Evolving Narratives About Childhood Sexual Abuse: Challenging the Dominance of the Victim and Survivor Paradigm

This research project explored the ongoing process of constructing a narrative, following childhood sexual abuse. Twenty‐two men and women aged 25–70 were interviewed about their childhood sexual experiences with adults using narrative inquiry methodology. These experiences occurred in different social and historical contexts, when the theoretical understandings and treatment of the issue of child sexual abuse were significantly different from the present. Many factors made disclosure even more difficult then than it is now including: respect for authority; rigid gender roles; the taboo surrounding sexual issues; lack of supportive adults; and lack of language to describe what was happening. Participants told four differing narratives about their experiences: narratives of silence; narratives of ongoing suffering; narratives of transformation; and narratives of transcendence. These narratives were examined in relation to the changing social and historical context and the current dominance of the victim and survivor paradigm in the child sexual abuse literature.     

Unsexed and Ungendered Bodies The Violated Self

I propose that rape/incest potentiates a dual rendering of its history. There is a narrative cast in gendered and sexual states and enactments. And there is a thing narrative told by an unsexed and ungendered self (or “thing-self”). This splitting of trauma narratives ensues because the perpetrator is engaged simply not in humanized malignance, but also in an it-it encounter devoid of all desire. In the wake of sexual violation, there are traumatized sexed and gendered human selves. And there are traumatized unsexed, ungendered thing selves. The former seek an audience with a human recipient. But the latter are in search of a form of disembodied witnessing located in the thing dimension of the analyst's consciousness. My speculation about the thing-self originated with a female patient who had endured childhood incest. I begin with an extensive clinical presentation of that treatment, with an emphasis on a persecuted disembodied thing-self. That self was revealed through a peculiar form of analytic theater and an attendant hallucinatory process in the countertransference.     

Development and Validation of HIV-Related Dyadic Measures for Men Who Have Sex with Men

The aim of this study is to investigate how child sexual abuse is terminated. This study attempts to gain insight into how people exposed to incest narrate the termination of the incest relationship. Seven women and one man were recruited from the Incest Support Centre and from snowballing for a 1–2-hour-long in-depth interview using a narrative approach. The subjects' narratives varied according to how they perceived their own role in the termination process, their relationship with the offender, and how well they remembered the stage of termination. A common feature of the narratives was that the feeling of being a victim lasted after the abuse stopped. In this respect, the lack of support from family, friends, and healthcare personnel and the psychological power exercised by the offender were important issues in the narratives. It is suggested that the termination process is affected by the victims' ability to regulate influence and mentalization. Furthermore, a transfer of cultural meanings from the social environment to the individual must have taken place. Future research should focus on the significance of the termination process in terms of psychological functioning and the construction of self and identity.     

Narrative Manhood Acts: Batterer Intervention Program Graduates' Tragic Relationships

We analyze how twenty graduates of a Batterer Intervention Program constructed autobiographical stories about their relationships with women they assaulted. We focus on the presentation of gendered selves via narrative manhood acts, which we define as self‐narratives that signify membership in the category “man” and the possession of a masculine self. We also show how graduates constructed self‐narratives as a genre that was oppositional to organizational narratives: rather than adopting the program's domestic violence melodrama or preferred conversion narrative, graduates used the larger culture—especially “bitch” imagery and sometimes racialized discourse—to construct tragedies. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of narrative analysis for research on batterers' accounts and manhood acts, and also shows how oppositional genre‐making can be a method to resist organizational narratives.     

Will it never end? The narratives of incest victims on the termination of sexual abuse

The aim of this study is to investigate how child sexual abuse is terminated. This study attempts to gain insight into how people exposed to incest narrate the termination of the incest relationship. Seven women and one man were recruited from the Incest Support Centre and from snowballing for a 1-2-hour-long in-depth interview using a narrative approach. The subjects' narratives varied according to how they perceived their own role in the termination process, their relationship with the offender, and how well they remembered the stage of termination. A common feature of the narratives was that the feeling of being a victim lasted after the abuse stopped. In this respect, the lack of support from family, friends, and healthcare personnel and the psychological power exercised by the offender were important issues in the narratives. It is suggested that the termination process is affected by the victims' ability to regulate influence and mentalization. Furthermore, a transfer of cultural meanings from the social environment to the individual must have taken place. Future research should focus on the significance of the termination process in terms of psychological functioning and the construction of self and identity.     

