Professional Documents
Culture Documents
T
he literature on child sexual abuse is The model proposed here postulates
full of clinical observations about that the experience of sexual abuse can
problems that are thought to be associ be analyzed in terms of four trauma
ated with a history of abuse , such as causing factors, or what we will call
sexual dysfunction, depression, and low traumagenic dynamics -traumatic sex
self-esteem. However, such observa ualization, betrayal , powerlessne s s ,
tions have not yet been organized into a and stigmatization. These traumagenic
clear model that specifies how and why dynamics are generalized dynamics , not
sexual abuse results in this kind of necessarily unique to sexual abuse ; they
trauma. This paper is an attempt to occur in other kinds of trauma. But the
provide such a model. Based on a re conjunction of these four dynamics in
view of the literature on the effects of one set of circumstances is what makes
sexual abuse, 6 the paper suggests a con the trauma of sexual abuse unique, dif
ceptualization of the impact of sexual ferent from such childhood traumas as
abuse that can be used in both research the divorce of a child' s parents or even
and treatment. being the victim of physical child abuse.
Submitted to the Journal in February /985. Preparation of this work was supported by grants from the
National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (90CA 0936 /01) and the National Institute of Mental
Health (MH/5161).
These dynamics alter children's cog are fetishized and given distorted im
nitive and emotional orientation to the portance and meaning. It occurs
world, and create trauma by distorting through the misconceptions and confu
children's self-concept, world view, and sions about sexual behavior and sexual
affective capacities . For example, the morality that are transmitted to the child
dynamic of stigmatization distorts chil from the offender. And it occurs when
dren's sense of their own value and very frightening memories and events
worth. The dynamic of powerlessness become associated in the child' s mind
distorts children's sense of their ability with sexual activity.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
tempts to cope with the world through dramatically in terms of the amount and
these distortions may result in some of kind of traumatic sexualization they
the behavioral problems that are com provoke. Experiences in which the of
monly noted in victims of child sexual fender makes an effort to evoke the
abuse. This paper will describe the child' s sexual response, for example,
model and suggest some of its ramifica are probably more sexualizing than
tions and use s . We will first describe those in which an offender simply uses a
each of the four dynamics and then show passive child to masturbate with. Expe
how each dynamic is associated with riences in which the child is enticed to
some of the commonly observed effects participate are also likely to be more
of sexual abuse. We will conclude by sexualizing than those in which brute
illustrating how the model can be used in force is used. However, even with the
clinical work and in research. use of force, a form of traumatic
sexualization may occur as a result of
FOUR TRAUMAGENIC DYNAMICS
the fear that becomes associated with
Traumatic sexualization refers to a sex in the wake of such an experience .
process in which a child's sexuality (in The degree of a child' s understanding
cluding both sexual feelings and sexual may also affect the degree of sexualiza
attitudes) is shaped in a devel tion. Experiences in which the child,
opmentally inappropriate and interper because of early age or developmental
sonally dysfunctional fashion as a result level, understands few of the sexual im
of sexual abuse . This can happen in a plications of the activities may be less
variety of ways in the course of the sexualizing than those involving a child
abuse. Traumatic sexualization can with greater awareness. Children who
occur when a child is repeatedly re have been traumatically sexualized
warded by an offender for sexual be emerge from their experiences with in
havior that is inappropriate to his or her appropriate repertoires of sexual be
level of development. It occurs through havior, with confusions and miscon
the exchange of affection, attention, ceptions about their sexual self
privileges , and gifts for sexual behavior, concepts, and with unusual emotional
so that a child learns to use sexual associations to sexual activities.
behavior as a strategy for manipulating Betrayal refers to the dynamic by
others to satisfy a variety of devel which children discover that someone
opmentally appropriate needs. It occurs on whom they were vitally dependent
when certain parts of a child's anatomy has caused them harm . This may occur
532 C H I L D S EXUAL A B U S E
them treated them with callous disre abuse process. Powerlessness is then
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
gard . Children can experience betrayal reinforced when children see their at
not only at the hands of offenders, but tempts to halt the abuse frustrated . It is
also on the part of family members who increased when children feel fear, are
were not abusing them. A family unable to make adults understand or be
member whom they trusted but who was lieve what is happening, or realize how
unable or unwilling to protect or believe conditions of dependency have trapped
them-or who has a changed attitude them in the situation.
