The help-seeking of violent crime victims

grantor: University of TorontoIn this research I examine the help-seeking strategies used by male and female crime victims. Consideration of the help-seeking strategies used by victims in dealing with violent crime may provide insight into other decision-making processes, including reactions to other life traumatizing events. The analytic framework for this dissertation integrates research on intimate partner violence and police reporting with the wider help-seeking literature. This integration highlights the way in which victims actively engage in help seeking, given social locations that both limit and facilitate the ability to seek social support. The impact of gender, race and the victim-offender relationship on decisions to seek help are examined within this framework. Although most victims of violent crime do not call the police, many victims rely on family, friends, medical, social service and mental health interventions in dealing with the consequences of violent crime. The findings from my research are in accord with the wider help-seeking literature that suggests that those who seek help from family and friends and the users of mental health, social service and self-help groups tend to be female. In contrast, most male victims do not seek help. When men do seek help, they are more likely to call the police than to call upon family and friends. The victim-offender relationship is also an important predictor of help-seeking decisions. Attacks by known offenders lead to help-seeking strategies that rely primarily on family and friends. My research also suggests that female victims of intimate partner violence, and in particular white women, will use a substantial help-seeking strategy that includes help-seeking from family, friends, mental health professionals, social service agencies and the police. In contrast, white women attacked by strangers are the most likely to use a strategy that primarily relies on calling upon the police in dealing with their experiences with violent crime. These findings suggest that the effects of gender, race and the victim-offender relationship on help seeking decisions are not easily conceptualized by contrasting those who report to police with those who do not. The theoretical, methodological and policy implications of these findings are discussed.Ph.D