An individual treatment programme for sexually abused adult males: description and preliminary findings

Growing recognition of male sexual abuse and its potentially debilitating effects has underscored the need to develop effective treatment interventions for this population. The present study describes an individual treatment programme that was developed for adult males who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. The treatment programme focused on three areas related to sexual abuse, specifically feelings of self‐blame, anger and anxiety. The study also presents preliminary findings on treatment effects, using self‐report measures that five participants completed prior to treatment and at various assessments following treatment termination. Overall findings indicated improvements in behavioural self‐blame, anger, state anxiety and trait anxiety. Treatment did not appear to have an effect on characterological self‐blame over the long term. The study's findings are limited by the reliance on self‐report data and the absence of a comparison group. As such, our findings should be viewed as an initial contribution to the currently limited empirical data on treatment effects for sexually abused adult males. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Treating Juveniles in a Sex Offender Program Using Adventure-Based Programming: A Matched Group Design

ABSTRACT

This case describes bodily experiences that appeared to cue child sexual abuse memories during psychotherapy by a woman who was amnesic for her childhood and suffered from chronic dissociative states. Though corroboration was unavailable, she became increasingly confident about her returning memories. Special efforts were made to avoid making suggestions. The article proposes the theory that integrates the construct of the self with the relationship between bodily experiences and memory narratives. It suggests that: (1) amnesia and recovering memories involve normal and abnormal memory mechanisms; (2) remembering during psychotherapy is complex; (3) psychotherapy need not be suggestive; (4) inaccessible memories may act as constraints on suggestibility; and (5) narrative recall may depend on the connection of bodily experiences with self-reflection.     

“I Felt Like I Was Being Abused All Over Again”: How Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Make Sense of the Perinatal Period Through Their Narratives

ABSTRACT

Sequelae following child sexual abuse pervade the lives of adult survivors, significantly impacting on pregnancy and childbirth. Symptoms of this distress are recognized, but meanings for women are less understood. This research aimed to examine the meaning for women themselves of the impact of child sexual abuse on experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. Taking a critical feminist perspective, three open-ended interviews with three survivors enabled women’s narratives of pregnancy and childbirth to be heard, explored the structure of these narratives, including how experiences were connected, and identified key themes and how selves and others were positioned. Women themselves contributed to the analysis of their own narratives. The different struggles of each woman occurred within three domains of experience: identity, embodiment, and parenting. They were underpinned by a fluctuation between empowerment and disempowerment. These findings, although based on detailed analysis of the experiences of only three women, dovetail with, integrate, and extend the existent literature, offering a framework for understanding the complexity of meaning making for women. Further research might develop this. The framework may facilitate clinicians’ understandings of what it is like for some women having children who have experienced child sexual abuse.     

Cleveland 20 years on: themes of disruption and repair in the trauma narratives of children,adults and society

This is the second of two linked papers which explores coherent and incoherent narratives emerging from Cleveland. It draws a parallel between the disrupted narratives of child and adult survivors of child sexual abuse and professional and societal narratives of Cleveland. The paper looks at the therapeutic task of individual repair using attachment‐based therapy, illustrated by clinical examples. It identifies five key challenges relevant to repair in the interpersonal, intra‐personal and societal domains. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Remembering and forgetting childhood sexual abuse

Twelve white middle-class women who had been severely sexually abused as children by a family member were asked to provide a narrative of their abuse and discuss their subsequent remembering and forgetting of these experiences. Most claimed they had undergone periods during which they had not recalled their abuse, but also claimed that they had never forgotten their experiences at another point during the interview. Nine of the women had actively tried to forget the abusive experiences, although 8 still experienced recurrent and often relentless intrusive memories. Our findings suggest that women with continuous memories may have longer and more coherent narratives than women without continuous memories. Implications of these findings for understanding the phenomenology of memory experiences and the concept of "recovered" memories of childhood sexual abuse are discussed.     

“I Was Always This Way…”: Rhetorics of Continuity in Narratives of Conversion

This article is concerned with identifying, comparing, and accounting for the principal rhetorical conventions within Pagan practitioners’ narratives of conversion. Applying key insights from studies on narrative identity and drawing on 15 months of fieldwork and 25 in‐depth interviews with Pagan practitioners, I first outline formal similarities in the content of participants’ narratives, arguing that these narrative conventions together constitute an ideal typical conversion narrative: what I call the rhetoric of continuity. This narrative form depicts the process of conversion as a rediscovery or uncovering of a temporally continuous and essentialized Pagan self. I suggest that while all conversions involve both change and continuity, adherents of different faith traditions vary in the degree to which they stress self‐transformation and/or self‐continuity. I then argue that the rhetoric of continuity reflects and reinforces practitioners’: (1) perspective on the locus and nature of the authentic self; (2) claims to legitimacy and social acceptance; and (3) understanding of the nature of religious truth.     

Prevalence of Sexual Trauma History Using Behaviorally Specific Methods of Assessment in First Year College Students

There are several challenges associated with evaluating the prevalence of sexual trauma, including child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault. The aim of this study was to assess sexual trauma prevalence rates among first year college students (N = 954) using behaviorally specific questions and a more representative recruitment sample that did not rely on self-selection. Participants completed a list of sexual trauma questions, including general questions containing labels such as “rape” or “abuse” as well as behaviorally specific questions that describe specific behaviors that qualify as sexual trauma without labels. Results indicated that 6.7% of the sample reported at least one incident of child sexual abuse, with similar rates for men and women. Women were more likely to report a history of adult sexual assault, which was reported by 12.4% of the total sample. Participants were also more likely to endorse a history of sexual trauma when answering behaviorally specific rather than general “label” questions. Women survivors in particular were more likely than men to identify their experiences as abuse/assault (66.7% versus 21.1% for child sexual abuse), which may help explain prevalence differences between men and women in prior research. Men may be less likely than women to label their experiences as abuse and may be underidentified in sexual trauma research without the use of behaviorally specific questions. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the prevalence of sexual trauma is better assessed using behaviorally specific questions and that this is an important topic of study among both men and women.     

