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

Journal of Sex Research,  April-June, 2008  by Erlend Lorentzen,  Havard Nilsen,  Bente Traeen

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How does child sexual abuse (CSA) come to an end? This research question originated in the experience of working with adult female CSA victims in clinical practice. Several CSA victims said the abuse came to an end when they started saying "no" to their perpetrator. But was it really that simple? Can a single word put an end to severe sexual abuse, and, if so, under which circumstances may this hold true? Research regarding this phenomenon seems more or less absent in the scientific literature. For this reason a qualitative study of CSA victims was undertaken.

This qualitative study can contribute to our knowledge of how CSA victims structure their reality, how reality is shaped and maintained by the victims. Our studies aim at identifying which factors CSA victims attribute to the termination of the abuse. The purpose of the in-depth interviews is thus to contribute to the body of knowledge on how CSA victims perceive, describe, experience, and interpret their experiences. The informants in this study do not constitute a representative sample. The purpose of the study is, however, to contribute to the knowledge of how CSA victims perceive and create their realities, and not to estimate means. At the same time there is always the question of another type of representativity, namely, generalizability, which is different from statistical representativity. A qualitative study makes it possible to discuss how social realities are formed and maintained in people. By interviewing them we are able to elucidate how people reflect upon and understand the experiences they make. The purpose of the interview study is to present the ways different CSA victims understand themselves, interpret what happens to them, and create meanings. The research questions in this article are the following: From the perspective of the subjects' narratives, how is abuse terminated? What causes the termination of abuse, and how do the subjects perceive their own role in the termination process? Does the feeling of being in a situation of abuse terminate when the sexual abuse ends?

Finkelhor (1994) defines CSA as follows: (1) sexual activity where a child is present, and (2) an abusive situation. Incest refers to sexual contact between close family members in a down-pointing or horizontal line, or between an adult in a parent relation and a child (Norman, 1993, p. 16).

Finkelhor and Browne (1985) have developed a conceptual framework for understanding the phenomenon of sexual abuse and the consequences it may have for the abused individual. This theory is called the traumatogenic/ dynamic model of sexual abuse and consists of four dimensions: traumatic sexualization, betrayal, powerlessness, and stigmatization. The model suggests that trauma is created through changes in the child's cognitive and emotional system. This leads to a disturbance in the child's self-concept/identity, worldview, and affective capacities. Several negative consequences are associated with childhood sexual abuse, and researchers seem to agree that exposure to sexual abuse increases the risk of psychopathology at some point later in life (Nurcombe, 2000).

Antonovsky (1993) underlines that a well-functioning human being is recognized by an ability to create meaning and coherence in life, even when exposed to trauma and stress. Studies show that victims of CSA who developed adaptation problems also developed different meaning constructions compared with normally functioning individuals (e.g., Leahy, Tenenbaum, & Preety, 2003). If the victim attributes the sexual abuse only to their own personal traits or characteristics, this can lead to poorer mental functioning (Feiring, Taska, & Lewis, 2002). Qualitative studies that seek the victims' narratives, or life stories, may therefore be important in the attempt to acquire greater understanding of the causes and consequences of childhood sexual abuse.

James, Liem, and O'Toole (1997) investigated the causes of resilience in a group of participants. Women who considered themselves powerful in regards to their career and personal relationships also perceived themselves as the mentally healthiest. Leahy et al. (2003) claim that the main problem arising after CSA stems from a change in the locus of control: Instead of blaming the adult for what has happened, the child blames himself or herself. The bonding that develops between the victim and the offender has a traumatic quality and can lead to poorer mental functioning later in life. The narratives of the nonclinical group in this study contained a wider set of meaning constructions in regard to the abuse. Perrott, Morris, Martin, and Romans (1998) found that female incest victims who managed to reformulate the abuse experience displayed fewer psychological symptoms than those who did not do this. In a similar study, Himelein and McElrath (1996) found that coping strategies were associated with resilience: Disclosing and talking about the abuse, minimizing the abuse, reformulating the incidents, and disengaging from speculations regarding the abuse.