National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center Victims of violent crime, natural disasters, or severe accidents often suffer from a variety of medical and mental health problems. They often feel like their lives are without hope and that there is nowhere to turn. The National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center (NCVRTC) can help. For more than 20 years, the center has served victims of rape; physical assault; child and elder abuse, neglect and exploitation; and family members of homicide victims. Services include office-based individual counseling, homicide survivor support groups and community-based child and elder abuse services. Victims experiencing some of these symptoms may benefit from treatment: • Avoiding people, places or things that remind you of the event
• Avoiding talking about what happened
• Recurrent nightmares or thoughts about the event
• Panic attacks
• Social withdrawal
• Feeling jumpy or on edge
• Feeling very sad a lot of the time
• Feeling numb
• Feeling unable to enjoy what used to be fun Research
The center is involved in research to develop and refine the best assessment and treatment strategies for victims of crime and other forms of trauma. The NCVRTC has been involved in groundbreaking research on rape and its effects, and are currently evaluating innovative treatments for victims of sexual assault, elder abuse and assault, and child abuse. Public Information and Policy Consultation
Faculty members are frequently asked to consult on state and federal legislation concerning crime victims. They are also asked to consult with new program coordinators and policy makers to develop innovative and effective services for victims. National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center
Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and located within the NCVRTC, this center is a collaborative effort involving MUSC, the University of Missouri at St. Louis, and Wellesley Centers for Women. The National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center is dedicated to the prevention of violence against women by advancing knowledge about prevention research and fostering collaboration among advocates, practitioners, policy makers, and researchers.
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