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The Mental Health Consequences of Torture pp 195–209Cite as

Homicide and Physical Assault

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Part of the book series: The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping ((SSSO))

Abstract

Violent physical assault and the murder of a family member or close friend are traumatic events that can produce posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other mental health problems. Understanding the scope and effect of violent physical assaults and homicide is relevant to the topic of torture and its consequences in two ways: First, these types of events are elements of the torture experience itself for torture survivors, many of whom have been physically attacked as a part of the torture or have lost a family member or friend who was murdered as part of government-sanctioned political repression. Second, individuals in many nations are at risk of losing a family member or friend to homicide or of becoming victims of violent crimes involving physical assault. Such experiences, regardless of whether they occur before or after a torture experience, might be expected to influence the extent to which torture survivors develop problems or recover from the experience.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29425, USA

    Dean G. Kilpatrick

  2. Arizona Prevention Center, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, 85719, USA

    Mary P. Koss

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  1. Dean G. Kilpatrick
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  2. Mary P. Koss
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Center Building, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Ellen Gerrity  & Farris Tuma  & 

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, 02130, USA

    Terence M. Keane

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Kilpatrick, D.G., Koss, M.P. (2001). Homicide and Physical Assault. In: Gerrity, E., Tuma, F., Keane, T.M. (eds) The Mental Health Consequences of Torture. The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1295-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1295-0_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1295-0

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