Adolescentes victimes d’abus sexuel et trajectoire délinquante : quels facteurs de résilience ?

Abstract

IntroductionThis study concerns resilience related to juvenile delinquency among victims of sexual abuse: sexual abuse has been recognized as a powerful risk factor for the emergence of deviant and criminal behavior. ObjectiveOur study aims to explore and highlight the protective factors that prevent victims of sexual abuse from engaging in a delinquent trajectory. MethodThe sample consists of teenage girls who have revealed, at minimum last year, their intergenerational abuse. These girls, all between 12 and 18years old are divided into sub-groups: the non-offender victims and the victims who are also offenders. Each teenage victim is compared to a normative population on different psychological functioning dimensions: self-esteem (Harter's self-perception profile for adolescents), aggressiveness (the Buss–Perry Aggression questionnaire) and post-traumatic stress, with the Impact of Event scale Revised, (IES-R)-Horowitz. We analyze family characteristics, such as familial attachment and family climate, social characteristics, such as associations with peers, and environmental factors, such as reactions to revelations of sexual abuse, the presence of family and extra-familial resources, psychological care. Results and conclusionThe results show that teenage victims of sexual assault present lower self-esteem and a negative self-perception in all fields, except for the perception of their attractiveness. Over-investment of this single dimension of self-perception can lead to a sexualization of their relationships with others and expose them to the risk of sexual revictimisation. The comparative analyses between the adolescent delinquent and non-delinquent victims highlight risk factors in connection with setting them off on a delinquent trajectory and protective factors supporting their resilience. The results highlight specific characteristics to the offender juvenile victims supporting a delinquent trajectory: aggressiveness, PTSD, defensive strategy of avoidance and characteristics of abuse (chronicity of abuse). The victim committed in delinquent trajectories presented more aggressiveness, consumeristic behaviour, post-traumatic stress and defensive strategy of avoidance than non-offender victims. Delinquent behaviour, just like substance abuse, could be a strategy of risk avoidance in connection with reliving sexual trauma, which hinders the process of resilience. Compared to the process of resilience, immediate and differed paternal support (during and after the revelations) seems the most important factor of protection. Being able to benefit from psychological councelling and having an extra-familial resource (a significant relationship with someone in the social environment) also constitute factors that support the resilience of these teenagers and prevent them from going down the path of delinquency. The interventions should aim at establishing a therapeutic alliance with these young girls during the early process of revealing the sexual abuse and mobilize and activate the support of the father (when he is not the abuser) or of a meaningful paternal figure as early as possible during the revealing phase and to accompany him in this restructuring function.