A U.S. Department of Justice special report on the socio-emotional impact of violent crime found that between 2009-2012, 68 percent of victims of serious violent crime incurred socio-emotional distress due to their victimization.
Feelings of moderate to severe distress; significant problems with work or school, such as trouble with a boss, coworkers, or peers; or significant problems with family members or friends, including more arguments than before the victimization, an inability to trust, or not feeling as close after the victimization are examples of social-emotional distress.
Authors of the report Lynn Langton, Ph.D., and Jennifer Truman, Ph.D., both of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), used the information gathered by the National Crime Victimization Survey to compile their statistics.
From 2009-2012, the information fostered findings that showed 71 percent of sexual assault and 70 percent of robbery victims suffer some form of moderate to severe distress. However, 57 percent of victims of aggravated and 46 percent of victims of simple assault experienced moderate to severe distress as a result of their traumatic encounter.
Also, more serious violent victimization committed by an intimate partner (60 percent) or relative (65 percent) resulted in severe distress more often than those committed by a stranger, which came in low at (31 percent) by comparison.
The research concluded that victims experience multiple symptoms covering both emotional and physical problems. Feeling worried and feeling anxious ranked among the two highest emotional effects experienced (72 percent) after a serious or violent crime.
The most physical consequences reported were trouble sleeping (47 percent) and fatigue (34 percent). Victims of serious or violent crime were also found to be more likely to suffer or experience one or more symptoms of emotional or physical distress.
The remainder of the report focused on intimate partner violence. When covering the wide range of different violent acts, more than 80 percent of victims reported that they experienced some form of socio-emotional problems.
Oddly, the presence of a weapon or bodily injury did not consistently produce a higher percentage of socio-emotional distress than those cases without a weapon.
The 54 percent of victims of violent and serious crimes who have experienced socio-emotional distress reported their victimization to authorities (police). What is not known is why only 12 percent of victims who experienced socio-emotional problems sought and received assistance dealing with their emotional issues due to victimization.
An interesting note in the report was the information gathered concerning victims who were married. Seventy-four percent of victims who were widowed and 67 percent who were divorced or separated experienced socio-emotional problems. However, those who were never married had much lower numbers, 53 percent, and married people was 55 percent. It should be noted that the marital status data is reflective of a multivariate assay (analysis of multiple factors).
When the data was broken down into gender specific categories, the report conveyed that female victims were 2.6 times more likely to experience socio-emotional distress than males. Also, victims ranging in age from 35 to 54 (1.5) and 55 years of age and up (2.1) are more likely to experience socio-emotional distress than those between ages 12 and 17.
As far as race, marital status and education, there was no significant data showing any probability of a socio-emotional distress relationship.
