The relationships between perceived levels of control, psychological distress, and legal system variables in a sample of sexual assault survivors, Violence Against Women

Information regarding psychological distress, perceived levels of temporal control, and legal system success and satisfaction ratings were collected from 41 survivors of sexual assault. Results suggest that self-blame and offender blame may differentially impact posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptom severity. In addition, participants who perceived a greater risk of future assault reported higher levels of depressive and PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, perceptions of present control over the recovery process were related to lower levels of psychological distress. For those who reported the assault to police, lower levels of legal system success and satisfaction were linked to higher levels of perceived control over present recovery. Keywords criminal justice, sexual assault, trauma Research on sexual assault has examined multiple factors that may assist us in our under-standing of how these crimes relate to victims ’ other experiences. For example, recent litera-ture has examined how distress severity following a sexual assault relates to perceived levels of control over the experience, the recovery process, and the likelihood of a future sexual assault (Frazier, 2003). Additional literature has discussed effects of legal proceed-ings in sexual assault cases and how these proceedings potentially influence victim recover