South Yarra – Aggravated Burglary

January 29, 2015 at 10:43 am

Laura Patterson

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The Aftermath Of Crime – The Importance Of Moving On

Victims of crime frequently have a lot to get over. They may struggle with injuries, and face long fights to get justice over their experiences. However, many crime victims are also left suffering from significant emotional trauma. This not only causes some serious damage to the health (both physical and mental) of the victim, it can also damage their ability to aid their quest for justice. The International Institute For Restorative Practices point out that emotional trauma can cause crime victims to ‘suppress their story and refuse to talk about it’, to babble about their experience to the point where the tale develops a life of its own, to ‘dramatize emotions without events’, or vice versa. This does not, of course, help to bring the perpetrators of crime to justice, as the word of the victim should ideally be unimpeachable in a judiciary situation. For the sake of justice, then, as well as for the sake of the victim, it is vital that victims learn to deal with the emotional aftershocks of their experiences.

Cruel Legacy

Crime can be cruel well beyond its immediate moment and effects. Crime can rob a person of their sense of self, leaving them feeling vulnerable and angry, struggling to rebuild a shattered sense of identity. They feel that their world has been thrown into uncontrollable chaos, and may experience a warped sense of time and events. In a study of victims of violent crime, 20% of those studied developed PTSD. Others may develop depressive and anxious thought patterns – replaying the crime and the events surrounding it over and over again in their minds. This hyperfocus on the trauma itself is perhaps the most problematic mental symptom to experience, for from it stems a whole host of other problems. Addiction counsellor Stanton Peele has spoken eloquently of the similarities between hyperfocus upon trauma and an addictive mindset. While perhaps not ‘addictive’ in the manner with which we traditionally associate the term, cycles of traumatic thoughts are certainly habit-forming and, if allowed to, the psyche will latch on to these damaging thoughts with devastating consequences. Peele goes on to point out that a propensity for plunging into a downward spiral of negative thoughts after trauma can even be a precursor for addiction. In this way, violent criminals perpetuate their sordid lives further by imprinting themselves onto the victim and leading them into despair.

Moving On

Using a football team analogy, Peele goes on to speak of the importance of getting back on one’s feet – of breaking the cycle of trauma and getting to grips with stress. He points out that, on the sports field, those who are able to shake off a defeat and play on, or turn those defeats into a positive training experience, are far more likely to come back and play on to win. Those who treat defeat as a permanent thing and cannot adjust either their game or their attitudes to incorporate and move on from that defeat will ultimately end up at the bottom of the league. The lesson, as Peele puts it, is “You have to keep your head, be functional in the field and in life, even when the going gets tough. And no use wasting time and energy complaining. Figure it out, make your best play, keep your chin up, and move on”. Or, as the British put it during WW2, “Keep Calm And Carry On”.

Lose The Guilt

Of course, Peele is talking to addicts, which renders his tone rather more imperative than it needs to be when addressing victims of violent crime. After all, whatever their circumstances, addicts are at least partially the architects of their own fates, while victims of violent crime have had their situations thrust upon them by outside forces. One of the major problems faced by victims of violent crime is that of guilt – which is why the message to take away from Peele’s words is absolutely not that struggling to deal with the traumatic aftermath of crime is something that one should feel ashamed of. Guilt, shame, and anger with the self are major hurdles that many suffering trauma after a crime have to cross. Some will be angry, taunting themselves with ways in which they could have averted or improved the situation. Others will feel shame at their victim status, or even a non-specific yet all-encompassing sense of guilt. This can worsen if they believe their inability to move on is ultimately their own fault – which is why it is important to think of moving on as a positive step, rather than a mountain to climb, and not to feel bad about it if proves difficult. Guilt is a horrendous emotion, especially when it is felt needlessly. One of the most important steps in the moving-on process is recognizing that one has nothing to feel guilty or ashamed about, and freeing oneself from these toxic emotions.

Beat The Criminal

While the criminal justice system is working hard towards ‘understanding the…responses of victims’ in the case of traumatic crime, it nonetheless remains the case that the effects of trauma may cause some victims (through no fault of their own) to present evidence which is inadmissible in court. This is particularly true in cases of sexual assault, which can cause temporary chaos within the psyche of a victim, and cause them to feel such undeserved shame that their statements become confused and conflicted with emotion. As such, the attackers all too often go free. Traumatic responses are natural when one is victimized by a criminal – but victims owe it to themselves to cease stewing, to understand that they need feel no guilt or shame, and to move on with their lives. If they feel that they cannot shake their traumatic symptoms on their own account, then it may help them to consider that their testimony against the criminal or criminals who inflicted these feelings upon them may be compromised if they continue to dwell upon negative thought cycles.

