The Violent and Sexual Victimization of College Women: Is Repeat Victimization a Problem?, an article by Daigle, Fisher, and Cullen (2008) gives many interesting insights into repeat victimization, how often it occurs, and why. In reviewing this article, I will first summarize its contents and then give my own opinion on the subject matter. The article begins by discussing how little is known about repeat violent and sexual victimization in college woman or how to prevent repeat victimization from occurring. Past research in this area have ignored the impact and occurrence of repeat victimization within, “a single development period of early adulthood – a high-risk period for women” (p. 101). There is a substantial amount of knowledge regarding
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101). To do this Daigle and colleagues (2008) used two national-level samples which contained more than 2,000 female students. This study aimed to make four contributions to understanding the victimization of woman at the college level. The first was to address the gap that currently exists in literature by examining the different types of repeat victimization, both violent and sexual, that college women have experienced during an academic year. The second was to provide information on the “time course” for the repeat violent and sexual victimization. Third, the researchers examined the “preicident, situational, and postincident characteristics of repeat incidents and compared this to the characteristics of single incidents” (p.101). For example, two preincident factors 1) knowing the perpetrator and 2) alcohol consumption, both of which are associated with the risk for victimization in women, were examined in this study. Lastly, previous research has shown that women are unlikely to report their victimization to police if sexually assaulted. Reporting is a key factor in victimization prevention and has not be previously considered in repeat victimization (Daigle et al., …show more content…
This can also tie into risk heterogeneity which is described as the characteristics of a victim that led that person to be victimized can cause them to be victims again unless they are changed. While this can also fall under victim blaming, I think that in cases of both men and women, how they act and react can influence their likelihood of becoming a victim and being re-victimized. For example, a person with low self-worth may not recognize risky sexual situations and not leave these situations. How a person reacts to victimization, for example self-blame may feel that the victimization was their own fault which can increase their vulnerability. Daigle et al., (2008) describes previous research that suggests that those who experience PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after initial victimization may be less likely to recognize risky situations and thus do not take any type of proactive measure. PTSD, depression, self-blame, etc. can mediate the relationship between initial and re-victimization. While it is certainly not the victims fault, in my opinion, this can be a contributing factor that can be taken advantage
101). To do this Daigle and colleagues (2008) used two national-level samples which contained more than 2,000 female students. This study aimed to make four contributions to understanding the victimization of woman at the college level. The first was to address the gap that currently exists in literature by examining the different types of repeat victimization, both violent and sexual, that college women have experienced during an academic year. The second was to provide information on the “time course” for the repeat violent and sexual victimization. Third, the researchers examined the “preicident, situational, and postincident characteristics of repeat incidents and compared this to the characteristics of single incidents” (p.101). For example, two preincident factors 1) knowing the perpetrator and 2) alcohol consumption, both of which are associated with the risk for victimization in women, were examined in this study. Lastly, previous research has shown that women are unlikely to report their victimization to police if sexually assaulted. Reporting is a key factor in victimization prevention and has not be previously considered in repeat victimization (Daigle et al., …show more content…
This can also tie into risk heterogeneity which is described as the characteristics of a victim that led that person to be victimized can cause them to be victims again unless they are changed. While this can also fall under victim blaming, I think that in cases of both men and women, how they act and react can influence their likelihood of becoming a victim and being re-victimized. For example, a person with low self-worth may not recognize risky sexual situations and not leave these situations. How a person reacts to victimization, for example self-blame may feel that the victimization was their own fault which can increase their vulnerability. Daigle et al., (2008) describes previous research that suggests that those who experience PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after initial victimization may be less likely to recognize risky situations and thus do not take any type of proactive measure. PTSD, depression, self-blame, etc. can mediate the relationship between initial and re-victimization. While it is certainly not the victims fault, in my opinion, this can be a contributing factor that can be taken advantage