Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 1987, Vol. 18, No. 4,299-315 Copyright 1987 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0735-7028/87/S00.7S Describing the Crime Victim: Psychological Reactions to Victimization Irene Hanson Frieze University of Pittsburgh Sharon Hymer New York University Martin S. Greenberg University of Pittsburgh There is now a growing research literature on the types of reactions that are experienced by crime victims of all types. We review research on systematic differences in such reactions over time. Such reactions often seem more severe than might be expected on the basis of the material loss or physical injury caused by the victimization. Theories developed to explain the stress resulting from being a crime victim are outlined. They include a loss of a sense of self, a loss of safety or invulnerability, and feelings of inequity or injustice. Also reviewed are the cognitive and behavioral coping responses of victims. Redefining the victimization experience as less severe than it originally seemed or as occurring for some other purpose is one common coping mechanism. Another is to blame oneself as a means of reestablishing control over the situation. Behavioral coping through withdrawal or through assertive action and help seeking is also discussed. Some of the special issues associated with family violence and with children who are victimized, as well as another special type of victim, the friend or relative of someone else who has been killed or seriously injured, are discussed. Needs for future research are outlined. The plight of the crime victim has long been neglected by the mental health and legal communities. In recent years, however, there has been a growing recognition of the suffering of crime victims and the failure of society to ameliorate this IRENE HANSON FRIEZE, PhD, is professor of psychology at the Uni- versity of Pittsburgh. She is past president of the Psychology of Women division of the American Psychological Association (APA) and a former member of APA's Task Force on Victims of Crime and Violence. Her major research interests in the area of victimization are female victims' reactions and cognitive theories of reactions to victimization. She has published numerous articles on these and other topics. SHARON HYMER, PhD, an adjunct associate professor at New York University, is currently president of the Social Division, New York State Psychological Association, and a psychologist in private practice in New York City. She is a cofounder of Crime Victims' Counseling Services, a nonprofit organization that provides free group counseling and maintains an individual therapy referral service for crime victims. She has published several articles in the areas of victimology, narcis- sism, art, sex roles, and social change. She is a former member of the APA's Task Force on Victims of Crime and Violence. MARTIN S. GREENBERG is professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his PhD in social psychology from the University of Houston and has taught at the University of Michigan and at Washington University. He has coauthored numerous articles and book chapters on crime victim decision making. In addition, he is coauthor (with Barry Ruback) of Social Psychology of the Criminal Justice System. He is a former member of the APA's Task Force on Victims of Crime and Violence. THIS ARTICLE is is a revised and updated version of a report drafted in 1983 for the APA Task Force on Victims of Crime and Violence. CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS ARTICLE should be addressed to Irene Hanson Frieze, Department of Psychology, University of Pitts- burgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260. suffering. Social and clinical psychologists have been in the forefront of a major effort to understand the impact of crime on its victims, and in the last decade, much has been learned about the reactions of victims and their ensuing attempts at coping. We review this burgeoning theoretical and empirical literature on the reactions of crime victims. First, we describe the demographic characteristics of crime victims. Following that is a description of the short- and long- term reactions of crime victims and the stage theories that have been developed to describe systematic differences in their reactions over time. Then we look at the clinical and social-psychological theories developed to explain why victims have the emotional responses and why they attempt to cope in the ways that they do. It is clear that one must go beyond the material loss and physical injury experienced by the victim to understand why being a victim is so often traumatizing. We then discuss the role of social support from friends and the criminal justice system in the recovery of victims. Special types of victims, such as family members of victims who are killed or seriously injured, victims of family violence, and child victims, are the focus of the next section. We conclude with a discussion of the needs for further research. We focus on those who are victimized by other individuals. Although they may well experience many of the same reac- tions, we do not attempt to address the plight of victims of systematic discrimination or persecution. The special needs and issues surrounding such victims are beyond the scope of this article. For similar reasons, we have not been able to look in any depth at the special needs of groups of victims such as (a) the handicapped, (b) ethnic, racial, and sexual minorities, or (c) the elderly. Many of these groups experience high levels of criminal victimization, but identifying their special prob- lems and modes of coping would require a more lengthy analysis than is possible here. Instead, we attempt to pull 299 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.