I'm going to periodically post interesting research findings here for discussion or general interest. The first is:

McMullin, D., & White, J.W. (2006). "Long-term effects of labeling a rape experience." Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 96-105.

About 25% of women are victims of rape or attempted rape. But most studies rely only on self-identified victims, women who have been raped and label their experiences as such. Many counselors have assumed that labeling an experience as rape is a necessary step in recovery (a proposition I agree with, incidentally). But research findings on this issue are mixed. This study looked at the mental health indicators of women who labeled their experiences as rape (labelers) and those who had had experiences that met the legal definition of rape but did not label it such, or even denied rape (non-labelers).

Non-labelers were more likely to have a closer relationship with the perpetrator, and the researchers wonder if this might influence the tendency to label an experience as rape. However, the greater the physical force that was used in the assault AND/OR the greater resistance by the victim, the more likely the victim was to label it as rape. Apparently, the more an experience conforms to traditional stereotypes of rape (the "rape script"), the more likely it will be labeled as such. Also, women who had prior experiences with trauma were more likely to label rape experiences.

The findings about mental health were unusual. Labelers were more likely to exhibit symptoms of PTSD than non-labelers, which the researchers found to be contrary to the conventional beliefs of therapists that labeling rape is a part of recovery. However, non-labelers had significantly higher rates of binge-drinking and other self-harming behaviors.

My take on it: the researchers have not accounted for the REASONS why someone would label a rape or not. Rape victims cannot be divided into those two camps, labelers and non-labelers, and then contrasted with one another. For example, I see two reasons why someone would label an experience as rape, and the researchers do not consider these. First, some people label an experience as rape in a way that represents self-rejection or even self-loathing. They may label themselves as a victim of rape not for the purposes of healing and recovery, but for the opposite: to curse themselves, to verify their worthlessness to others, to identify the source of their distress (and thus the higher rates of PTSD).

But there is a second, very significant, reasons someone would be a "labelers" as well: to symbolize victory and healing. After all, the word "survivor," when used with pride, is at the same time an acknowledgment of rape, and thus a survivor is a "labeler." A woman who has no denial of the truth of her experience would be likely to label her experiences as rape, and that form of labeling signifies empowerment and fearlessness in the course of recovery.

If the researchers do not control for both of those reasons to label, which are VERY different, they would get unusual results: "why is labeling an important step in healing, yet many of our labelers had higher rates of PTSD?"

An interesting follow-up would have been to compare the reasons why a woman labels her rape experience, and contrast the mental health effects of perceiving rape as a "scarlet letter" versus perceiving it as an experience over which she has resumed power as a survivor.