“I Was Like Damaged, Used Goods”: Thematic Analysis of Disclosures of Childhood Sexual Abuse to Romantic Partners

Individuals who experience female-perpetrated sexual assault (FPSA) are underrepresented in the sexual victimization literature. Much of the existing research on FPSA centers on child welfare-involved families and convicted or incarcerated female sexual offenders, with limited research devoted to victims of FPSA. The current study included a diverse sample of 138 community adults who experienced one or more incident of FPSA, and sought to (a) describe individuals who experienced FPSA, including their overall trauma exposure, (b) describe perpetrator age and relationship to the respondent, (c) explore whether respondents labeled FPSA as sexual assault and disclosed it to others, and (d) examine the prevalence of depressive and posttraumatic symptoms in this population. Of the respondents, 61.6% experienced childhood FPSA, 18.8% experienced adulthood FPSA, and 19.6% experienced both childhood and adulthood FPSA. Survivors of FPSA were highly trauma exposed; 71.7% reported a male-perpetrated victimization, over 90% reported any childhood sexual abuse, over 60% reported any adulthood victimization, 55.1% reported victimizations in both childhood and adulthood, and 78.3% endorsed any revictimization. Perpetrators of FPSA were often known individuals, including friends, family members, babysitters, and romantic partners. Incidents of female perpetrators co-offending with males accounted for only 5.5%–8.5% of FPSA events, contrary to myths about female offending. Incidents of FPSA were often labeled as sexual assault in retrospect, but only 54.3% of respondents ever disclosed an incident of FPSA. Depressive and posttraumatic symptoms were common. Results indicate FPSA is typically perpetrated by individuals acting alone who are known to and close to the victim. Incidents of FPSA may not be labeled as sexual abuse or assault at the time of the event, are not frequently disclosed, and may carry long-term mental health consequences for survivors. Significant research efforts are needed to better identify and help these underrecognized, highly trauma burdened survivors of violence.

Download Full-text

“As Time Went On, I Just Forgot About It”: Thematic Analysis of Spontaneous Disclosures of Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Journal of Child Sexual Abuse ◽

10.1080/10538712.2015.1042564 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 56-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Heather B. MacIntosh ◽

Kara Fletcher ◽

Delphine Collin-Vézina

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Recovered Memories

Download Full-text

Assessing the Extent to Which Art Therapy Can Be Used with Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Thematic Analysis of Published Studies

Journal of Child Sexual Abuse ◽

10.1080/10538712.2021.1918308 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Lauren Laird ◽

Natasha Mulvihill

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Art Therapy ◽

Thematic Analysis

Download Full-text

Qualitatively Understanding Mother Fault After Childhood Sexual Abuse

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260517723140 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 35 (23-24) ◽

pp. 5589-5606 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jessica L. Zagrodney ◽

Jorden A. Cummings

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Community Based ◽

Socially Constructed ◽

Direct Knowledge ◽

Mother Blaming ◽

Better Than

Socially constructed images of motherhood suggest that a “good” mother is caring, nurturing, and selfless—the perfect maternal figure. When these standards are not met, mother blaming (i.e., assigning fault to mothers) occurs even in child sexual abuse (CSA) cases. We collected 312 open-ended responses in total from 108 community-based participants to understand contextual factors that increase and decrease in mother fault in a CSA-related vignette depicting the mother’s partner as the perpetrator. Thematic analysis revealed five main themes. Three themes were associated with decreased blame: Lack of Overt Knowledge (i.e., the mother had no direct knowledge of the CSA and thus cannot be blamed), Physical Act (i.e., the mother was not the actual perpetrator; only the perpetrator is responsible for the CSA), and Trust (i.e., the mother should be able to trust her partner). Two themes were associated with increased blame: Covert Knowledge (i.e., the mother was expected to have covert, intuitive knowledge of the CSA) and Mistrust (i.e., the mother should have known better than to trust her partner). Faulting mothers for the CSA of their child may reduce reporting of, and help seeking for, CSA, due to fear of being blamed.

Download Full-text

Childhood Sexual Abuse, Attachments in Childhood and Adulthood, and Coercive Sexual Behaviors in Community Males

Sexual Abuse ◽

10.1177/1079063215583853 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 207-238 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Calvin M. Langton ◽

Zuwaina Murad ◽

Bianca Humbert

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Sexual Behavior ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Attachment Style ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

Childhood Adversity ◽

Romantic Partners ◽

And Control ◽

Coercive Sexual Behavior

Associations between self-reported coercive sexual behavior against adult females, childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and child–parent attachment styles, as well as attachment with adult romantic partners, were examined among 176 adult community males. Attachment style with each parent and with romantic partners was also investigated as a potential moderator. Using hierarchical multiple regression analysis, avoidant attachment with mothers in childhood (and also with fathers, in a second model) accounted for a significant amount of the variance in coercive sexual behavior controlling for scores on anxious ambivalent and disorganized/disoriented attachment scales, as predicted. Similarly, in a third model, avoidance attachment in adulthood was a significant predictor of coercive sexual behavior controlling for scores on the anxiety attachment in adulthood scale. These main effects for avoidant and avoidance attachment were not statistically significant when CSA and control variables (other types of childhood adversity, aggression, antisociality, and response bias) were added in each of the models. But the interaction between scales for CSA and avoidance attachment in adulthood was significant, demonstrating incremental validity in a final step, consistent with a hypothesized moderating function for attachment in adulthood. The correlation between CSA and coercive sexual behavior was .60 for those with the highest third of avoidance attachment scores (i.e., the most insecurely attached on this scale), .24 for those with scores in the middle range on the scale, and .01 for those with the lowest third of avoidance attachment scores (i.e., the most securely attached). Implications for study design and theory were discussed.

Download Full-text

“It’s Not a Great Boulder, It’s Just a Piece of Baggage”: Older Women’s Reflections on Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260520916270 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 088626052091627

Author(s):

Katie Graham ◽

Tess Patterson ◽

Tonya Justice ◽

Charlene Rapsey

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Life Story ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Healing Process ◽

To Come ◽

Negative Feelings

In this study, we explored older women’s reflections on processes of healing related to childhood sexual abuse (CSA). We aimed to answer questions about how childhood trauma was integrated into the life story and to identify factors or coping strategies that aided, or hindered, healing. Participants within this study included 12 women who were aged 60 or older and had reported CSA as adults at the beginning of the research project, 25 years prior. Qualitative interviews were conducted exploring women’s reflections on the place of CSA in their lives over time and factors the participants thought were helpful or unhelpful in being able to come to terms with the abuse. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which resulted in three themes related to processes of healing. The themes identified were need for resolution, thinking about it differently, and developing agency over disclosure. The findings show that some form of resolution was needed for the women to recover and move on from their experiences of CSA. The two key strategies used to reach this resolution were reframing their experience or drawing upon positive life philosophies. Decisions around disclosure were also an important part of the healing process, with the women developing an agency over if, and how, they talked to people about their experience. Those women who were not able to make sense of their experience continued to be influenced by the negative feelings and memories associated with the experience. Our findings have implications for health professionals working with those who have experienced trauma. They demonstrate that there are a number of ways that people heal from trauma and find personal resolution across their lifespan.

Download Full-text