Lisa James
Since the middle of the 1990s, victims of crimes have been given progressively more procedural rights to take part in the legal system. The (anti)therapeutic impact of participation is less well understood, though. We looked at the relationships between the likelihood of taking part in a criminal trial and symptom levels of depression, PTSD, and Persistent Complicated Bereavement Disorder (PCBD). We also looked into the mediating role that state anger played in these associations. Three weeks before the start of the criminal trial, respondents who lost loved ones in the flight MH17 accident (N =203) filled out questionnaires. People who did not intend to actively engage in the trial by submitting a written or oral victim statement were less likely to become angry, which is linked to lower levels of psychopathology, according to mediation studies. The impact of the desire to exercise the right to speak on PCBD levels is 68% explained by state fury. The crosssectional study design, which prevents inferences regarding temporal correlations, is a significant disadvantage. To better prepare and assist grieving people who wish to utilize their victim rights during a criminal trial, further research is required.
