Citation

Kilpatrick DG, Resick PA, Veronen LJ. J. Soc. Iss. 1981; 37(4): 105-122.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1540-4560.1981.tb01073.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

After reviewing previous work on psychological effects of a rape experience, this paper reports the results of a longitudinal investigation of victim reactions to rape. Adult victims (N = 20) were assessed at 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year postrape, and a group of matched non-victims (N = 20) were assessed at similar intervals. Findings were that victims were significantly more anxious, fearful, suspicious, and confused than nonvictims for at least a year after their assaults. However, there was significant improvement on those as well as other measures of personality and mood state over time, particularly between 1 and 6 months. Implications of these findings with regard to both social learning and feminist theory and therapy are discussed.

Language: en