toward them after disclosure of the An authoritarian abuser who contin
abuse-may also contribute to the ually commands the child' s participa
dynamics of betrayal. tion by threatening serious harm will
Sexual abuse experiences that are probably instill more of a sense of pow
perpetrated by family members or other erlessness. But force and threat are not
trusted persons obviously involve more necessary: any kind of situation in
potential for betrayal than those in which a child feels trapped, if only by
volving strangers. However, the degree the realization of the consequences of
of betrayal may also be affected by how disclosure , can create a sense of pow
taken in the child feels by the offender, erlessness. Obviously, a situation in
whomever the offender. A child who which a child tells and is not believed
was suspicious of a father' s activities will also create a greater degree of pow
from the beginning may feel less be erlessness . However when children are
trayed than one who initially experi able to bring the abuse to an end effec
enced the contact as nurturing and lov tively, or at least exert some control
ing and then is suddenly shocked to over its occurrence , they may feel less
realize what is really happening. Obvi disempowered.
ously, the degree of betrayal is also re Stigmatization , the final dynamic,
lated to a family's response to disclo refers to the negative connotations
sure . Children who are disbelieved, e.g. , badness, shame , and guilt-that
blamed, or ostracized undoubtedly ex are communicated to the child around
perience a greater sense of betrayal than the e xperie nces and that then be
those who are supported . come incorporated into the child' s
Powerlessness-or what might also be self-i mage . The se negative mean
called disempowerment, the dynamic of ings are communicated in many ways.
rendering the victim powerless-refers They can come directly from the
to the process in which the child's will, abuser, who may blame the victim for
desires, and sense of efficacy are con- the activity, demean the victim, or fur-
F I N K E LH O R AND B R O W N E 533
tively convey a sense of shame about the then, account in our view for the main
behavior. Pressure for secrecy from the sources of trauma in child sexual abuse .
offender can also convey powerful mes They are not in any way pure or narrowly
sages of shame and guilt. But stigmati defined. Each dynamic can be seen,
zation is also reinforced by attitudes that rather, as a clustering of injurious influ
the victim infers or hears from other ences with a common theme . They are
persons in the family or community. best thought of as broad categories
Stigmatization may thus grow out of the useful for organizing and categorizing
child' s prior knowledge or sense that the our understanding of the effect of sexual
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
*A tabular presentation of these traumagenic dynamics, roughly broken down into psychological impact
and behavioral manifestations, is available from the authors.
534 C H I LD S EXUAL A B U S E
display knowledge and interests that are awareness of sexual issues, which may
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
studies suggesting that victims of sexual has been impaired, and whether later
abuse have a high risk for entering into sexual partners will be able to "tell."
prostitution. 5 19 3 2 Traumatic sexualization is also asso
The sexual problems of adult victims ciated with confusion about sexual
of sexual abuse have been among the norms and standards . Sexually vic
most researched and best e stablished timized children typically have mis
effects . Clinicians have reported that conceptions about sex and sexual rela
victimized clients often have an aver tions as a result of things offenders may
sion to sex, flashbacks to the molesta have said and done . One common con
tion experience , difficulty with arousal fusion concerns the role of sex in affec
and orgasm , and vaginismus, as well as tionate relationships. If child victims
negative attitudes toward their sexuality have traded sex for affection from the
and their bodies . 8 1 2 2 9 34 3 8 The fre abuser over a period of time , this may
quently demonstrated higher risk of become their view of the normal way to
sexual abuse victims to later sexual as give and obtain affection. 1 7 2 0 2 4 Some
sault may also be related to traumatic of the apparent sexualization in the be
sexualization , 1 1 1 3 1 7 30 and some havior of victimized children may stem
victims apparently find themselves in from this confusion .
appropriately sexualizing their children Another impact that traumatic sex-
FINKELHOR A N D B R O W N E 535
ualization may have is in the nega experience and that others would reject
tive connotations that come to be asso a person who had.
