Making of Victim a Patient: Sexually Abused Children and the Consequences of Unprofessional Help

Abstract

The disclosure of sexual abuse by a child not only disturbs the mental peace of the family members but influences their attitudes towards the victim as well. This article explores how the diverse types of attitudes of the family members towards the victim and un-fulfillment of role expectation of a victim from his/her family members make him/her a patient. An attempt has also been made to analyse how the reluctance of parents to take any professional help impedes the recovery of the child along with the strategy a child adopts to cope with this traumatic event of his/her life. The child wants love and support from his/her close relatives, besides expecting protection from them. In such circumstances even a little negligence from any of the family members or their unsupportive and unpractical attitudes towards the victim, makes him/her a silent sufferer. A sense of helplessness develops in her/him and later on this sense of helplessness makes him/her a patient of depression.