One thought on “South Yarra – Aggravated Burglary”

January 29, 2015 at 10:43 am

Laura Patterson

Undo
Messaging
Options

Victims of Crime
voccs@hotmail.com

The Aftermath Of Crime – The Importance Of Moving On

Victims of crime frequently have a lot to get over. They may struggle with injuries, and face long fights to get justice over their experiences. However, many crime victims are also left suffering from significant emotional trauma. This not only causes some serious damage to the health (both physical and mental) of the victim, it can also damage their ability to aid their quest for justice. The International Institute For Restorative Practices point out that emotional trauma can cause crime victims to ‘suppress their story and refuse to talk about it’, to babble about their experience to the point where the tale develops a life of its own, to ‘dramatize emotions without events’, or vice versa. This does not, of course, help to bring the perpetrators of crime to justice, as the word of the victim should ideally be unimpeachable in a judiciary situation. For the sake of justice, then, as well as for the sake of the victim, it is vital that victims learn to deal with the emotional aftershocks of their experiences.

Cruel Legacy

Crime can be cruel well beyond its immediate moment and effects. Crime can rob a person of their sense of self, leaving them feeling vulnerable and angry, struggling to rebuild a shattered sense of identity. They feel that their world has been thrown into uncontrollable chaos, and may experience a warped sense of time and events. In a study of victims of violent crime, 20% of those studied developed PTSD. Others may develop depressive and anxious thought patterns – replaying the crime and the events surrounding it over and over again in their minds. This hyperfocus on the trauma itself is perhaps the most problematic mental symptom to experience, for from it stems a whole host of other problems. Addiction counsellor Stanton Peele has spoken eloquently of the similarities between hyperfocus upon trauma and an addictive mindset. While perhaps not ‘addictive’ in the manner with which we traditionally associate the term, cycles of traumatic thoughts are certainly habit-forming and, if allowed to, the psyche will latch on to these damaging thoughts with devastating consequences. Peele goes on to point out that a propensity for plunging into a downward spiral of negative thoughts after trauma can even be a precursor for addiction. In this way, violent criminals perpetuate their sordid lives further by imprinting themselves onto the victim and leading them into despair.

Moving On

Using a football team analogy, Peele goes on to speak of the importance of getting back on one’s feet – of breaking the cycle of trauma and getting to grips with stress. He points out that, on the sports field, those who are able to shake off a defeat and play on, or turn those defeats into a positive training experience, are far more likely to come back and play on to win. Those who treat defeat as a permanent thing and cannot adjust either their game or their attitudes to incorporate and move on from that defeat will ultimately end up at the bottom of the league. The lesson, as Peele puts it, is “You have to keep your head, be functional in the field and in life, even when the going gets tough. And no use wasting time and energy complaining. Figure it out, make your best play, keep your chin up, and move on”. Or, as the British put it during WW2, “Keep Calm And Carry On”.

Lose The Guilt

Of course, Peele is talking to addicts, which renders his tone rather more imperative than it needs to be when addressing victims of violent crime. After all, whatever their circumstances, addicts are at least partially the architects of their own fates, while victims of violent crime have had their situations thrust upon them by outside forces. One of the major problems faced by victims of violent crime is that of guilt – which is why the message to take away from Peele’s words is absolutely not that struggling to deal with the traumatic aftermath of crime is something that one should feel ashamed of. Guilt, shame, and anger with the self are major hurdles that many suffering trauma after a crime have to cross. Some will be angry, taunting themselves with ways in which they could have averted or improved the situation. Others will feel shame at their victim status, or even a non-specific yet all-encompassing sense of guilt. This can worsen if they believe their inability to move on is ultimately their own fault – which is why it is important to think of moving on as a positive step, rather than a mountain to climb, and not to feel bad about it if proves difficult. Guilt is a horrendous emotion, especially when it is felt needlessly. One of the most important steps in the moving-on process is recognizing that one has nothing to feel guilty or ashamed about, and freeing oneself from these toxic emotions.

Beat The Criminal

While the criminal justice system is working hard towards ‘understanding the…responses of victims’ in the case of traumatic crime, it nonetheless remains the case that the effects of trauma may cause some victims (through no fault of their own) to present evidence which is inadmissible in court. This is particularly true in cases of sexual assault, which can cause temporary chaos within the psyche of a victim, and cause them to feel such undeserved shame that their statements become confused and conflicted with emotion. As such, the attackers all too often go free. Traumatic responses are natural when one is victimized by a criminal – but victims owe it to themselves to cease stewing, to understand that they need feel no guilt or shame, and to move on with their lives. If they feel that they cannot shake their traumatic symptoms on their own account, then it may help them to consider that their testimony against the criminal or criminals who inflicted these feelings upon them may be compromised if they continue to dwell upon negative thought cycles.

One thought on “South Yarra – Aggravated Burglary”

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