| dc.description.abstract | Despite considerable empirical evidence that most adults do not disclose experiences of childhood sexual abuse until adulthood and many children who have been abused do not disclose this abuse when asked in a professional context (London, Bruck, Ceci & Shuman, 2005, 2007), little attention has been focussed on how children negotiate the psycho-social task of confiding their experiences of sexual abuse. Attention has focussed on identifying those variables which are associated with delays in disclosing (Paine & Hanson, 2002) and exploring which variables are predictive of a delay in reporting such experiences (Goodman-Brown et al., 2003). Although the experience of telling has been recognised as a process, it is only recently that qualitative research methods have been utilised in such studies. The complexity and individual variability in experiences of disclosing calls for such an approach. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the research on this subject and theoretical contributions to our understanding of the disclosure process for children and adults. A critique is offered of the literature, highlighting the methodological challenges of researching such a sensitive subject with a vulnerable population. The need for a both a qualitative research methodology and a developmental systemic approach to this field of study is identified. This study uses Grounded Theory methods to explore how children tell about experiences of sexual abuse. Twenty two children and young people were interviewed using an open ended interview guide to explore their first and subsequent experiences of telling. Parents of fourteen of these young people were interviewed to explore their perspective on this subject. An additional seven children’s stories were told by their parents and thus included in the study. Ten adults, five of whom also participated in the study as parents, were interviewed to explore their experiences of confiding. Children’s files were accessed to obtain demographic information and details of the young people’s experiences of abuse. Chapter 2 describes in detail the rationale for choosing a Grounded Theory approach, how participants were recruited for the study, the pilot study, the procedure for data collection, management and analysis and an overview of ethical issues encountered during the course of the study. The findings of the study are presented in Chapters 3, 4 and 5. Chapter 3 presents the theoretical framework developed from this study that captures the primary research question in this study: how children tell. It is suggested that experiences of disclosing need to be viewed as part of a cyclical adaptive process of containing the secret, consisting of three key dynamics: active withholding, the pressure cooker effect and confiding. Children, and others, actively withheld information about the abuse experience and, often in response to a pressure cooker effect, confided in another. The pressure cooker effect may consist of an accumulation of pressure, gradual or abrupt, both internal and external, leading to the secret being shared. The experience of confiding was often in the context of mutual sharing of confidences, and for the most part, kept in confidence by those to whom the abuse was disclosed. The evidence from this study suggests that this process may need to be re-negotiated in different relationships across the lifespan, is influenced by the various sub-systems surrounding and impacting on the child’s development - individual, family, peer, school and wider society - and by various factors operating at the various levels of these sub-systems. Chapter 4 presents the findings that address the question of why children tell and why children do not tell, i.e. those factors that influence the process of containing the secret. The key motivating influences for participants in this study were: being believed, being asked, concern for others, shame/embarrassment/self blame, peer influence, fear, contact with the alleged abuser, being told not to tell, the role of alcohol and the role of media and film. Chapter 5 offers a developmental systemic perspective on the findings of this study, drawing on Belsky’s (1980, 1993) ecological perspective on the etiology of child maltreatment. Influencing factors operating at the level of individual (age and gender), and family (intrafamilial vs. extrafamilial abuse, parental history of abuse and young people’s concerns about their parents) are considered, along with the influences of schools and wider social systems. Finally, comments about professional services and wider society issues are presented. The final chapter draws on the extant literature to consider the findings of this study. The theoretical framework suggested here, with its various components and characteristics, is analysed in the light of existing research and theoretical literature. Reflections on both the methods used in the study and theoretical issues emerging that point to future directions for research are suggested and implications for prevention and intervention are outlined. | |