ciated with sex. Sexual contact associ
ated in a child's memory with revulsion, Betrayal
fear, anger, a sense of powerlessness, or A number of the effects noted in
other negative emotions can contami victims seem reasonably to be con
nate later sexual experience s . These nected with the experience of betrayal
feelings may become generalized as an that they have suffered, in the form of
aversion to all sex and intimacy, and grief reactions and depression over the
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
very probably also account for the sex loss ofa trusted figure . 1 3 7 20 2 1 Sexual
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
ual dysfunctions reported by victims. abuse victims suffer from grave disen
chantment and disillusionment. In com
bination with this there may be an in
Stigmatization tense need to regain trust and security,
Other effects of sexual abuse seem manifested in the extreme dependency
naturally grouped in relation to the and clinging seen in especially young
dynamic of stigmatization . Child vic victims. 20 2 3 This same need in adults
tims often feel isolated, and may gravi may show up in impaired judgment
tate to various stigmatized levels of about the trustworthiness of other
society. Thus they may get involved in people4 9 2 t . 34 3 6 3 8 or in a desperate
drug or alcohol abuse , in criminal search for a redeeming relation
activity, or in prostitution. 3 4 1 7 The ship.34 35 As mentioned before , several
effects of stigmatization may also studies of female incest victims have
reach extremes in forms of self-de remarked on the vulnerability of these
structive be havior and suicide at women to relationships in which they
tempts .4 1 1 . 1 1 . 2 1 . 34 . 35 are physically, psychologically, and
The psychological impact of these sexually abused.4 1 1 1 3 1 7 2 5 30 Some
problems has a number of related com victims even fail to recognize when their
ponents . Many sexual abuse victims ex partners become sexually abusive
perience considerable guilt and shame toward their children. This seems
as a result of their abuse . 2 1 0 1 1 The guilt plausibly related to both an overdepen
and shame seem logically associated dency and impaired judgment.
with the dynamic of stigmatization , An opposite reaction to betrayal
since they are a response to being characterized by hostility and anger
blamed and encountering negative has also been observed among sexually
reactions from others regarding the abused girls.4 9 26 Distrust may man
abuse . Low self-esteem is another part ifest itself in isolation and an aversion to
of the pattern, as the victim concludes intimate relationships. Sometimes this
from the negative attitudes toward distrust is directed especially at men and
abuse victims that they are " s poiled is a barrier to successful heterosexual
merc handise" 3 9 1 8 2 1 3 4 3 8 Stigma relationships or marriages. Studies have
tization also results in a sense of noted marital problems among sexual
being different based on the (incorrect) abuse victims that also may represent
belief that no one else has had such an the surfacing of mistrust and suspicion.
536 C H I LD SEXUAL A B U S E
The anger stemming from betrayal is who feel unable to cope with their envi
part of what may lie behind the aggres ronments. 1 2 7 1 7 2 2 2 4 26 Finally , it
sive and hostile posture of some sexual seems readily related to the high risk of
abuse victims, particularly adoles subsequent victimization (noted in pre
cents , ! 8 1 0 2 1 ' 27 39 4 1 Such anger may vious sections) from which sexual abuse
be a primitive way of trying to protect victims appear to suffer: these victims
the self against future betrayals. Antiso may feel powerless to thwart others who
cial behavior and delinquency some are trying to manipulate them or do them
times associated with a history of harm.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
this anger and may represent a desire for rience of powerlessness may account
retaliation. Thus, betrayal seems a for a third cluster of effects . In reaction
common dynamic behind a number of to powerlessness, some sexual abuse
the observed reactions to sexual abuse. victims may have unusual and dysfunc
tional needs to control or dominate . This
Powerlessness would seem particularly to be the case
There is also a configuration of effects for male victims, for whom issues of
of sexual abuse that seem plausibly re power and control are made very salient
lated to the dynamic of powerlessness. by male sex role socialization . 1 6 28
One reaction to powerlessness is obvi Some aggressive and delinquent be
ously fear and anxiety, which reflect the havior would seem to stem from this
inability to control noxious events. desire to be tough, powerful, and fear
Many of the initial responses to sexual som e , if even in desparate ways, to com
abuse among children are connected to pensate for the pain of powerlessness.
fear and anxiety . Nightmares, phobias, When victims become bullies and of
hypervigilance , clinging behavior, and fenders , reenacting their own abuse , it
somatic complaints related to anxiety may be in large measure to regain the
have been repeatedly documented sense of power and domination that
among sexually abused children . 1 2 these victims attribute to their own
1. 8 . 1 . 1 . 1 . 2 1 . 22 . 26 . 3 3 , 35 , 39 These fears abuser. All these effects seem related
0 4 5
and anxieties may extend into adulthood to the traumatic dynamic of powerless
as well . ness that is integral to the sexual abuse
A second major effect of powerless experience.
