ABSTRACT
Offenders are perhaps the most powerful influence on victim behavior. The offender, especially one with ongoing access to the victim, can control or direct the victim’s responses in a variety of ways. These include gaining the victim’s cooperation, encouraging the victim’s attachment, exploiting vulnerabilities, and fostering hope in the victim. Offenders also are capable of presenting a public persona to others, controlling the perceptions and beliefs of others in the environment about the victim, the assault, and the offenders’ capacity to commit such a crime.
