EXPLANATIONS ABOUT CRIME AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN ETHNIC-MINORITY AND WHITE VICTIMS OF CRIME - A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION

This study reports the findings of a qualitative analysis of ethnic mi nority crime victims' causal explanations of crime. The analysis indic ated that usage of ascriptions involving 'race' or 'racism' appeared t o be associated with relatively poor psychological adjustment. Usage o f racial explanations did not, however, appear to be related to the ty pe of incident, the seriousness of the incident, or satisfaction with the police response. It is suggested that crime explanations embodying immutable aspects of the self, such as ethnicity, might prevent adjus tment, whereas those incorporating mutable features of the self or cir cumstances might act as effective coping strategies by allowing victim s to perceive the incident as random or temporary and therefore unlike ly to recur. This interpretation was supported by an analysis of the t ypes of explanation utilized by distressed and non-distressed White vi ctims in a matched control group. These findings are discussed in rela tion to models of attributional activity, coping and psychological sta tus. Finally, their practical applications are considered. (C) 1997 Jo hn Wiley & Sons, Ltd.