Carol-Ann Hooper

Mothers surviving child sexual abuse

1. Child Sexual Abuse and Mothers: the Issues. 2. The Study: Aims and Methods. 3. Loss: The Meaning of Child Sexual Abuse to Mothers. 4. Finding Out: The Discovery Process. 5. Working it Out: The Context and Process of Response. 6. Help-seeking Decisions and Experience of Informal Help. 7. Statutory Help and Experience of Intervention. 8. Conclusions.

Gender and the politics of service provision for adults with a history of childhood sexual abuse

This paper reviews the evidence on the relevance of gender to the prevalence and impacts of sexual abuse in childhood, and to the interaction between adults with a history of child sexual abuse (‘survivors’) and services. It is widely acknowledged now that child sexual abuse increases the risk of a range of problems in adult life, that a wide range of services can offer reparative experiences, and that there is also a risk of retraumatization if the dynamics of abuse are replicated. Points where gender may affect whether experiences of service provision are reparative or retraumatizing include disclosure, allocation of workers and group work. In a context in which the voluntary sector plays a significant role in provision, the potential gains and losses in the current trend for formerly single-sex specialist voluntary organizations to ‘go mixed’ are discussed. The paper suggests that the politics of recognition adds a useful frame for considering survivors’ needs and the relevance of gender to their experiences.

Groups for women survivors of childhood sexual abuse: The implications of attachment theory1

Abstract This paper suggests that attachment theory provides a conceptual framework for understanding the way in which groups can help women to recover from childhood experiences of sexual abuse. For all children, the nature and quality of their relationships with adult care-givers influence their ability to form relationships and realise their potential. Childhood sexual abuse interferes with this process, but it does not affect all children in the same way, for a variety of complex reasons. Attachment theory is invoked to account for some of these differences. It is proposed that some of the characteristic manifestations of childhood sexual abuse in adult survivors can be understood in attachment terms, with reference to internal working models of relationship. The role which groups (in conjunction with other forms of help and support) can play in the recovery process through influencing internal working models is considered. The relative merits of short-term, long-term, professionally-led and self-help...

Recognition as a framework for ethical participatory research: developing a methodology with looked after young people

This paper reflects on a project which involved the authors working in partnership with a working group of looked after children and young people established by a small unitary local authority to develop a pledge defining what support, services and care looked after children can expect from them. The authors aimed to develop an approach which ensured that the young people’s voices were heard and also that the well-being of those involved as participants remained at the centre of the process throughout. We argue that Honneth’s theory of recognition, which identifies three forms of recognition as important to ensure that human beings feel assured of their dignity or integrity – in brief love, rights and solidarity – offers a useful framework for achieving this. The main principles which emerged were: (i) building the research around the young people’s existing relationships, (ii) respecting the group’s decisions and (iii) honouring the views expressed.

What’s in a name? Reflections on the term 'non-abusing parent'

© 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Publisher PDF version is restricted access in accordance with the John Wiley & Sons, Ltd policy.

Women's and their children's experiences of sexual violence: Rethinking the links

Abstract This article takes a new look at the theory that evidence that many women whose children are sexually abused (by men) have been sexually abused themselves in childhood is indicative of a “cycle of abuse.” It reviews the evidence on the experiences of sexual violence, past and present, reported by women whose children have been sexually abused, and argues that the concept of a “cycle of abuse” misrepresents existing findings and their significance, diverts attention from the responsibility of abusive men for child sexual abuse, pathologises and stigmatises women who have been sexually abused as children, and obscures recognition of the present context of domestic violence within which intrafamilial child sexual abuse often takes place. It then draws on a qualitative study of 15 women whose children had been sexually abused by a male relative to explore the ways in which they made connections between their own and their childrens experiences of sexual violence, connections which are not causal but meaningful, that is, they reflect the meaning the women attributed to events in their own and their childrens lives. The article argues that we need both to reject the “cycle of abuse” concept and to pay attention to the links women and their children may make between their own and each others experiences, links which are more variable in meaning and, therefore, in impact than the concept of a cycle suggests.