ness is to impair a person' s sense of effi The preceding should give a sense of
cacy and coping skills . Having been a how the four traumagenic dynamics are
victim on repeated occasions may make connected to the common patterns of
it difficult to act without the expectation reactions seen among victims. It should
of being revictimized. This sense of im be clear, however, that the reactions are
potence may be associated with the de overdetermined. Some effects seem
spair, depression, and even suicidal be plausibly connected to two or even three
havior often noted among adolescent traumagenic dynamics ; for example,
and adult victims . It may also be re depression can be seen as growing out of
flected in learning problems, running stigmatization , betrayal, or powerless
away, and employment difficulties, ness. There is no one-to-one corre
which researchers have noted in victims spondence between dynamics and ef-
FINKELHOR A N D B R O W N E 537
fects. It may be that stigma-related de yond the fact that its assumptions are
pression has different manifestations largely untested, the approach results in
and therefore calls for a different thera an overly simplistic classification of ex
peutic approach than depression related periences as either more or less serious.
to powerlessness. Such hypotheses Nothing about the character of the ef
suggested by the model are. worthy of fect is inferred, and nothing about how
further clinical and empirical investiga the trauma is likely to manifest itself is
tion. suggested.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
CLINICAL ASSESSMENT USING THE proposed here allows for a more com
MODEL OF TRAUMAGENIC DYNAMICS
plex assessment of the potential for
Of the many possible uses for the con trauma. With the assistance of these
ceptual model described here , an obvi concepts, the clinician can evaluate an
ous one is in making clinical as abuse experience on four separate di
sessments of the possible effects of mensions. The question is not whether it
abuse . Up to the present, clinicians have was more or less serious, but rather what
evaluated abuse experiences on the specific injurious dynamics were pres
basis of unsystematic and untested as ent. The characteristics of the experi
sumptions about what causes trauma. ence itself can be examined for their
There have been some atte mpts to contribution to each of the traumagenic
classify abuse experiences to aid in as processes. On the basis of the config
sessment, but these classifications have uration of traumagenic dynamics most
various shortcomings. present in an experience , the clinician
One common classification scheme can anticipate what would be the most
looks at the characteristics of the of likely types of effects.
fender: for example, whether the abuse Thus, a clinician might proceed
was at the hands of a " regressed" or through the model dynamic by dynamic,
" fixated" abuser. 1 6 However, this con asking first: How traumatically sex
ceptualization provides little insight into ualizing was this experience? Facts
the nature of the trauma experienced by about the experience , such as whether
the child . More often, experiences have intercourse occurred, how long it went
been classified according to simple on, and the degree to which the child
dichotomies which reflect collective participated, all might contribute to an
clinical judgment about what kinds of assessment of the degree of sexualiza
abuse are " more traumatic ." Thus, tion. Next a clinician would ask: How
abuse is commonly distinguished by stigmatizing was the experience? Fac
whether it occurred inside or outside the tors such as how long it went on, the age
family, on the belief that abuse inside of the child, the number of people who
the family has more serious effects on knew about it , and the degree to which
the child . Abuse is also commonly others blamed the child subsequent to
categorized according to whether or not the disclosure would all add to the as
penetration occurred and whether force sessment of this dynamic. Similarly,
was used. with regard to betrayal, facts about the
This approach to assessing the poten relationship between the victim and the
tial for trauma has real limitations. Be- offender, the way in which the offender
538 C H I LD SEXUAL ABUSE
involved the victim, and the attempts how others respond to it . The concep
successful and unsuccessful-of the tual framework being proposed here is
victim to get assistance and support easily adapted to this need.
from other family members would all be The four traumagenic dynamics do
taken into account. Finally , the facts not apply solely to the abuse e vent.
about the presence of force , the degree They are ongoing processes that have a
to which coercion was brought to bear, history prior to and a future subsequent
the duration of the abuse, and the cir to the abuse. They can be assessed in
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
cumstances under which the abuse was each phase . In the pre-abuse phase, the
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
the experience itself, as a child encoun tions, but these are not necessarily the
ters family and societal reactions. A pathologies related most closely to sex
child who was relatively unstigmatized ual abuse . The ad hoc measures, by
by the molestation itself may undergo contrast, are more sensitive to the spe
serious stigmatization if later rejected cific pathology that may result from
by friends or blamed by family and if sexual abuse , but they are not based on
having been abused remains a focus for any theory, and often suffer from lack of
a long time . The dynamic of powerless methodological rigor.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
defining a " post-sexual-abuse syndrome ." survival pattern. Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 1 4:
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
For reprints: David Finkelhor, Ph. D . , Family Violence Research Program, University of New Hampshire, Durham,
N . H . 03824