From Epiphany to Catharsis
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Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects College of Osteopathic Medicine 2020 Therapeutic Autoethnography: From Epiphany to Catharsis Kelsey Railsback Follow this and additional works at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dft_etd Part of the Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Share Feedback About This Item This Dissertation is brought to you by the College of Osteopathic Medicine at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Therapeutic Autoethnography: From Epiphany to Catharsis by Kelsey Railsback A Dissertation Presented to the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Nova Southeastern University 2020 Copyright by Kelsey Railsback July 2020 Nova Southeastern University College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences This dissertation was submitted by Kelsey Railsback under the direction of the chair of the dissertation committee listed below. It was submitted to the College of Arts, Humanities, & Social and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Family Therapy at Nova Southeastern University. Approved: June 10, 2020 ____________________ ___________________________ Date of Defense Ronald J. Chenail, Ph.D. Chair ___________________________ Shelley Green, Ph.D. ____________________________ Kara Erolin, Ph.D. July 8, 2020 ______________________ ____________________________ Date of Final Approval Ronald J. Chenail, Ph.D. Chair 6 Acknowledgement With gratitude to my clients, colleagues, mentors, family, and friends, from whom I have learned to become a better person and therapist. In memory of William C. Rambo, who has affected so many lives. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 Background of the Problem ............................................................................................ 1 Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................................... 1 Gap in Knowledge .......................................................................................................... 1 Victims of Sexual Violence ............................................................................................ 2 What is a Victim of Sexual Violence? ........................................................................ 2 How Many Are Affected? ........................................................................................... 3 The Outlook for Victims of Sexual Violence ............................................................. 4 Sexual Offenders ............................................................................................................. 6 What is a Sexual Offender? ........................................................................................ 6 How Many Are Affected? ........................................................................................... 6 The Outlook for Sexual Offenders .............................................................................. 6 Therapeutic Work: A Lack of Desire to Work with Sexual Offenders ...................... 8 My Research ................................................................................................................... 9 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................. 10 Research Goal ............................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 12 Reported Health Outcomes for Victims of Sexual Violence ........................................ 12 Poor Physical Health Outcomes Reported for Child Sexual Abuse ......................... 12 v Poor Mental Health Outcomes Reported for Child Sexual Abuse ........................... 13 Poor Social Outcomes Reported for Child Sexual Abuse ........................................ 14 Poor Psychical Health Outcomes Reported for Adult Sexual Violence ................... 15 Poor Mental Health Outcomes Reported for Adult Sexual Violence ....................... 16 Poor Social Outcomes Reported for Adult Sexual Violence .................................... 17 Summary of Reported Health Outcomes for Victims of Sexual Violence ................... 18 Approaches to Treatment for Victims of Sexual Violence ........................................... 18 Treatment as Pathologizing: A Victim-Focused Approach ...................................... 19 Treatment as Empowerment: A Survivor-Focused Approach .................................. 20 Summary of Approaches to Treatment for Victims of Sexual Violence ...................... 22 Approaches to Sex Offender Treatment ....................................................................... 23 Treatment as Management: A Recidivism-Focused Approach ................................ 23 Treatment as Support: A Rehabilitation-Focused Approach .................................... 25 Summary of Approaches to Sex Offender Treatment................................................... 27 What Motivates This Study .......................................................................................... 27 Chapter III: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................ 29 Overview of Qualitative Research ................................................................................ 29 Types of Narrative Inquiry ............................................................................................ 29 Methodological Considerations .................................................................................... 30 Autoethnography as Method ......................................................................................... 31 vi The Development of Autoethnography ........................................................................ 32 Autoethnography: Evocative or Analytic ..................................................................... 33 Evocative Autoethnography: A Starting Point ............................................................. 34 Participant ..................................................................................................................... 35 The Participant in Autoethnography ......................................................................... 35 Self of the Researcher ............................................................................................... 35 Data Generation and Collection .................................................................................... 36 Personal Memory Data ............................................................................................. 36 Self-Reflexive Data ................................................................................................... 38 Data Management and Analysis ................................................................................... 38 Writing the Autoethnography ....................................................................................... 40 Trustworthiness ............................................................................................................. 41 Reliability and Validity ............................................................................................. 41 Quality Control ............................................................................................................. 41 Ethical Concerns ........................................................................................................... 42 Experimental Layering.................................................................................................. 43 CHAPTER IV: RESULTS ................................................................................................ 44 An Evolving Autoethnography ..................................................................................... 44 Part A ........................................................................................................................ 44 Part B ........................................................................................................................ 86 vii CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS .................................................. 101 My Research Process .................................................................................................. 101 Similarities with Previous Literature .......................................................................... 101 New Contributions ...................................................................................................... 102 Implications................................................................................................................. 103 For Researchers ....................................................................................................... 103 For Practitioners