A Qualitative Case Study on the Post-traumatic Growth Experiences of One Victim of Sexual Violence

Abstract

This study is a qualitative case study that conducted an in-depth-interview with a sexual violence victim to find out what the participant experienced during the process of post-traumatic growth. The research questions include: what did the participant experience after sexual violence and what did she experience during the process of overcoming the trauma. The participant was a woman in mid-40s who experienced sexual violence by a relative when young. The transcribed data of the in-depth interview were analyzed using a qualitative case-study method, derving 56 concepts, 38 subcategories, and 18 categories. The results are as follows. First, the participant experienced post-traumatic stress symptoms such as invasive memory, negative emotion, and defense mechanism. Second, the participant experienced multiple factors of post-traumatic growth during the process of overcoming the post-traumatic stress of sexual violence, including growth through self-disclosure, sympathy and comfort from others, facing and acceptance of trauma, self and family perception, self-disclosure to family, acceptance by and emotional exchange with family, acceptance of others and trust restoration, struggle for growth, self-confidence and affection, acceptance of life, and so on.