Assessing experiences and responses of crime victims

This paper reviews strategies and methods for assessing crime victims with an emphasis on assessments for clinical purposes. In terms of outcomes, this paper primarily focuses on assessing posttraumatic symptoms of PTSD, dissociation, and traumatic grief as these are all quite disabling and may be mediators of other responses. Additional topics reviewed include reasons to assess experiences and responses of crime victims, issues to bear in mind when conducting assessments for different purposes, considerations for use of various sources of information about a client, characteristics of measures and of clients to take into account when selecting measures, recommended domains of experiences and symptoms to assess, and suggestions about the process of administering measures and conducting therapeutic assessments.