Victims of crime: a psychiatric perspective

Abstract

To be a victim of crime is an unsettling experience. It may be more than that. It may be distressing, and it may provoke anger or even an intense wish for retribution. A number of other emotional symptoms may also emerge, and if these are of sufficient range and severity a psychiatric syndrome may be diagnosed. The extent and nature of the psychiatric condition depend on a number of issues. These include the victim’s previous functioning the nature of the insult; the relationship of the offender to the victim; the issue of compensation; the effect of treatment; and the victim’s perception of the legal process, a perception which is influenced by well publicised legal determinations, to the extent that an Australian editorial commented of the legal system that in some areas it “has proven to be a strange animal”. © 1998 Taylor ‖ Francis Group, LLC.