Do trials of perpetrators retraumatize crime victims?

Orth, Ulrich; Maercker, Andreas (2004). Do trials of perpetrators retraumatize crime victims? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(2), pp. 212-227. Sage 10.1177/0886260503260326

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Attendance at trials of perpetrators could be retraumatizing for crime victims suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. To investigate this hypothesis, two studies were conducted in which retraumatization was defined as a significant increase in posttraumatic stress reactions. A cross-sectional study of 137 victims of rape and nonsexual assault revealed that trial variables do virtually not predict posttraumatic stress reactions at a time several years after trial.Alongitudinal study of 31 victims of rape and nonsexual assault revealed intraindividual stability of posttraumatic stress reactions for the time interval from a few weeks before the trial to a few weeks after the trial; in addition, interindividual stability was high. The results of both studies do not support the retraumatization hypothesis, which should therefore be used with caution.

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