Abstract
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a worldwide phenomenon with negative outcomes for survivors whose lives and well-being are compromised into adulthood, due to the trauma caused by the abuse. As trauma survivors often report time and space disorientation as well as memory deficit, an attempt was made to further understand these functions in female adults CSA survivors. More specifically, we questioned how they recalled their past; how their past experience interacted with their experience of the present; and how the past abuse affected the way that they viewed the future. A total of 50 adult female CSA survivors’ open-ended life story interviews were analyzed utilizing Thematic Content Analysis. In relation to time perception and memory deficit, three main themes emerged: Adrift in time and space; disintegration of body, mind and identity; and chaos, exhaustion, and confusion. These themes were discussed from the conceptual perspective of “captured in a distorted time,” which is one of the traumagenic constructs of childhood sexual abuse.
Highlights
The trauma of child sexual abuse (CSA) is a phenomenon which has been studied extensively, in relation to risk factors and long-term physical and emotional consequences
Based upon the data collated and analyzed, following is a model relating to the effect Child sexual abuse (CSA) has upon survivors’ time perception
The model relates to the normative manner in which time is perceived, alongside the warped manner in which it is perceived by CSA survivors
Summary
The trauma of child sexual abuse (CSA) is a phenomenon which has been studied extensively, in relation to risk factors and long-term physical and emotional consequences. Finkelhor and Browne (1985) attempted, three decades ago, to conceptualize CSA based on their clinical experience at that time. Of the several forms of abuse (e.g., physical; emotional), CSA is considered to be especially traumatic, due to the internal violation of the child’s body by way of oral, anal or genital penetration (DiLillo et al, 2006). They described four traumagenic dynamics – traumatic sexualization, betrayal, powerlessness and stigmatization – which occur together, as part of a process and form the basis of the trauma unique to CSA. Time perception is one of the central differences between the two conceptual models, acknowledging the importance of time in providing structure to the human experience
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