Contrastación de la primera hipótesis HIPOTESIS

Informal sources of support include family, friends, a partner, neighbours and work colleagues.

Services:

• mental health services for example community mental health teams and inpatient psychiatric teams,

• health services for example GPs and emergency services,

• social care services for example social services and children’s services,

• housing services for example local council housing departments and housing associations,

• non-criminal legal professionals for example solicitors,

• probation services, • local councillors or MPs,

• voluntary and community sector services for example Mind, Victim Support, and Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

me and they changed the locks free of charge in the end because it was a crime.

[Int2, female, theft from person and sexual violence] I got to the point where I was just going on and on and obviously not making much sense, but my neighbour had been here [local mental health charity centre] in the past herself and that, And she [neighbour] felt it might help me, and it has done.

[Int28, female, antisocial behaviour and assault]

Having a current or prior relationship with services

The respondents described how having good existing relationships meant they were more able to gain help. The majority of our participants had existing relationships with services and a third talked about how this link provided them with opportunities to seek or attain help. This re-forces the findings of the survey above which highlighted that the people who had good engagement with their mental health services, were less likely to be victims of crime, and conversely those who did not, were more at risk of being victimised.

Routine appointments provided opportunities to disclose what had happened, and in some cases

professionals picked up on visible injuries or behavioural clues that something was wrong.

I think it, I was under the medication review which we have every six months. And [GP] said "are there any problems?" […] and then I told him what had happened. [Int53, female, threats and harassment]

I mean soon as I walked into the door, "My God, what’s happened to you?" you know, because I looked a mess for a while. Nasty cuts and bruises.

[Int10, male, assault and theft from person]

My care coordinator asked me what happened […] she was aware that he kept sending me texts and phone calls and I said it felt I was being harassed every time I’m ill and my care coordinator said "something is not right there and if you didn’t consent, you can, if you want to, talk to the police".

[Int29, female, burglary, rape, assault]

People sought help from known services they trusted where they had received good support, where they had a positive relationship with a professional, or felt the service understood them.

Because I trusted their judgement. I trusted their support. […] They’ve been there, they’ve listened to problems that I’ve had. They’ve provided support.

3 | Findings from the qualitative research | page 45

Before that I had met I think someone from [DV support organisation] and so I already had seen her so I called her and told her everything and I was just crying.

[Int22, female, theft from person]

Participants described instances where the

encouragement, signposting or referral by a professional in response to their disclosure helped them to attain help, or in some cases, to report to the police.

[housing officer] helped me a lot. […] he wrote to my doctor [to ask him to visit] and he made sure that I got some kind of help from, the sustenance officer [Int58, assault and antisocial behaviour]

He [care coordinator] put me in touch with [mental health charity]. [They] came to visit me at home and brought the person – I call her my escort, [laughs] and she suffered from schizophrenia for 20 years and had been in and out of hospital for a great deal of her life. And we talked about it.

[Int54, male, assault]

Somewhat ironically, some participants framed their help seeking behaviour as arising from having received unsatisfactory responses previously, and seeking an alternative source of support as a consequence. In some cases this related to the response received from the police, but housing associations and mental health services were also mentioned.

Well, they [housing association] should, take the problem seriously. And they’re not doing that. That’s why in the end I had to go to my MP. […] He’s written to the housing association.

[Int43, female, antisocial behaviour and assault]

I think one of the reasons I went to Victim Support, was I didn’t think that there was a sufficient follow-up by the mental health people.

[Int56, male, breaking and entering and threats of violence]

In all of these cases the participant had identified a need for help and had remained motivated to find a source of help despite set backs, showing a level of resilience and determination.

Impact of the crime as a trigger to seeking help The impact of the crime and the detrimental effects it had on their lives and the lives of those close to them were a trigger to people seeking help. Participants described the emotional, mental and physical health impacts.

Feeling unsafe, frightened or in danger were powerful motivators to seeking help, as well as shock, anxiety, anger, stress and feeling low.

I went to [housing association] because I was so frightened, I was just terrified.

[Int36, female, antisocial behaviour]

When I opened the door and I spotted like a little fan on the window that was broken and straight away my panic level went up and I was becoming breathless and I called up my mum’s number and I asked my mum to send one of my brothers across.

[Int41, female, burglary and family violence]

Yeah. I was really fuming, I was trying to keep myself calm at the same time and then [female friend] saw me, she passed and saw me standing there, […] she says, "Alright, mate?" I says, "Yeah, yeah, do you know this is the guy that assaulted me."

[Int47, male, assault]

The escalation of a victimisation situation was a trigger for help seeking. For example, this participant highlights how she turned to her neighbours after the worsening acts of violence by her partner:

He ended up hitting me, I ended up miscarrying. And then one night when it was happening and I managed to get help I managed to get to my neighbours. I didn’t phone the police, I was too scared to phone the police. [Int34, female, partner violence]

As described in section 3.4, the effects of the crime worsened participant’s mental health which could be a trigger to them seeking help. This included increased levels of anxiety and depression, or going into mental health crisis. Several participants described feeling suicidal and eight attempted to commit suicide, which brought them to the attention of services. Victims described seeking help when they had a physical injury themselves or with the assistance of those who were nearby.

So I went to my [previous] GP asked if I could go and see him right away because I wasn’t feeling well. And he said you can come in but, we don’t have any extra appointments. I said to him, I’ll come, I don’t mind, I can sit and wait. And I just became so desperate, extremely desperate. I had tablets that I was taking for, the

palpitations I just sat there and I popped all of them. And I just drank them down with water and I just lay down. [Int63, female, antisocial behaviour, threats and harassment and family violence]