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The effects of sexual abuse on the wellbeing of adults
Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques for children that have been sexually abused
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Sexual abuse and assault is slowly becoming more prevalent in society today. It is a part of life that no person should have to experience; however, there are around 293,000 victims of sexual assault each year, and some cases are not even reported to the police. Most abuse is done by someone the victim knows, even family. In The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Charlie was a victim of sexual abuse by his aunt, and he did not even know it. This experience was suppressed and continually affected him every day as he grew up. There are adults today who share Charlie’s experience and struggle with the result sexual abuse in the family.
Adam grew up enjoying the time the spent with his uncle. It was a good relationship until he was
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14, then his uncle began to abuse him. Adam did not know how to act because these actions were new to him. He did not expect his uncle to act this way. “It’s not like he wore a sign saying, ‘I’m a sexual predator.’ He was that cool uncle” (“Adam’s Story” Par. 1). Abuse can come from someone the victim least expects it to. For Adam it was his favorite uncle, for Charlie it was his favorite aunt. Charlie had the same great experiences with his aunt that Adam had with his uncle. “My Aunt Helen would always let us kids stay up and watch Saturday Night Live when she was baby-sitting or when she was living with us…” (Chbosky 16). This is Charlie’s favorite memory with his aunt, and this is also when the sexual abuse happened. Both Adam and Charlie’s abusers used a tactic to keep them silent about the abuse. Whether it was letting Charlie stay up late to watch SNl, or giving Adam cigarettes and expensive sporting event tickets, it keep them silent. In the book, the abuse affected Charlie negatively throughout his life.
The same goes with real life victim of sexaul abuse. Imani Boyette, a member of the Longhorns basketball team, was abused by two different members of her family. This caused her to struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts and tendencies. “A short time later, Imani locked herself in the bathroom and swallowed pills from a bottle she found there. By that time she was again being molested, by a different family member. These episodes lasted from ages eight to 13 and were so traumatic that she couldn't speak about it to anyone. She attempted suicide twice more when she was 15, the last time ending up in the ER and spending two weeks in a treatment center. Still, she told no one the reason for her despair” (Chen Par. 10). Imani knew the second time why she was so depressed, but the first time it took dreams when she was senior in high school to figure out what had been happening when she was younger. This is exactly how Charlie realized what had happened every night after SNL. They had both repressed these memories until someone or something triggered them to dream about it later in life. “When I fell asleep, I had this dream. My brother and my sister and I were watching television with my Aunt Helen. Everything was in slow motion. The sound was thick. And she was doing what Sam was doing. That’s when I woke up” (Chbosky 115). Imani’s story is a real version of Charlie’s story. Both of them were …show more content…
abused by people whom they believed they could trust. The emotional impact of this caused them to suppress this memory until they were older and trying to become functioning adults. When it come to sexual abuse in the family, the road to recovery is not an easy one. It can take sleepless nights, nightmares, and hours upon hours of therapy. Imani and Adam struggled in the same way Charlie did. After Charlie’s realization, he had to stay in a hospital. He did not acknowledge anyone for a week and struggled to talk about what happened with his Aunt Helen. Imani had taken the same steps towards recovery, but still found it hard to talk about it in the same way Charlie did. “Imani Boyette understands all that now—but that hasn't made it any easier. ‘Talking about it, it's healthy and it's important," she says, ‘but it's still hard, you know?’” (Chen Par. 1). Both acknowledge the importance of talking through the issues that they faced. That forgiveness is really what will get you to be okay again. Charlie does not blame his aunt because he realizes that that will get him nowhere. He would just have to blame everyone who had made his aunt Helen that way. It was not the purpose of his recovery to blame everyone. The same goes with Imami. She was angry at her mom for the majority of her life, but she learned to forgive her mom so she could move on in her life. All three victims also learned not to allow the abuse to define them as a person.
They are not just victims of sexual abuse, they are so much more. “I’m not the way I am because of what I dreamt and remembered about my aunt Helen. That’s what I figured out when things got quiet. And I think that’s very important to know” (Chbosky 211). Charlie moved on and so did Adam. “...I have not allowed myself to be defined by the abuse” (“Adam’s Story” Par. 9). Imami defined herself as not only a survivor but a mother, a daughter, and a wife. They all learned that it was not their fault and that what happened was not going to control their life. What happened was still important, but it was not the most important aspect of
them. Being abused by someone you trust is not an easy obstacle to overcome; however, Charlie, Imami and Adam all pushed through and came out on top. Imami can now sleep in the same bed as her husband. Adam can now sleep through the night without nightmares. Charlie has come to terms with it and can now move on. There are stories today in America that are just like Charlie’s, but they do not get the salvation he does. Steps need to be taken to stop this abuse so The Perks of Being a Wallflower no longer reflects reality.
