Abstract

GARCIA-CASTRO, JUAN DIEGO  and  CALVO-PORRAS, MARTÍN ALONSO. What happens to us when we are victims of crime? Psychological consequences and perception. Psicol. caribe [online]. 2019, vol.36, n.3, pp.400-418. ISSN 0123-417X.  https://doi.org/10.14482/psdc.36.3.364.1.

Results from an investigation regarding the psychological consequences of suffering criminal victimization and its subsequent perception about crime are presented. In-depth interviews were applied to six people from Costa Rica, both women and men who were victims of crimes against private property during the last year. A descriptive and qualitative design was used to create categories based on the opinions from the interviewees, which were analyzed by means of the critical analysis of discourse. Among the main results, immediate consequences such as frustration, fear, impotence and panic were underlined, and subsequent consequences such as a sensation of constant alert, a change in the notion of the possibility of becoming a victim, and hopelessness concerning solutions to the problem of criminality. The necessity to implement psychosocial strategies to reduce fear of crime and psychological discomfort caused by crime in Latin America is discussed.

Keywords : Latin America; psychological consequences; criminality; perception; victimization.

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