Thirty‐two victims of rape and 23 victims of attempted rape took the California Psychological Inventory, the Cornell Medical Index, and filled out an interview form describing their feelings during the assault. All participants were volunteers and were tested anywhere from days to years after the assault had occurred. A number of significant differences between the scores of the two groups emerged. These are discussed in terms of possible personality differences between rape victims and rape resisters, and in terms of cultural forces shaping the reaction patterns of women.
Psychological autopsy is an investigative technique employed by social scientists to help determine mode of death in equivocal cases. Data derived from interviews with survivors and inspection of public records are employed to arrive at conclusions about the death motivation of the deceased person just prior to his demise. In applying this technique to the study of the death of a famous person, problems emerged that uniquely illustrated its strengths and weaknesses. The equivocal death of a returned POW who spent 5 years in a North Vietnamese prison camp provided the subject for the psychological autopsy described herein. We believe that the results of the psychological autopsy influenced U.S. government policy about returned POWs.
The development of the suicide prevention movement since the 1897 publication of Emile Dukheim's book Suicide is briefly traced. Durkheim's theory of suicide is outlined, and implications for contemporary suicide prevention efforts are identified and discussed. Future trends in the development of suicide prevention centers and in the national organization of suicidology are outlined.
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