“Often it isn’t the initiating trauma that creates seemingly insurmountable pain, but the lack of support after.” (Harrell) There is a lot of trauma a victim of sexual assault goes through. This trauma can last years if not dealt with properly, in fact, ninety-four percent of women who are raped experience post-traumatic stress disorder and seventy percent of victims experience moderate to severe distress. Melinda Sordino is also a victim of sexual assault, she’s seen going through the life of a grade nine girl trying to fit into a new environment, make new friends, and find herself, all while coping with her past. Melinda’s distant relationship with her parents leads to her lack of confidence to ask for support and becomes one of the major
“We aren’t the weeds in the crack of life. We’re the strong, amazing flowers that found a way to grow in the challenging conditions.” (McElvaney, 1057) The book entitled “Spirit Unbroken: Abby’s Story,” offers a perspective on child abuse providing a positive outlook on a tragic situation. Even in the best of circumstances, however, victims of abuse can see the effects of the trauma for the rest of their life. For each individual person affected by this form of trauma, the reactions can vary. The same type of abuse in two different people can have very different outcomes – one could be that of coping, and the other a life of brokenness. Especially at impressionable ages, any form of abuse can be a hindrance in living a normal life. Children
This movie touches on many problematical topics that will have affected the lives of our future clients, such as poverty stricken home environments, substance abuse, poor academic abilities, most importantly, physical and sexual abuse, which ironically the name of this course. Research states “one in four girls and one in 6 boys is sexual abused before the age of 18 and of those girls 30 to 40 percent of those attacks are committed by family members and 50 percent by people whom they know” (BJS,2015). Because many of these survivors will not disclose or is unable to receive adequate psychological treatment, there is a strong likelihood these individuals will grow up with self-esteem issues, difficulty in social relationship, anxiety, depression, and are higher risk for substance abuse and incarceration
...eneficial due to the suggestions Simmons gives to teachers, parents and the victims themselves on effective ways to avoid and prevent this abusive behavior from continuing. I would highly recommend this book to girls of all ages, parents, teachers, school faculty or anyone who has contact with girls. Simmons believes we need to teach girls that it is okay to expose their most uncomfortable feelings. There are many dangerous warning signs of girls giving themselves over to someone else’s terms and denying their own feelings which worry Simmons the most. This behavior is dangerous and could lead to victims staying in violent relationships in the future if we do not teach girls early to know how to resist the signs of abuse.
Understanding the drive for molestation of an individual is hard to grasp. “Sick” is the word that parents and other individuals would describe it as. An article written to provide information on victims of sexual assault stated, “Approximately 1.8 million adolescents in the United States have been the victims of sexual assault” (NSOPW). The take on the issue is a very touching subject to talk about. According to Murray, “Most victims happen to be women or young girls and their rapists are usually close family, friends, or distant acquaintances” (211).
Brian’s parents did not take notice or action when he displayed these symptoms. If they had, I believe Brian would have first gone to see a therapist. Since Brian is missing periods of time from his memory, the therapist would first start by trying to work with Brian to retrieve the repressed memories. They could use direct questioning, hypnosis, dream analysis, and attending survivors groups. I believe after Brian’s repressed memories are brought to light, the therapist would use TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) when treating Brian’s trauma from the sexual abuse. Treatment starts with educating both the victim and the parents. This would really help Brian and his parents while hearing and learning about the sexual abuse. His mother could become very protective and it would be good for her to hear from a therapist about the steps necessary to help deal with the trauma in a positive way. Brian’s dad could blame himself for the abuse considering he was not around on day the abuse occurred. The therapist could help his father by explaining that we can’t focus on what he could of done but what he can do now to support Brian. Affect and regulation could help Brian identify the feelings he had towards the sexual abuse, but not by withdrawing or avoiding these feelings, which he currently does when he represses and avoids
The effects of childhood sexual abuse carry on with the children forever. To what extent and to what effect does abuse have on children during adulthood? What are the main issues that adults have been abused suffer from in adulthood? Do they have more of a physical issue with preforming with their partner in the bedroom or do they have more of a mental block due to their trauma? The world had been asking these questions for far too long and we need answers on how helping the children of our world. The questions that have been stated have been answered through the two articles that will be summarized below.
