Effects on Psychological Health as a Result of Victimization by Violent or Aggressive Behavior

Abstract

The paper presents a theoretical framework illustrating the impairment of victims’ mental health following an offence. After a definition of the terms „victimization” and „mental health” is given, theoretical assumptions and empirical studies concerning victims’ mental health are summarized. The relevance of impaired mental health as risk factor for (future) victimization is explained. In the context of the theoretical framework, different processes mediating the relation between the experience of victimization and impairment of mental health are illustrated. It is assumed that characteristics of the attack, internal and external resources of the victim and the occurrence of secondary victimization are relevant. The presented model allows the integration of previous empirical findings and can serve as a basis for future research.