Low self-esteem
Difficulties in relating to others
In general, people from minority ethnic communities, lesbians, gays and transsexuals, and the elderly suffer more profoundly from violent crime than others in the population.
Forensic psychologists need to recognise the different situations in which male rape can occur, although of course these situations also have parallels when the victims are women:
The victim may be overwhelmed by physical force that he’s unable to resist. This can challenge his view of himself as a capable man, whereas women may sometimes accept they’re physically weaker than their assailant.
A friendly, mildly homosexual encounter may be taken further than the victim wants. Men may feel their heterosexuality has been questioned which they can find deeply hurtful in contrast to women who may have more mildly sexual approaches from men.
The victim may be trapped in a situation he can’t manage due to substance abuse or unwanted drugs. This of course can also apply to women, but men may be less aware of the risks of getting into such situations.
Threats may be used to coerce the victim. Men are more likely to believe they can deal with coercion than women and so feel especially demeaned if they can’t.
Surveys show that men are just as likely to report having being assaulted by a partner as women, although women report more frequent assaults and suffer greater injuries. I discuss domestic violence in more detail in Chapter 14.
For details on how the trauma of a violent crime is handled in court, turn to Chapter 11.
Examining the effects of physical abuse on children
Children are especially vulnerable psychologically to the effects of physical and/or sexual abuse, because they’re still forming an understanding of who they are and how they can relate to others. At the early stage in their development abuse can have a profound effect on their personalities and create a lack of trust of others and lowered feelings of self-worth. The likely consequences of such abuse are as follows:
Beyond the immediate pain and suffering, children are likely to develop medical problems, which can be anything from severe bed-wetting to skin disorders, or extreme anxiety. Young children have less physical capability to cope with physical assault and as a result death can result from a physical injury in some cases, such as blows to the head that may not be regarded as so severe in an adult.
Children are likely to express emotional problems through a general level of anger, hostility and anxiety. They may be fearful of adult contact which can also involve an inability to express their feelings.
Children can experience physical assault as humiliation and thus have lowered self-esteem.
Their relationships with other children may become problematic, expressed as aggression towards others, hyperactivity, truancy, inability to form friendships and poor social skills. Self-destructive behaviour, including excessive risk taking, may also be present.
