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The Double Bind Between Individual and Social Constructions in Female Survivors of Sexual Abuse: a Qualitative Study

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The Double Bind Between Individual and Social Constructions in Female Survivors of Sexual Abuse: a Qualitative Study THE DOUBLE BIND BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS IN FEMALE SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ABUSE: A QUALITATIVE STUDY by RUDOLPH LEON VAN NIEKERK submitted in the partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MAGISTER ATRIUM in COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY in the FACULTY OF ARTS at the RAND AFRIKAANS UNIVERSITY SUPERVISOR: PROF HG PRETORIUS OCTOBER 1999 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the following people for their involvement and help with the completion of this study: My wife and children for their support to complete this study. The Congregation for allowing me time to complete this study. My parents (all four of them) for their support. The three participants in the study, Mart, Chanene and Brandy, who decided to take part in this opportunity to tell the stories of their child sexual abuse to the world. Prof. Gerty Pretorius for her guidance and patience throughout the study. Thank you all very much. Your effort and participation is appreciated. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page SUMMARY viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 OPENING REMARKS 1 1.2 AIM OF THE STUDY 2 1.3 OUTLINE OF THE STUDY 3 1.4 TERMINOLOGY 4 CHAPTER TWO: EPISTEMOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF THE STUDY 5 2.1 INTRODUCTION 5 2.2 DEFINING RELEVANT CONSTRUCTS 6 2.2.1 Social construction discourse 7 2.2.2 Language and social construction discourse 8 2.2.3 Narrative as social construction discourse 8 2.2.4 Constructionism vs. Constructivism 9 2.3 HISTORIC OVERVIEW 8 2.3.1 The pre-modernistic time period 10 2.3.2 The modernistic time period 12 2.3.3 The post-modernistic time period 14 i 2.4 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION DISCOURSE AS A POST-MODERN APPROACH 16 2.5 THE PROCESSES IN CONSTRUCTIONISM AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM 18 2.6 INTEGRATING KNOWLEDGE FROM DIFFERENT HISTORICAL CONTEXTS 21 2.7 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION DISCOURSE AND SCIENCE 25 2.7.1 Metatheoretical Assumptions 25 2.7.2 A Social Constructionist view of man 25 2.7.3 Social Constructionist view of the world 27 2.7.4 A Social Constructionist view of science 28 2.8 CONCLUSION 32 CHAPTER THREE: CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 33 3.1 INTRODUCTION 33 3.2 DEFINING CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 34 3.2.1 Pre-modern or traditional approaches to child sexual abuse 35 3.2.2 Modernistic definitions of child sexual abuse 36 3.2.3 Post-modern definitions 39 3.3 EPIDEMIOLOGY 41 3.4 ETIOLOGY 46 3.4.1 Causes of child sexual abuse 46 3.4.2 Children at risk 52 3.4.3 Patterns of abuse 52 3.4.4 Offenders of child sexual abuse 53 ii 3.5 SEQUELAE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 59 3.5.1 Immediate and long-term effects 60 3.5.2 Physiological effects 61 3.5.3 Emotional effects 61 3.5.4 Cognitive effects 62 3.5.5 Behavioural effects 63 3.5.6 Personality disorders 64 3.5.7 Psychopathology 65 3.5.8 Effects on social functioning 65 3.5.9 Effects on development 66 2.5.10 Finkelhor and Browne's model of traumagenic dynamics 68 3.6 SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ABUSE 70 3.6.1 Defining the construct "survivors" of sexual abuse 70 3.6.2 Revictimisation 71 3.6.3 The memory debate on sexual abuse 72 3.7 FAMILY AND RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS IN CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 75 3.7.1 Family-of-origin dynamics 75 3.7.1.1 Family dysfunction models 76 3.7.1.2 Feminist models 77 3.7.1.3 Family roles 78 3.7.2 Current family and relationships dynamics of the sexual abuse survivor 79 iii 3.8 RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS OF SEXUAL ABUSE SURVIVORS 80 3.8.1 Trust as a theme in the relationships of sexual abuse survivors 80 3.8.2 Attachment as a theme in the relationships of sexual abuse survivors 82 3.8.3 Intimacy as a theme in the relationships of sexual abuse survivors 86 3.8.4 Sexuality as a theme in the relationships of sexual abuse survivors 88 3.8.5 Type of relationship survivors of sexual abuse engage in 91 3.9 COPING AS A PROCESS OF SURVIVAL FOR VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ABUSE 94 3.10 THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SEXUAL ABUSE 99 3.10.1 The role of institutions in the social construction of sexual abuse 102 3.10.2 Social constructions of the sexual abuse act 106 3.10.3 Social constructions with regard to the victim 108 3.10.4 Social constructions with regard to the perpetrator 110 3.11 CONCLUSION 111 CHAPTER FOUR: LANGUAGE, CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING AND THE DOUBLE BIND 113 4.1 INTRODUCTION 113 4.2 SOCIOLINGUISTIC THEORY 114 4.3 LANGUAGE