Satisfaction With the Initial Police Response and Development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Victims of Domestic Burglary

Abstract

The current study used a prospective design to investigate the association between early symptoms, satisfaction with the initial police response, and development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology in victims of domestic burglary (n = 95). Early symptoms and satisfaction with the initial police response were assessed through telephone interviews conducted within the first month after the burglary and PTSD symptoms 4 to 6 weeks after baseline. Separate regression models were tested for satisfaction with performance and satisfaction with procedure. Results suggested that early symptoms were a risk factor for PTSD symptomatology (β = .50, p < .001 and β = .48, p < .001) above and beyond levels of peritraumatic distress (β = .21, p < .05 and β = .22, p < .05) and irrespective of level of satisfaction (β = -.02, ns and β = -.10, ns). Victims with high levels of early symptoms, however, were clearly at an increased risk of PTSD symptomatology if they scored low on satisfaction at baseline. Results were discussed in light of the framework of therapeutic jurisprudence.

Psychological distress following crime victimization: An exploratory study from an agency perspective

“…To date, this seems to have been done only once before. Kunst, Rutten, and Knijf () found that crime victims who suffered from early PTSD symptoms during the first 2 weeks after the crime were at an increased risk of PTSD symptom increase 4 to 6 weeks later if they were not satisfied with the police response. However, this study only included victims of domestic burglary and did not distinguish between peri‐ and posttraumatic responses to the crime.…”

Victim Satisfaction With the Criminal Justice System and Emotional Recovery

“…They first asked subjects of the general population of the state of Kentucky to indicate whether they had been criminally victimized during a particular period and then asked them to comment upon the performance of the criminal justice system in their cases. All remaining studies used various types of convenience sampling to select participants, including recruitment via police departments (Frazier & Haney, 1996; Kunst, Rutten, & Knijf, 2013; Miller, 2003), public prosecution offices (Tontodonato & Erez, 1994), courts (Wemmers, 2013), victim/witness programs (Amick-McMullan, Kilpatrick, Veronen, & Smith, 1989), local crime victims’ rights organizations (Amick-McMullan et al, 1989), domestic violence intake centers (Bennett, Cattaneo, & Goodman, 2010), compensation funds (Kunst, 2011; Laxminarayan, 2012, 2013a, 2013b), victim support agencies (Laxminarayan, 2012; Orth, 2002, 2004 [studies 15a and 15b]; Orth & Maercker, 2004 [studies 16a and 16b]; Orth & Maercker, 2009), sexual assault referral centers (Maddox, Lee, & Barker, 2011), counseling agencies (Regehr, Alaggia, Lambert, & Saini, 2008), medical examiner offices (Thompson, Norris, & Ruback, 1996), and advertisements or presentations (Campbell et al, 1999; Campbell, Wasco, Ahrens, Sefl, & Barnes, 2001; Maddox et al, 2011; Regehr et al, 2008; Walsh & Bruce, 2011).…”

“…Only two studies succeeded in obtaining an adequate response rate (Frazier & Haney, 1996; Norris & Thompson, 1993). Fourteen studies failed to obtain an adequate response rate (Bennett et al, 2010; Kunst, 2011, Kunst et al, 2013; Laxminarayan, 2012, 2013b; Orth, 2002, 2004 [studies 15a and 15b]; Orth & Maercker, 2004 [studies 16a and 16b]; Orth & Maercker, 2009; Thompson et al, 1996; Tontodonato & Erez, 1994; Wemmers, 2013), while five other studies could not calculate response rates due to sampling method (Campbell et al, 1999, 2001; Maddox et al, 2011; Regehr et al, 2008; Walsh & Bruce, 2011). Three studies did not provide any information on response rates (Amick-McMullan et al, 1989; Laxminarayan, 2013a; Miller, 2003).…”

“…Three studies did not provide any information on response rates (Amick-McMullan et al, 1989; Laxminarayan, 2013a; Miller, 2003). The majority of studies that used a prospective design (Bennett et al, 2010; Kunst et al, 2013; Orth, 2004 [study 15b]; Orth & Maercker, 2004 [study 16b]) had retention rates <70%. Wemmers (2013) was the only study to retain more than 70% of baseline respondents.…”

Knowing from where to start: a plea for more and better systematic literature reviews about the effectiveness of legal rights for crime victims

“…The programme evaluation would additionally teach us that it is not so much victim impact statement delivery per se that promotes victims´emotional recovery from the crime, but rather their satisfaction with how they were treated by other participants of the criminal proceedings during the court hearing (cf. ; see also Kunst, Rutten, & Knijf, 2013). -The process evaluation by Lens et al (2010) would teach us that victim impact statement delivery in Dutch courts usually occurs after substantial lapse of time; on average, study participants who had delivered a victim impact statement did so 17 months post victimisation.…”