A Study of the Function and Meaning of Imagery Experienced by Rape Survivors

Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1996 A Study of the Function and Meaning of Imagery Experienced by Rape Survivors Mary Qualey Beale Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Beale, Mary Qualey, "A Study of the Function and Meaning of Imagery Experienced by Rape Survivors" (1996). Dissertations. 3692. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/3692 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1996 Mary Qualey Beale LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO A STUDY OF THE FUNCTION AND MEANING OF IMAGERY EXPERIENCED BY RAPE SURVIVORS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DOCTOR OF SOCIAL WORK DEGREE BY MARY QUALEY BEALE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MAY, 1996 Copyright by Mary Qualey Beale, 1996 All Rights Reserved. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank each member of my committee for all they have done for me in this dissertation process. My Chairman, Dr. Randolph Lucente, has been unerringly supportive of me, this project, my work, and my writing. I appreciate the freedom and respect he has given me as I have struggled and developed my ideas. He has had the ability to suggest just the right article or a new idea when I so needed that helped. Dr. Katherine Tyson enabled me to believe it was possible, even legitimate, to explore this topic of interest in a way that fit with my values and beliefs. Her understanding of qualitative research and her careful and thoughtful attention to my work has been immeasurably helpful and has helped bring this study to its present form. Dr. Cunningham's keen eye and thoughtful and extensive critiques have been important contributions to this work and my learning. Her research skills, her writing experience, and her wonderful practice wisdom have been important to me. Although not a member of my committee, I want to thank Dr. Barbara Carter who taught me the analytic method. Her enthusiasm for and validated of the project was inspiring. There are two other professors who have been especially important to my education. My classes with Dr. iii Carolyn Saari contained the seeds of this project; image formation, hermeneutics, meaning, play and more. Dr. Joseph Walsh's clarity of thought as a professor and his presence at the school have always been welcomed and greatly appreciated. I would, also, like to thank Larry Meyer for his thoughtful work with me on the coding processes. One of the most significant aspects of my years in the doctoral program has been the time I have spent with my colleagues, my friends, Terry, Jeanne, Nancy, Gloria, Tom, and Linda. They have augmented this experience in innumerable ways, and I am forever grateful to each of them for the special gifts they have given me. And finally I wish to thank my family, Amy, Stephen, Matthew, and Julia for believing in me so strongly, for their unwavering support, and for their abiding faith that it would be accomplished. My thanks go to Cathie and Jim and many friends, too. Lastly, I must thank Dinah who was by my side every minute, and who kept me moving. iv DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the women who participated in this study and to all survivors of rape. The meta-image of this study has been their strength and generosity. They shared of themselves generously and openly, which has left the researcher deeply touched and awed by their courage in the face of rape and its effects, by their abilities to honestly observe themselves and interpret their extraordinary experiences, by their tenacity in the face of painful and disturbing memories, and by their strength and persistence to do what is necessary to heal. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • . • . • . • . • • • . ii DEDICATION. v LIST OF TABLES . • . • . • . • • viii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM 1 Introduction. ............•. 1 Purpose of the Study ....... 3 Significance of the study • . 4 Social Work Concerns. .. 7 Conceptual Framework. • . • . • . • . • . 8 The Phenomenological Manifestations of Trauma • . 18 Summary . • . • . • • . • . 25 II. LITERATURE REVIEW . 26 Introduction .... 26 The Concept of Trauma . 26 Rape . ..•...........••...•.•.•••...•........•..• 35 Object Relations Theory . 40 Images and Imagery. .• 44 Symptoms and Conflict . • . 50 The Mourning Process. ..•..•.... 51 III. METHODOLOGY . 58 Introduction. • . 58 Overview. 58 Theoretical Framework . • • . 62 Analytic Framework. • . 64 Research Questions and Hypotheses . 68 Definition of Terms . • . 70 Research Design . • • . • • • . 71 Sample. 73 Data Collection . • . • • • 79 Procedures ........... 81 Strategies for Data Analysis .. 84 vi Page IV. THE PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS. 95 Introduction. • . 95 Demographics ..... 95 Qualitative Findings .. 111 Imagery . ...................................... 113 Object Relations:Impact of the Rape on the Self 124 Paradigm Cases ...•••.•......... 133 The Six Phase Response:"Surviving Rape" ..•.. 151 v. DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS ..•....•.. 197 Introduction. 197 Imagery . • . • . 199 Object Relations: ..............•. 206 Predispositions . • . • . • . 217 The Six Phase Response. ... 228 The Role of Therapy . • . 242 Conclusions . 243 Implications for Treatment. 245 APPENDICES A. FORMS FOR PARTICIPANTS AND THERAPISTS. • . 247 B. CODING PROCESS .................. 259 REFERENCES .. 274 VITA . 288 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Demographics . 96 2. The Rape . • . • 100 3. Repression and Remembering •..••.....•. 102 4. Family of Origin . • . • . 110 5. Surviving Rape: The Six Phase Response. 154 viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM Introduction The purpose of this study has been to explore the function and meaning of imagery experienced by the survivors of rape and the ways in which imagery serves to elaborate conflicts, impact object relations, and affect the mourning process. A fascination with imagery, mental representation, symbolism, levels of memory and dreams stimulated the researcher's interest in this study. The emergence of both universal and individual symbolism in therapy, art, poetry, drama, play, literature, and everyday life has also been of interest for some time. This includes an interest in the creative process not only in the arts, but also, the process whereby the individual creates herself/ himself through the development of mental representations of self in relation to others and the world. Human beings are constantly taking in new material which, in most cases, is integrated and mastered. However, in cases of extreme trauma, symptoms arise in which imagery and mental representational material are meaningful and salient features. Imagery, in fact, constitutes the symbolic meaning of the trauma as it relates to the survivor's belief system about the self and world. 2 The symptoms of trauma are often imagistic in nature. They can include recurrent and intrusive recollections of the event, recurrent dreams in which the event is reexperienced, and dissociative states in which the components of the event are reexperienced as if they were happening again at that moment. Extreme stress can also occur when the individual experiences events that symbolize the traumatic event. Recurrent nightmares and intrusive images, as well as, numbing, depression, anxiety and hypervigilance are also aspects of trauma sequelae. In their article, Brett and Ostroff(1985) contend that there has been a failure to appreciate the role of imagery in clinical theories of posttraumatic stress disorder, in empirical investigations of posttraumatic stress, and in the diagnosis and treatment of stressed individuals. This article reviews the work in this area and concludes that the literature includes varied and detailed descriptions of particular images that convey the intense, compelling quality of traumatic repetitions, but the focus on these images for those experiencing them quickly fades, becoming obscured and only partially visible. Brett and Ostroff suggest that this difficulty in keeping imagery in focus has led to a paucity of clinical models of posttraumatic stress disorder incorporating imagery's role; to the lack of research data on its range, content, and patterning over time; and to clinical and diagnostic confusion. They 3 suggest that a model of posttraumatic stress disorder that includes the two basic dimensions of repetition of traumatic imagery and affective and somatic states, as well as, the defenses against them would lend coherence and focus to both clinical and research efforts (p. 424). They also noted that Van Putten and Emory (1973) reported that hallucination or dissociative episodes about traumas have been mistakenly used as the basis for diagnoses of schizophrenia, psychomotor epilepsy and LSD abuse (Brett & Ostroff, 1985). Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was two fold. First, it explored the function and meaning of imagery with survivors of rape and ways in which that imagery elaborates conflict, impacts object relations, and affects the mourning process. Secondly, the study explored the implications of the function and meaning of imagery in general. The object of this in-depth phenomenological

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