Rape Trauma Syndrome
Rape is viewed as a situational crisis, that is, an unanticipated traumatic event that the victim generally is unprepared to handle because it is unforeseen. Following rape, the survivor may experience a cluster of symptoms described by Burgess and Holmstrom (979) as rape trauma syndrome. Burgess and Holmstrom originally described this syndrome as having two phases: the acute phase and the adjustment or reorganization phase. Sutherland and Scherl proposed an intermediate "outward adjustment" phase (Golan 1978). These phases are summarized in Table 11-1. Other authors have described an alternative silent reaction." Survivors also suffer long-term effects.
Although the phases of response are discussed individually in the following sections, they often overlap. Individual responses and their duration vary greatly.