Abstract
ABSTRACT In this study, a phenomenological method was used to investigate the impact of long-term psychological child maltreatment by one's maternal figure. The objective of the present study was to explicate victims' perspectives on their psychological maltreatment as a coherent whole. Five adults (ages 18–25) reporting a history of childhood psychological maltreatment provided descriptions of their maltreatment in written and verbal form. The descriptions were analyzed in such a way as to elucidate the quality and significance of having been psychologically abused as experienced by these victims. Themes revolving around feelings of worthlessness, inadequacy, self-dissatisfaction, and disempowerment were found to determine the ways in which low self-esteem, aggression, self-directed anger, and pessimism about one's future arose within the victims' perceptions of abuse.
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