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Las Vegas Review Journal

THE WALKING WOUNDED

By Joan Burkhart, Review-Journal

The psychological damage done to victims of violent crime is undisputed.  But the trauma suffered by white-collar crime victims is largely ignored.

That is the hypothesis of marriage and family counselor Huffer.  She calls them the "walking wounded" and believes many are suffering from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder that is actually intensified by the brush-off that victims of white-collar crime commonly receive when they turn to bureaucratic governmental agencies for protection and redress.

After years of experience with diverse support groups, she concluded there is a common thread linking the many clients who do not seem to entirely heal even though their apparent "problem" is being addressed, whether it be alcohol abuse, low self-esteem or a difficult divorce.  What they share is a prior history of victimization in a situation that was ignored or worsened by the justice system.  Their immediate problem does not easily heal because it's a way they cope with the victimization.

Embezzlement, credit-card scams, insider securities trading, false advertising, fraud-related failure of an S&L, cronyism, slander and commissionectomy - which occurs when one sales person doe4s all the work on a sale, but a different party wins the commission through some technicality.  These are just a handful of the non-violent, or quiet crimes, that appear on a list that Huffer has compiled for a book she is writing on the subject.

Some crime victims are assaulted by violence.  The walking wounded have been assaulted by deceit.  The pain is worsened when the perpetrator is someone the victim has trusted - whether it be a family member, business associate, attorney or ex-spouse.

But the crowning blow comes when public institutions - such as the court system or insurance industry - are either indifferent to the victim's plight or seem to side with the perpetrator, who often has the foresight to prepare a slick story to defend himself.

"(Psychiatrist Elisabeth) Kubler-Ross has said death is the most profound loss.  I think the loss of trust in those entities that protect you is the most profound loss," says Huffer, who has been a licensed therapist in Nevada since 1972.  In addition to working in private practice, she has been a consultant to Juvenile Court Service and the Clark county School District.

Huffer explains the usual sequence of events for a victim of quiet crime.  "First, the crime happens - and that's 'tough luck'.  We all go through it.  The first emotions are sadness, loss, anger, hopes you can get something back.

"When affronted, people to to law enforcement or they ... get an attorney.  Then they run into huge expense.  Now, you've been ripped off.  The criminal has your money."  That makes it hard for the victim to afford the services of an investigator or lawyer.  The perpetrator, in contrast, has been "enriched and empowered" by the coup over the victim.

"You're suffering the first stages of grief," Huffer continues.  "The other guy has no emotion about this.  You're suffering.  But you're greeted with (coldness and) objectivity" not just from the adversary, but also from representatives of the institutions contacted by a victim.

An organization may decline to investigate a case because the dollar sum in dispute is not large enough.  Or a case may lack "jury appeal."  Or, the spokesman may tell the victim he or she is just one among thousands of similar complaints.

"You start getting afraid.  Hope starts to fade.  But you're still enraged and outraged."

At this point, according to Huffer,a perpetrator may intensify his defense by attacking the victim:  In court, for example, the perpetrator's attorneys may be more skilled than the victim's.  The perpetrator may actually be in collusion with his or her attorneys.

So, the crimes may begin to mount.  Perjury and forgery may be committed to strengthen the initial lies.  "Then you've got slander and other issues," says Huffer, referring to ripples in the victim's social milieu.  Parties not connected at all with the incident may spread misinformation.

All along, the victims operates under a handicap from which the perpetrator is free.  Most people are what Huffer terms "shame-based," that is, they have a sense of right vs. wrong, and a sense of personal responsibility.  It is hard for them to fathom that someone could, in cold blood, do them wrong.  Their emotionality can hamper them from being effective in the courtroom or before other authorities.

The perpetrator, in contrast, frequently has a "superior-based" mentality, namely, a smug conviction that he or she does not need to live by the rules.  Huffer says, "It's the Ivan Boeskys, the Charles Keatings I'm talking about."

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