The Male Rape Victims - Research Paper Example

? COUNSELLING OF MALE RAPE VICTIMS This essays deals with three major issues for the mental practitioners dealing with malerape victims. To begin with, the present research shows that the male rape survivors experience some negative health effects mentally from the assault, including, post-traumatic stress among other effects. Also, the rape victim’s maybe struggling to deal with how friends and family are responding to the assault and they may be facing secondary victimization. Thus, mental health practitioners need to be informed of the issues that are more likely to be presented in therapy by the rape victims. The victims are also required to process the rape and the possible experiences they may face after the ordeal with their formal and informal providers of support. Second, observations made from evaluating therapeutic techniques show that cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) can work quite well in the reduction of the short term post rape anxiety and fear symptoms. Though, feminist therapies focus on the long term issues in dealing with self blame and guilt, they are known to work at times for the short term issues. Finally It is common for the mental health practitioners who deal with the male rape victims to also experience disturbing feelings that are similar to those experienced by the rape victim. These symptoms are referred to as Secondary Traumatic stress usually experienced by practitioners who deal with a high number of sexually assaulted victims, thus, the need for the application of self-care strategies for these therapists. Introduction The term rape/sexual assault are usually defined in many different ways, but, it is explained that rape is the unwanted sexual acts that range from touching to penetration. Usually it is assumed that phrase ‘victims of sexual abuse’ or ‘rape victims’ usually refer to women, but contrary to that, men and boys are also victims of the vice and research shows that in America 10% of the rape victims are men and boys. According to the mental health practitioners who dealt with them, men and boys suffer post-traumatic stress similar to those experienced by women, but are not willing to accept that they are rape victims and need assistance. For some time now practitioners, researchers have tried to find out how sexual assault on males impacts the individuals health psychologically and to create therapies that efficient in enhancing the recovery of these male victims. This essay seeks to explain the research results on three major issues for the practitioners who deal with the male rape victims. These issues are: one, the experiences of the male rape victims and the issues they may put forward in therapy, two, the therapeutic techniques and methods that have yielded success in enhancing recovery of the victims, lastly, the effects of dealing with the male rape victims on the health practitioner dealing with them. The experiences of the male rape victims and the issues they may put forward in therapy Currently, research focuses mainly on putting down and explaining the post traumatic impacts ion the male rape victim’s way of life. The research findings show that the victims struggle with the effects of the assault directly and the effects of the assault on the people who are close to them, that is family and friends. Thus, these results shows that the male rape survivors may share a variety of concerns in therapy and the therapists must be informed of the various negative impacts of sexual assault (Odem & Warner, 1998). Sexual assault/ rape are devastating and normally it wrecks the survivor’s ability to maintain a consistent illusion of safety at the personal level, their invulnerability, and threatens some of the beliefs and assumptions the victims identify with and the larger community that surrounds them. The victims are likely to display extreme levels of psychological distress, guilt, fear, shame, tension, anxiety, anger among others. These different psychological symptoms are usually viewed as an exhibition of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PSTD is a medical diagnosis that explains the psychological effects after a traumatizing experience. Survivors usually respond to the traumatic events through both avoidance and intrusions ( Scarce, 1997). An intrusion is the process of reliving the traumatic even through flashbacks, nightmare among other ways. Avoidance is the situation where the survivors try to stay in isolation from the things that remind them of the assault to avoid becoming overwhelmed emotionally; this is achieved through withdrawing from company or getting involved in drug and alcohol abuse. Other reactions common to PTSD are increased arousal, dissociation, irritability, extreme anger outbursts, sleep disturbances, and other health problems (Odem & Warner, 1998). The different ways in which rape affects the male victims may not be the only concern presented in therapy. Research also has found out that close family and friends of the victims are adversely affected by the assault. Thus, victim may require the health practitioner to assist them go through their post assault experiences. From this practitioners need to be trained to avoid secondary victimization and to find ways that are effective in dealing with the male rape victims to help them into recovery and The therapeutic techniques