Vignette Analysis: Design Interventions

Page 1 of 1 Psychology of the Victim

© 2013 Argosy University

Vignette—Laurel

When Laurel was a freshman in college, she was one day walking back from her part-time job in town to the

dorm where she lived. It was dusk when she reached the outskirts of a quiet neighborhood and started to

cut across a large field that lay between town and campus. Suddenly, a man in a stocking mask jumped

from a hedge that bordered the field. He grabbed her arm, pushed her down, and shoved the barrel of a

gun into her mouth as he raped her. She thought she was going to die. But just as quickly as he had

appeared, he disappeared. His only words were, “If you tell anybody about this, I’ll really get you.”

Somehow, Laurel made it back to the dorm, and her roommate drove her immediately to a hospital

emergency room. After she was examined and treated, she spoke briefly to a psychiatrist who suggested

she talk to someone at the college counseling center. She was also questioned by police, who investigated

the incident but were never able to develop a lead.

The next day, Laurel felt strange, as if the experience had been a bad dream. She found herself jumping

out of her skin at the slightest noise. Over the next few weeks, she had trouble falling asleep and woke from

nightmares she could not clearly remember. But she did not go to the counseling center; she did not want to

talk about the rape. It was as if talking about it might make it more real. She also felt vaguely guilty—she

should not have taken the shortcut home.

Over the next few weeks, Laurel’s life changed. Prior to the rape, she had started a relationship with a

fellow student. Afterwards, she abruptly stopped seeing him or socializing much with anybody. She had

difficulty concentrating on her schoolwork. Her grades, which had been consistently high before the rape,

fell sharply. At the end of the semester, she dropped out of college where she had been doing

preprofessional coursework. Only after working two years in a dead-end job did she finally decide to try

again and enroll in a business course that trained her to do secretarial work.

Five years later, following the breakup of a serious relationship, Laurel sought therapy for “depression.” She

also complained of dissatisfaction with her job. She was beginning to see her problems with men as a result

of her own ambivalence. Every time she got close to someone, she said, she began to panic and did

something to force distance. Laurel considered her childhood normal and reasonably happy. Her parents

seemed to have a good marriage, as did her siblings. She had concluded that something must be wrong

with her.