Children's Narratives of Sexual Abuse
Research in Practice
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
This paper reports on a qualitative analysis of 2,986 cases of self-disclosure of sexual abuse from children.
- Sharon Jackson, Elinor Newall and Kathryn Backett-Milburn
- Child and Family Social Work, Vol 20, (2015)
While there is a substantive international literature on childhood sexual abuse (CSA), studies that have examined children's own accounts are rare.
This paper reports on a qualitative analysis of 2,986 cases of self-disclosure of sexual abuse from children, aged 5 to 18, who contacted ChildLine Scotland (CLS), a free, confidential telephone counselling service. Children's calls to CLS represent unsolicited communications - the data analysed reflects children's own self-identified concerns regarding sexual abuse, which are unmediated by adult concerns and agendas, and the parameters of professional encounters. In this respect, the CLS data is unique insofar as it can reveal insights that other forms of inquiry may not.
Victim and perpetrator characteristics
Analysis of the data revealed that:
- 1,984 disclosures (66.4 per cent) were from females and 1,002 cases (33.5 per cent) were from males.
- Concerns from females peaked at 14 years with the majority of calls falling within the 11 to 16 age range.
- Concerns from males peaked at age 15 with the majority of calls falling in the 12 to 16 years age range.
- This study spanned a two-year period, yet the high number of disclosures suggests that the prevalence of CSA (in Scotland and potentially elsewhere) may be considerably higher than available incidence data suggest.
- Analysis identified eight different types of abuse: touching; contact with animals; harassment; indecency; organized abuse; rape; ritual abuse; incest.
- Rape was the most common category (55 per cent) followed by touching (33 per cent). There were few variations in the proportions of males and females reporting each type of abuse.
- Most sexual abuse cases (94 per cent) recorded details of the perpetrator. Nearly half of perpetrators were a parental figure. Of this group, 38 per cent were the child's birth parent, of which 71 per cent were the birth father.
- Only six per cent of all perpetrators were strangers. Overall, four-fifths of perpetrators were men.
- For girls, the majority of cases featured abuse by men. Boys were nearly as likely to report abuse by men as abuse by women.
- Other research has suggested that around five per cent of CSA involved female perpetrators, compared with a much higher figure of 20 per cent in this study.
Communicating abuse
The ways children talked about abuse varied within and across ages with marked similarities in communication styles across age groups. Children in the early age groups (5 to 8 years) used direct and innocent language, which was nonetheless explicit in the abuse acts described. While explicit terms were also used by older children, they sometimes used their own vocabularies and used more indirect communication, struggling to talk about their problems, and sometimes being unable to continue. Adult constructs of sex were rarely used but where they were, a different meaning was often attached to them.
Coping strategies
Children used a number of strategies to actively cope with their experiences, including disclosure to others, avoidance, trying not to think about it and resistance. Some of these were harmful (for example, self-harm, suicidal thoughts/attempted suicide, running away) and indicated the manifestation of a range of psychiatric symptomology, previously found to be present in sexually abused children. Friends provided significant support, highlighting that many other children carry a substantial emotional burden in their friendships.
Disclosure
Children rarely disclosed the abuse to adults (with the exception of mothers) and/or protective services and were deeply fearful of the consequence of disclosure. Reasons for this included fear that:
- The abuse would escalate
- They (or others they cared about) would be harmed in some other way,
- Their family would be broken up
- There would be reprisals for their abuser.
A "crisis point" (often linked to the level and frequency of abuse) was critical in provoking the decision to disclose to CLS. One-third of those who had disclosed were not believed, particularly by family when the perpetrator was a partner of a parent or the sibling or relative of the child.
Implications for practice
- As people communicate in language acquired through their socio-cultural contexts, professionals must be aware of the vocabularies that children use when discussing sex or relationships in other contexts.
- Family crises were often referred to in children's narratives - the authors suggest bereavement, divorce, separation, and parental alcohol misuse could be critical mediators for the onset of sexual abuse.
- For many children, this was the first time they had talked about their experiences and were therefore forced to confront their own emotional distress. This distress can be considerably alleviated if there is a safe environment to discuss it, such as having one professional who listens to and believes them.
FURTHER READING
Related resources
Making Noise: Children's experience of help-seeking and support after sexual abuse in the family environment, Children's Commissioner for England, November 2017
Supporting parents of sexually exploited young people: An evidence review, Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, September 2017
The impacts of child sexual abuse: A rapid evidence assessment, Independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, July 2017
Child sexual abuse and exploitation: Understanding risk and vulnerability, Coventry University, August 2016
Letting the future in: A therapeutic intervention for children affected by sexual abuse and their carers, University of Bristol, Durham University, NSPCC, February 2016.
Protecting children from harm: A critical assessment of child sexual abuse in the family network, Children's Commissioner for England, November 2015
Social workers' knowledge and confidence when working with cases of child sexual abuse, NSPCC, Coventry University, November 2014
"It's a lonely journey" A rapid evidence assessment on intrafamilial child sexual abuse, Children's Commissioner for England, 2014
Related resources by Research in Practice
Intrafamilial child sexual abuse: Learning Event, December 2017
Workforce perspectives on harmful sexual behaviour, July 2017
Child sexual exploitation practice tool, February 2017
Young person-centred approaches in CSE - promoting participation and building self-efficacy, February 2017
Child neglect and its relationship to sexual harm and abuse: responding effectively to children's needs, November 2016
Exploring the relationship between neglect and adult perpetrated intra-familial child sexual abuse, 2016
The research section for this special report is based on a selection of academic studies which have been explored and summarised by Research in Practice, part of the Dartington Hall Trust.
This article is part of CYP Now's special report on intrafamilial abuse. Click here for more