High Betrayal Adolescent Sexual Abuse and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: The Role of Depersonalization in Emerging Adults

ABSTRACT

Adolescent sexual abuse can interfere with healthy development. Sexual abuse that is perpetrated by close other(s)—high betrayal—can be additionally harmful, with sexual abuse being linked with dissociation and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Depersonalization, a dissociative subtype characterized by disconnection between oneself and one’s body and/or thoughts, may further explain the role of dissociation in NSSI. The purpose of the current study was to: 1) isolate the impact of adolescent sexual abuse on NSSI; and 2) examine depersonalization as a pathway between high betrayal adolescent sexual abuse and NSSI. Participants (N = 192) were college students who completed online measures assessing sexual abuse, dissociation, and NSSI. While controlling for child sexual abuse and adult sexual abuse, adolescent sexual abuse predicted NSSI. Moreover, there was an indirect effect of high betrayal adolescent sexual abuse on NSSI through depersonalization, while controlling for child sexual abuse, adult sexual abuse, and medium betrayal (perpetrator: unclose other) adolescent sexual abuse. Findings from the current study have implications for relational cultural therapy as an evidence-informed treatment that highlights the relational harm of interpersonal trauma, while incorporating contextual elements, such as development of maladaptive coping strategies, into therapy.     

Narratives of aging in intimate partner violence: The double lens of violence and old age

PurposeWith the increase in life expectancy, couples living in intimate partner violence are aging together. The aim of this article is to explore the constructions of aging in intimate partner violence as narratives of couplehood or narratives of old age.Design and methodsThirty individual in-depth interviews with 15 older Israeli couples were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a narrative approach.ResultsThree main domains emerged from the data: health issue narratives, loneliness narratives and relationships with adult offspring narratives. Each of the narratives that emerged from the data analysis consists of a narrative of old age constructing IPV and a narrative of IPV constructing old age.ImplicationsConflictual couplehood dynamics, such as intimate partner violence in old age, is not one-dimensional, but is diverse and complex and this should be taken into consideration.     

The Characteristics of Child Sexual Abuse in the School Environment in Turkey

School may represent a protective factor, boosting the mental health of the student body, while also representing a risk factor that heightens the potential for mental health problems. The present study aims to identify the individual and familial characteristics associated with the incidents of child sexual abuse (CSA) in Turkey’s school environment. The incidents involving school-related CSA constituted 5.6% (N = 125) of 2,238 cases. The following was discovered: an adult committed the majority (64%) of CSA in the school environment; most adult perpetrators were teachers (62.5%). This study determined that the perpetrators manipulated the victims via methods that included physical abuse (11.2%), threats (19.2%), tricks/deception (15.2%), and taking photographs/videos with sexual content (3.2%); and CSA incidents involved intercourse (15.2%); and almost three-quarter of the victims of CSA in the school environment reported the incident late. This study indicates that peer perpetrators abuse younger victims and a greater proportion of male victims relative to adult perpetrators. In light of these findings, school security must be improved, especially in public schools, and trainings aimed at preventing bullying and sexual abuse (SA) should be given to all school staff, students, and parents.     

The Fears and Futures of Boy Victims of Sexual Abuse: An Analysis of Narratives

ABSTRACT

Qualitative analysis of boys’ narratives about child sexual abuse revealed several themes, including memories of the abuse, the disclosure and subsequent events, the healing journey, and a meta-theme titled “fear and safety.” In this article, boys’ (N = 19) experiences related to fear and safety and the healing journey are explored. The narratives provided a unique look at boys’ road to recovery, perceptions of counseling, and hopes for their futures. Recommendations for counseling boy victims are discussed.     

Psychologists' Attitudes Toward Adult Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT

Psychologists' attitudes toward adult male sexual abuse survivors were explored. Psychologists (n = 154) read vignettes describing the sexual abuse of a male victim, then completed the Male Role Norm Scale, the Jackson Incest Blame Scale, a vignette response sheet, and a personal data sheet. Stepwise regression was used to analyze the data. Variables included characteristics of the psychologists, the perpetrator, and the victim. The psychologists' attitudes toward men, rather than the sex of the psychologists, predicted blaming attitudes. Victim responses, sexual abuse treatment experience, and the severity of abuse were also predictors. Practical suggestions for treatment are noted.     

Role of narratives in promoting mental illnesses acceptance

This study examines the role of narrative persuasion in promoting acceptance of mental illnesses. Specifically, we investigate the relative persuasiveness of narrative versus non-narrative messages, as well as the relative effectiveness of first-person versus third-person narratives. Findings of a between-subjects experiment (N = 562) suggested that narratives were more effective than non-narratives in promoting favorable attitudes toward people with mental illnesses. Although narratives led to greater transportation among the participants, reduced counterarguing seemed to be the underlying mechanism for enhanced persuasiveness of narratives. Moreover, the results were indicative of a possible interaction between narrative perspective and participants’ gender. Implications of the findings for health campaigns are discussed.