Common themes and structures in male victims' stories of religion and sexual abuse

Abstract

This paper presents some outcomes of research on the narrative construction of religion and sexual abuse in male victims. Twelve open biographic interviews with adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse have been analysed for content and structure. Three narrative themes were identified to appear in all interviews: distance/proximity, power/powerlessness and guilt/innocence. Using statistical methods (correlations and cluster analysis), the relation was investigated between these narrative themes and categories of evaluation, life period addressed, religion, sexuality and significant others. At group level, very few correlations or patterns were found. Two possible explanations are discussed: (1) the lack of canonical stories and (2) the limitations to narrative competence as a result of traumatization. Structure analysis at the individual level yields relatively coherent patterns, so that the second explanation hypothesized seems less likely. Based on content and structure analysis, three narrative methods of construction are discussed: contrasting stories of sexual abuse and religion, sequencing stories and reinterpreting themes from both religion and sexual abuse. Finally, implications are discussed concerning researching canonical stories and their impact on coping, understanding and facilitating the creative potential of narrators, and the complicated relationship of individual constructions, confessional convictions and academic theological theories.