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Childhood Sexual Abuse Experience of Adults

Supplementary abuse-related statistics from the Demographic Data Questionnaire and interview transcripts, together with data derived from the COPE and the SCL-90-R psychological instruments administered, were integrated into aspects of the grounded theory model (see Figure 1).

The grounded theory model explicates the conditions and process that contributed toward the evolvement of the central phenomenon of this study, i.e., the differential coping strategies between male and female survivors of childhood sexual abuse, viz.,

• the abuse-related characteristics,
• other conditions influencing the development of coping strategies,
• the initial child and adolescent coping strategies,
• similarities and differences in the varieties of coping strategies employed by adult females and males, and
• the abuse sequelae.

Abuse-Related Characteristics

Abuse-related characteristics form the context in which coping strategies for childhood sexual abuse develop (Draucker, 1996; Finkelhor et al., 1990; Pierce & Pierce, 1985). When Asian children and adolescents are faced with sexual abuse, their available personal resources in coping, not unlike their Western counterparts, can be variable (Chen et al., 2004; Kendall-Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993).

As victims, the outcome in accessing their own coping strategies is attributable to direct characteristics of the abuse incidents themselves, such as age of onset of the abuse (Fischer & McDonald, 1998), its duration and frequency (Lange, de Beurs, Dolan, Lachnit, Sjollema, Hanewald, 1999), whether threatened with harm and the types of abuse (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986), perpetrator characteristics and the number of offenders (Beitchman et al, 1991, 1992), and disclosure of the abuse (Chaffin et al., 1997; Elliot & Briere, 1992).

In most instances, the child is unaware that a crime had been perpetrated.

Adele testified that as an only child left in the care of grandparents, and a teenage uncle as a playmate, she evaluated her uncle’s abuses as, “…wasn’t rough…he comes, lies next to you... just tells you what to do. You just do it. You just obey, act accordingly.”

Similarly, Amos recounted amidst tears, “Helpless! Very lost! I was just 4 years old, what do I know about sex?” Benson too, did not imagine anything was amiss when a neighbour introduced a secret game to him, “…he said he had seen people doing it, so OK. He started fondling me…The element of thrill was that it was a secret.”

Age of Onset

Mean age of all victims at the time of the abuse was 7.05 years (SD = 2.44 years). The modal age of abuse for female and male victims was 4 years old (5 out of 22 victims, 22.7%). There was a small gender difference of 5.6 months in the average age of the victims at the time of the abuse, with the mean age being 6.83 years and 7.30 years respectively for males and females (see Table 8).

Both males and females were most likely victims of child sexual abuse when they were between 4 to 7 years old, viz., 6 (60%) females and 7 (58.3%) males. As the age of the victims increased to 16 years of age, there seems to be a smaller proportion of both female and male victims, 4 (40%) females and 5 (41.7%) males.

Males and females claimed that they were first acquainted with sexual gender differences at about the age of 9.5 years for females (SD = 4.5) and 9.6 years for males (SD = 3.6).

Abuse Duration and Frequency

Two (20%) females and 4 (33.3%) males were abused only once, while abuse continued well over a year for 50% (5) of females and 25% (3) of males. Abuse that lasted between one to six months was reported by 2 (20%) females and 4 (33.3%) males (see Table 9).

Use of Coercion

9 (90%) females and 8 (66.7%) males said that their childhood abuse was forced on them (see Table 9).

Characteristics of Perpetrator

Perpetrator characteristics refer, firstly, to the victim’s relationship with the abuser, and in this study, 6 (60%) females and 3 (25%) males reported that their initial perpetrators, all males, were a father, a brother, and close relatives. The second characteristic was that perpetrators were on average 22.8 years old (SD = 10.2) for females and 25.8 years old (SD = 11.1) for male victims.

Invariably, the abusers were considered authority figures to the victims. Furthermore, female victims (40%) were most often abused by a known relative of the family, while males (41.7%) were abused by a known friend of the family or an authority figure, like a teacher or a babysitter.

Extra-familial abuse, like strangers accounted for 30% (3) of female and 33.3% (4) of male abuses. Intra-familial abuse, like a father or a brother, comprised 20% (2) of female and 16.6% (2) of male abuses (see Table 9).

All the perpetrators in this study were males, except for one, when an aunt was involved in re-victimising a female participant.

Types of Sexual Abuse

All participants in this study, except one male, suffered multiple varieties of abuses, and the frequencies enumerated below are indicative of the contact and non-contact variations of child sexual abuse. Almost all the females (9) 90%, and 83.3% (10) of the males said that the perpetrator exposed himself to them.

Two (20%) females and 2 (16.7%) males indicated that they were shown pornographic material by family members or friends of family members, or had access to them because the material was just lying around, or were easily accessible in the home. One male claimed to have been photographed in the nude by his abuser, while 9 females (90%) and 10 (83.3%) males were undressed by the perpetrator, followed by touching and/or mutual touching, but not fondling (see Table 10).

All the males and 70% (7) of the females claimed that they had been fondled by their abuser, while 8 (80%) females and 9 (75%) males said that the perpetrators rubbed their private parts against their bodies. Seventy-five percent (9) of the males and 40% (4) of the females indicated that they were masturbated by their abusers, but only the males said that they sometimes masturbated their perpetrators.

Fellatio was perpetrated on 8 (66.7%) of the males and cunnilingus on 3 (30%) of the females by their abusers.

Vaginal penetration was reported by 3 (30%) female participants, and anal penetration by 5 (41.7%) males and 2 (20%) females, while attempted penetration, whether it was vaginal or anal, was reported by 6 (60%) females and 5 (41.7%) males.

Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse Immediately Following the Abuse

Out of ten females, only one (10%) disclosed to her cousin in whose home she was staying, and she believed her. The cousin’s father was the perpetrator. None of the other females reported or informed anyone of their abuses. One male (8.3%) out of the twelve, reported his abuse to his father, but was disbelieved and ridiculed (see Table 11).

When participants first spoke of their abuse.

Males and females kept their abuses to themselves for about 17 (SD = 7.92) and 16.8 (SD = 12.82) years respectively. By the time they self-disclosed their childhood sexual abuse, the females average 24.1 (SD = 12.1) years old and the males 23.7 (SD = 7.4) years of age.

Four (40%) females and 6 (50%) males self-disclosed about their abuse when they were 16 years old or under. Disclosures were made mainly to counsellors, pastors, church camp officers, and friends (see Table 11).

Relevant material of my postgraduate thesis will be summarized in this blog over the coming weeks. Appendices, statistical tables, and bibliographical details are excluded.

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