and methods that have yielded success in enhancing recovery of the victims In the event that the male rape victims seek therapeutic services, the mental health practitioners may utilize different therapeutic methods in dealing with the victim. The commonly used approaches are the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and the feminist therapy. It is crucial to identify that the methods can overlap in concept and that most practitioners utilize different methods in dealing with the victims. But the most referred to techniques are the CBT therapy and the feminist therapy. Both the approaches are considered to be effective in facilitating the recovery of a rape victim (Ahrens & Campbell, 2000). There are several forms of the CBT therapy, they include, flooding, systemic desensitization, stress inoculation training and prolonged exposure to treatment. Generally these forms utilize the approach of experiencing the traumatic memories systematically and cognitive repeated interpretation of the events. This helps the rape victim reduce the level of the anxiety gradually. From the evaluation of the CBT therapeutic approach, it is clear that it is effective in reducing symptoms related to fear. Generally the CBT therapeutic technique is known for its effectiveness in dealing with short term fear related symptoms. The feminist therapeutic approach focuses on the long term symptoms of shame, self blame and guilt unlike the CBT approach that deals with anxiety and fear. This approach stresses the integration of the social causes of the sexual assault into the victims view point thus reducing guilt and self blame after the assault. The main aim of the feminist therapy is in assisting victims comprehend the fact that the issue of rape in males is a problem of the society not and individuals issue. Due to the fact that most feminist therapists insist on dealing with self blame after a rape experience, group therapy is preferred which helps in solving the issue of isolation, facilitates the sharing of experiences, and help in creating relationships that are supportive. (Ahrens & Campbell, 2000). More research is required to determine fully the effectiveness of the feminist therapeutic technique. It is common for therapists to combine both the CBT and feminist therapeutic approaches to deal with both the long term and short term concerns. The effects of dealing with the male rape victims on the health practitioner The mental health practitioners who deal with the male rape victims also experience some of the effects the victim’s experience. The trauma of treating victims of rape by the therapists is usually referred to as compassion fatigue (CF), vicarious traumatization (VT), or secondary traumatic stress (STS). Learning about a sudden traumatic event on others can lead to post traumatic stress symptoms. This shows that individuals can be traumatized without having the actual experience of the traumatic event. From results of studies done, CF/VT/STS is a very common and serious problem among therapists and advocates of rape victims. Working with male rape victims comes also with its challenges as shown though the mental practitioners are trained to deal with different forms of mental trauma. (Odem & Warner, 1998). By their roles as therapists it is not possible for them to escape the painful materials from victims, thus, self care is advised. To help themselves out they can utilize the opportunities in sharing with others thus insulating themselves from their work challenges. To deal with this effectively the practitioners must adhere to the levels of awareness and the origins of information, intuitive, somatic and cognitive. Develop the sense of self awareness. In that, they should know their needs, emotions, resources, and limits. Practice acceptance and mindfulness. Secondly, they should try and maintain balance in all the activities they are involved in. Finally, they should encourage communication which facilitates connection and negates isolation. These three factors should be factored in the personal, organizational and professional lives of the practitioners. Conclusion In conclusion male rape is an issue is real but it is not really evident due to the victim’s reluctance to report the abuse. It is seen that impact of male rape are equally devastating as those of female rape. The usual responses are denial, non reporting, anger, low self esteem, depression, loss of sexual identity, and sexual dysfunction. Currently the basic wants of male rape victims are barely met but this can be achieved through advocating for awareness, appropriate funding and research. REFERENCES Ahrens, C.E., &Campbell, R. (2000). Assisting rape victims as they recover from rape: The impact on friends. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 959-986. Barkus, R. (1997). Partners of survivors of abuse: A men's therapy group. Psychotherapy, 34, 316-323. Khan, N. (2008). Male rape: the emergence of a social and legal issue. Basingstoke [England: Palgrave Macmillan. Mezey, G. C., & King, M. B. (2000). Male victims of sexual assault (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Odem, M. E., & Warner, J. (1998). Confronting rape and sexual assault. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources. Scarce, M. (1997). Male on male rape the hidden toll of stigma and shame. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Pub.. Read More