Recovery work with child victims of sexual abuse: A framework for intervention

Abstract

With each high profile case of sexual assault perpetrated against a child there generally follows a media driven reaction narrowly focusing on stranger danger or paedophile activity The difficulty is that this can present the false impression that therein lies the greatest danger to our children. The situation with which parentdcarers, and professionals, are faced with in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse is much more complex for a variety of reasons. These include the fact that such abuse is mostly perpetrated by a member of the family or a close friend of the family or child; there are many cases of crossgenerational and sibling abuse; there is often fragmentation of families following disclosure; the immense challenge to strongly held beliefs regarding familv, society and religious values; and thaf a child's coping strategies often involves blocking out the abuse, disassociation and extreme forms of self-harm. Much good literature exists on the phenomenon of child sexual abuse. However, there is a lack of written material on models of therapeutic intervention, and to engage in this area of work in the absence of a well thought-out framework for intervention would be highly irresponsible and dangerous. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue of intervention and in setting out a framework for intervention, the premise is followed that the child is not abused in isolation, but within a family and community context. For this reason theoretical considerations relating to victim impact, family functioning, social learning and developmental stages will be viewed as underpinning practice.