Mayer, Adele. Sexual Abuse: Causes, Consequences and Treatment of Incestuous and Pedophilic Acts. Holmes Beach: Learning Publications, 1985.
Through the assessment of data, examiners reached a general conclusion regarding the permanent somatic and emotional effects of CSA. According to Irish et al. (2009), it was proved that victims of sexual assault undergo extreme depression, eating disorders, anxiety, and terror outbreaks. Likewise, the investigation indicated that these persons exhibited a conversion of their psychological trauma into somatic signs since they developed drastic health issues such as body aching, obesity, gastric complications, and heart and lung illnesses; as a result, victims of child sexual abuse usually get sick more often during middle and old age than other individuals.
Sexual abuse cannot be clearly defined with ease. In fact, sexual abuse is an umbrella term for any sort of situation, whether or not it involves physical contact, in which a sexually immature child is exposed to anything sexual in nature. Because no child is psychologically mature enough for sexual stimulation, the complex feelings associated with it are mentally and emotionally disfiguring. Children who have been sexually abused experience an array of negative emotions such as shame, guilt and anger, and may display oddly withdrawn or distrustful behaviors. They cannot help but feel that they somehow brought the abuse unto themselves (Saisan, et al). One major contributing factor to these severe psychological consequences is the concept of trust. Sexual abuse is, in most cases, committed by a parent or other trusted adult figure. While children are naïve on such adult topics, they can still get an overwhelming feeling that the attention is wrong, yet they are unsure of how to cope with it. If the child has an emotional atta...
“Women with a childhood abuse history are around 1.4 to 3.7 times more likely to be sexually assaulted in adulthood, and a majority (around 59%) of women with either childhood sexual assaults (CSA) or adult assaults have experienced both” (Cloitre & Rosenberg, 2006). Revictimization for prior victims is an important topic social issues in our society today. Knowing and understanding the cycle of abuse can facilitate the prevention of future victimization for such a vulnerable population. It is hard to grasp that one population of people maybe more vulnerable then others, and it’s hard to come to terms with that fact if you belong to such populations. “This interest is grounded in evidence that persons who experience one victimization (an assault, a burglary, sexual abuse, etc.) are at greater risk for subsequent victimizations and the obvious merit of interrupting this pattern” (Weisel, 2005). Victimization during childhood creates a lasting psychological effect and it’s significant to understand the ramifications of this abuse. For this topic we can define re-victimization as “the experience of victimization among those with prior histories of trauma...” (Duckworth & Follette, 2011; Widom, Czaja, & Dutton, 2008). Nevertheless revictimization is defined in several different ways and this is one difficulty while studying revictimization.
“Numerous studies have demonstrated that experiencing child abuse can lead to a range of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems” (Moylan, 2010). Precious’s internalization of depression and emotional numbing are all factors that contribute to her self-concept. Study shows that “childhood sexual abuse has been correlated with higher levels of depression, guilt, shame, self-blame, eating disorders, somatic concerns, anxiety, dissociative patterns, repression, denial, sexual problems, and relationship problems” (Hall, 2011). The implications of sexual abuse are often detrimental to the mental state of an adolescent. Psychiatric evaluations show that Precious suffers from symptoms of PTSD and Major Depression
In the novel “The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky charlie witnesses a rape as a child and didn't intervene because when Aunt Helen molested charlie he became unaware of the rights and wrong of intimacy which shows he was confused about identifying a sexual violation.
There are many different types of victims we have discussed over the course of this class, but we’re only going to talk about two types in the following paper. These two types of victims are common just as any another victim across America. These include sex assault victims and child abuse victims, which are both primary victims in cases. The two share a tie together, both are a victim of abuse and can cause lifelong consequences, but they also pose many differences as well. Many questions arise when talking about victims, for example why is a child or adult being abused and what are the life altering affects to these actions. Throughout this paper we discuss both sexual assault victims and child abuse victims and compare and contrast between the two.
More importantly, “60 percent of children who are sexually abused do not disclose and most are acquaintances but as many as 47 percent are family or extended family” (The Scope of, 2016). The prevalence of child sexual abuse is difficult to determine because it is often not reported; experts agree that the incidence is far greater than what is reported to authorities (Child Sexual Abuse, 2012). Startling statistics represent the depth of the issue. Globally, prevalence rates show that a range of 7-36% of women and 3-29% of men experience sexual abuse in childhood (The Scope of, 2016). “The U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau report child maltreatment 2010 found that 9.2% of victimized children were sexually assaulted” (Child Sexual Abuse,