Pros And Cons Of Reporting Her Rape
1) I think Jocelyn’s concerns about reporting her rape were completely justified. Unfortunately, the possibility of authorities not believing her was quite high, especially considering the time that passed between the assault and when she was encouraged to report it and lack of witness and evidence. The scrutiny that rape victims are under during investigation and/or trial is also quite a big factor discouraging them from reporting to authorities.
I think the therapist did the right thing in not reporting the assault against Jocelyn’s wishes because it would have violated her trust and likely set back her progress.
While Jocelyn’s English professor had the freedom to go against Jocelyn’s wishes, I think it was a good thing that she didn’t because …show more content…
pressure from investigation and/or trial and the time it would necessitate that she spends with her attacker would also have impeded her recovery.
2) Jocelyn’s friends reacted poorly, to say the least, blaming her for the assault and denying that she was raped at all.
Their lack of trust made Jocelyn even more fearful of reporting the assault then she already was and more frustrated with her lack of control over her personal life.
I think her friends would have been more helpful to her if they were more concerned with helping her then they were with assuaging their own fears. Their reactions only distressed her further when they could have been exactly what was needed to alleviate her fears.
3) I do think that PTSD can develop in people who witness a traumatic event as opposed to experiencing it directly because seeing something traumatic is just as outside of normal human experience as experiencing that trauma. In other words, humans are just as poorly equipped to deal with the stress of seeing something traumatic happen as they are to have something traumatic happen to them.
I think one way of gathering empirical evidence to answer this question would be to compare the ratio of people who directly experienced a traumatic event and started exhibiting symptoms of PTSD against the ratio people who witnessed a traumatic event and started exhibiting symptoms of
PTSD.
4) I think that PTSD should be considered a form of anxiety disorder because it fulfills similar criteria as other anxiety disorders. People who suffer from PTSD show an unnecessary level of anxiety when faced with some specific conditions, not unlike people who suffer from other forms of anxiety. They also show similar preoccupation with avoiding situations that may trigger the feelings of anxiety.
I don’t think that PTSD should be classified as a dissociative disorder because while dissociation in people with PTSD is relatively common, as far as I am aware, most of the time it’s temporary, mild, and usually concerns the traumatic event directly, like the traumatized person having an out of body experience or altering their perception in the way that the event would seem to be just a dream, whereas people with dissociative disorders experience major changes to their memory and/or identity.
I think the therapist did the right thing in not reporting the assault against Jocelyn’s wishes because it would have violated her trust and likely set back her progress.
While Jocelyn’s English professor had the freedom to go against Jocelyn’s wishes, I think it was a good thing that she didn’t because …show more content…
pressure from investigation and/or trial and the time it would necessitate that she spends with her attacker would also have impeded her recovery.
2) Jocelyn’s friends reacted poorly, to say the least, blaming her for the assault and denying that she was raped at all.
Their lack of trust made Jocelyn even more fearful of reporting the assault then she already was and more frustrated with her lack of control over her personal life.
I think her friends would have been more helpful to her if they were more concerned with helping her then they were with assuaging their own fears. Their reactions only distressed her further when they could have been exactly what was needed to alleviate her fears.
3) I do think that PTSD can develop in people who witness a traumatic event as opposed to experiencing it directly because seeing something traumatic is just as outside of normal human experience as experiencing that trauma. In other words, humans are just as poorly equipped to deal with the stress of seeing something traumatic happen as they are to have something traumatic happen to them.
I think one way of gathering empirical evidence to answer this question would be to compare the ratio of people who directly experienced a traumatic event and started exhibiting symptoms of PTSD against the ratio people who witnessed a traumatic event and started exhibiting symptoms of
PTSD.
4) I think that PTSD should be considered a form of anxiety disorder because it fulfills similar criteria as other anxiety disorders. People who suffer from PTSD show an unnecessary level of anxiety when faced with some specific conditions, not unlike people who suffer from other forms of anxiety. They also show similar preoccupation with avoiding situations that may trigger the feelings of anxiety.
I don’t think that PTSD should be classified as a dissociative disorder because while dissociation in people with PTSD is relatively common, as far as I am aware, most of the time it’s temporary, mild, and usually concerns the traumatic event directly, like the traumatized person having an out of body experience or altering their perception in the way that the event would seem to be just a dream, whereas people with dissociative disorders experience major changes to their memory and/or identity.