@BethRags

I am so so soooo sorry you went through that. You went through multiple traumas during that home invasion in a bad neighborhood. I'm glad you were able to save your fur babies (pets). Gosh, I'd be in a state of terror if I were in that situation, and then some.

Thank you, lillib, I appreciate your kindness. Strangely, coming from a childhood in which we experienced relentless stress and trauma and then the almost inevitable extreme stress that follows us into adulthood (when we had a traumatic childhood) sometimes provides us with a degree of ability to cope with very unordinary circumstances - at least, while they're happening (then later we might fall to pieces).

In my case I was so immensely relieved to save my pets and get myself safely out of there that everything else seemed to lose significance.

You make an excellent point about the difference between trained professionals and victims. The main differences you point out have to do with what I think are "protective factors." Police, EMT, fire, rescue, therapists - they're all trained to deal with many different traumatic experiences they witness (or sometimes encounter directly), and they have the protective factors of not only their training, but each other, their job titles and reputation that goes with them, their social capital, their monetary benefits, etc. - all of which could be considered "capable guardianship" in criminal justice terms.

"Protective factors" is an excellent term. Precise.

Conversely, victims seemingly lack those protective factors (capable guardianship) against victimization; they lack the social support before and after traumas, and they lack the training (most notably self-defense that is often suggested to sexual assault victims only after their traumatic experiences, so as to prevent revictimization, polyvictimization, etc.), the financial resources to deal with monetary losses, and their reputation based on their newfound title "victim."

Sadly - yes. Absolutely. There is that cruel "blame the victim" mentality. Victims are very seldom heroes; they are usually thought of as "weak."

Notwithstanding your excellent points, both groups can experience post-traumatic symptoms and behavioral problems. Additionally, there are many veterans who have been sexually or physically assaulted, despite their "defense training," so the mere suggestion of self-defense courses for victims of sexual or physical assault negates those who have already been trained but were overpowered, or those who are physically disabled and therefore cannot fight for themselves. Again, it's easy to place responsibility on the victim and victim-blame than it is to blame the offender(s) who started this trauma to begin with. It's also easy to target victims to change the "formula for victimization, making it less of an option for predatory offenders" in terms of prevention than it is to target offenders to change their "formulas for offending." Both parties can suffer from the same symptoms, and therefore both parties need help to manage or relieve their symptoms, even though one party has more support than the other.

Very true!

It's the support for the victims that I'm advocating for!

I never held a professional title, but I was trained in police and the military, and that did not stop me from becoming mentally disabled, overpowered by stronger others, or losing my own reputation and therefore social capital. It didn't stop me (and many veterans) from becoming homeless at one point in our lives due to a lack of social support and/or understanding that would have protected us from homelessness. There are many police officers (my half-sister's fiance for one, who was an African American, full-time police officer) who were so affected by the continuous traumatic stress that they either quit or got fired from their jobs as law enforcement professionals - some of whom are actually incarcerated themselves for criminal behavioral problems that led to poor conduct on the job (e.g., police brutality, police harassment, an officer-involved-shooting gone wrong, etc.). Despite criminal behaviors, some offenders were once victims (also termed "victim-offenders," based on the theory of the victim-offender overlap), and victimization is a form of trauma; their unresolved traumas coupled with other factors (not trauma alone, and not a serious mental illness alone, but other factors such as learning deviancy, being involved in too many moral injuries) led to more externalizing, behavioral problems than other victims who did not act out criminally. There's a lot o research on all of this, and it doesn't mean that one party should be treated better than the other party, even though systemic problems show that some parties are treated better than other parties, especially in terms of access to mental health care, social stigma preventing mental health treatment as well as the protective factors of social support.

That said, I do feel more support is needed for victims because they often lack so many resources that make their recovery from a traumatic situation harder, such as what you had described in your own life.

I'm so sorry.

Again - thank you.

My husband is a military veteran (Vietnam) and, despite all training, etc., suffers with PTSD. So yes, without a doubt PTSD can effect all, under any circumstances. When all is said and done it's the support following the event that makes all the difference.