called the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)