Families of violent assault victims are twice as likely to experience anxiety

Every year about a million people in England and Wales are victims violent crimes.

In addition to the harm caused by the attack itself, they may also experience mental and physical health effects that last much longer. They often need support from health and victim services and may have contact with the police or criminal justice system.

The effects of violence can also extend to entire families. Our new research shows that many people in England have close connections with victims of serious assault and that these people are twice as likely as the rest of the population to experience fear, anxiety and depression.

We worked with data from the UK government’s main source of official mental health statistics: the National Survey more than 7000 adults. The questionnaire asked whether people were closely related to someone who had been seriously assaulted, as well as questions about their lives and assessments of their mental health.

The analysis found that around one in 20 adults was closely related (as a parent, child or sibling) to a serious assault victim in England.

These people were more likely than the rest of the population to be younger, live in social housing and come from the most deprived areas. They were more likely to experience other types of adversity in their lives, such as financial stress and homelessness.

Family members also had worse mental health than people not related to the victim. They were more likely to feel fearful in their neighborhood, have depression or an anxiety disorder, screen positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and report self-harm, suicidal thoughts, or a suicide attempt.

People associated with an assault victim were also more likely to be victims of violence themselves. Our analysis found that their own experiences of violence and adversity were responsible for higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, self-harm and suicidality among family members. Even so, family members remained more anxious and more than twice as likely to fear their neighbors as the rest of the population.

Assault victims and their families often share the same risks of violence, such as living in an area with high crime rates. Violence often occurs within households, and it is possible that the victim and her family were attacked by the same person or that one of them harmed the other.

Source of support

Family members of victims of serious violence experience the consequences of violence differently. They may physically intervene in an attack to protect the victim, or witness the attack. They may see the grief the attack is causing their loved one or feel guilty for failing to protect them.

It is also likely that families will take on new caregiving and support roles, taking on additional household responsibilities or having to work more hours due to loss of income.

Along with a network of friends, colleagues and neighbors, relatives important sources of helpemotional support and even propaganda for victims and survivors of violence.

However, few people recognize the burden these roles and experiences place on families. The government also does not provide enough resources to support families in these roles, including the negative impact of care on children. mental and physical health they can experience.

The price of violence

The UK Home Office puts economic and social costs of crime in England and Wales – about 50 billion pounds per year. This includes the costs of crime prevention efforts and the criminal justice system, as well as the costs associated with harm and injury to direct victims.

Violent crimes account for three-quarters of this estimate, despite the fact that they account for only a third of total crimes. However, the estimate does not take into account the costs associated with suffering and harm to victims’ families, such as those associated with their support needs.

Government recognition of the impact of violence on victims’ families when setting budgets will go some way to ensuring that sufficient resources are allocated to support victims and their families.

The impact of violent crime on families must be considered in the context of already reduced funding and resources for service providers. Between 2020 and 2021 more than a quarter Domestic violence and abuse organizations in England and Wales have been forced to stop providing services due to a lack of funding.

New Victims and Prisoners Act of 2024 takes important steps in this direction by recognizing people who “saw, heard, or otherwise directly experienced” the consequences of a crime. However, it is important to remember that families suffer in different ways, even after the crime itself. Governments must ensure that family support services have adequate resources to cope with the harm they are exposed to and provide them with the vital support they provide.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.