IN SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION DISCOURSE 118 iv 4.3.1 Language and discourse 120 4.3.2 Language and meaning 121 4.3.3 Language and narrative 123 4.4 LANGUAGE AND GENDER 123 4.4.1 The use of language in the construction of gender 124 4.4.2 The social construction of gender 125 4.5 LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL ABUSE 127 4.5.1 Language and the social construction of childhood 127 4.5.2 The role of language in the construction of meaning during sexual abuse 129 4.6 LANGUAGE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING 136 4.6.1 Developmental aspects of language in the construction of meaning 136 4.6.2 The personal construction of meaning 138 4.6.3 The co-construction of meaning 140 4.6.4 The social construction of meaning 143 4.7 LANGUAGE AND THE DOUBLE BIND 145 4.7.1 Double bind theory 145 4.7.2 Children's experience of the double bind 147 4.7.3 The double bind in sexual abuse 148 4.8 CONCLUSION 150 CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 151 5.1 INTRODUCTION 151 5.2 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 152 5.3 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION AS CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH 155 5.4 RESEARCH DESIGN 156 5.5 THE ROLES OF THE RESEARCHER AND THE PARTICIPANTS IN SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 158 5.6 DATA COLLECTION 159 5.7 DATA ANALYSIS 161 5.8 WRITING THE REPORT 162 5.9 CONCLUSION 163 CHAPTER SIX: RESEARCH RESULTS 164 6.1 INTRODUCTION 164 6.2 INTRODUCING THE PARTICIPANTS 164 6.2.1 Mart's story 165 6.2.2 Chanene's story 170 6.2.3 Brandy's story 173 6.3 EMERGING THEMES 176 6.3.1 Confusion as initial experience of sexual abuse 176 6.3.2 The participant's personal construction of meaning 178 6.3.3 The co-construction of meaning between those involved 182 6.3.4 Confronting the social constructions of meaning 189 6.3.5 The confusing and devastating effect of socially constructed meanings about sexual abuse 192 6.3.6 The participant's double bind experiences 194 vi 6.3.7 The participant's reaction to the double bind 200 6.4 DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS 205 6.4.1 Confusion as initial experience of sexual abuse 205 6.4.2 The participant's personal constructions of meaning 206 6.4.3 The co-construction of meaning between those involved 206 6.4.4 Confronting the social constructions of meaning 207 6.4.5 The participant's double bind experiences 208 6.5 CONCLUSION 209 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION 210 7.1 EVALUATION OF THE STUDY 210 7.2 STRENGTHS OF THE STUDY 211 7.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 212 7.4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 213 7.5 FINAL COMMENT 214 BIBLIOGRAPHY 215 vii SU M Rif This study is an attempt to investigate the way in which female survivors of childhood sexual abuse made sense of their experiences. Three participants were interviewed and the relevant themes that emerged from those interviews were coded and reported. The study was conducted from a qualitative perspective that was grounded in social construction methodology. The survivors' individual constructions of meaning at the time of their sexual abuse, their introduction to the social constructions of meaning about child sexual abuse and the double bind between these constructions are reported. The survivors' narratives are representations of the positive way they constructed meaning about their experiences as a way of coping. Their stories are also reflections of the confusion they experienced when introduced to the social constructions of child sexual abuse that differed from the meaning they attributed to their experiences. The study is a representation of the double bind that the difference between the individual and social constructions of their child sexual abuse created for them. viii O SOM Hierdie studie is 'n poging om die wyse waarop vrouens wat as kinders seksueel gemollesteer is, sin uit hulle ervarings gemaak het. 'n Onderhoud is met drie deelnemers aan die studie gevoer, waaruit relevante temas gekodeer en gerapporteer is. 'n Kwalitatiewe studie, wat gegrond is in die sosiale konstruksie metodologie, is gedoen. Die individuele betekenisse wat die vrouens ten tye van die seksuele mollestering daaraan geheg het, hulle inleiding tot die sosiale konstruksies aangaande die seksuele mollestering van kinders en die dubbelbinding tussen hierdie konstruksies van betekenisse word weergegee. Hierdie vrouens se narratiewe is weergawes van die positiewe manier waarop hulle sin en betekenis aan hulle ervarings geheg het, as 'n manier om dit to verwerk. Hulle verhale reflekteer ook die verwarring wat hulle beleef het tydens hulle kontak met die sosiale konstruksies aangaande die mollestering van kinders, wat verskil van die betekenisse wat hulle daaraan geheg het. Die studie is 'n weergawe van die dubbelbinding wat die verskil tussen hulle individuele konstruksies en die sosiale konstruksies van betekenisse aangaande die seksuele mollestering van kinders vir hulle gebring het.
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