When Compassion is Making It Worse: Social Dynamics of Tabooing Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract

The paper explores the social dynamics of tabooing, using sexual abuse of children as an example. Some social categories are problematic to embrace, because they entail socially problematic category bound activities in an emotional context of guilt and shame. This theoretical paper shows how a victim of sexual abuse as a child may suffer from two separate offenses, a sexual and a social; one caused by actions of the offender, one caused by actions of intended helpers. By ascribing an identity of 'incest victim' or 'victim of child sexual abuse' to a person, the taboo act becomes linked to the person. This may be an inescapable ascribed identity for the person, leading her/him to be subject of both sexual and social offenses. As a consequence, potential 'victims' may have troubled affiliation with such identity casting, and may fight a future tabooed role by not reporting tabooed abusive actions, hence not receiving the help needed to recover. Keywords Taboo Á Sexual abuse Á Children Á Category bound activities Á Interaction Á Identity The aim of this paper is to use micro sociology and structural semantics to explore the dynamics of tabooing theoretically. The paper will discuss why tabooing is This paper was originally presented at the conference Køn-Kraenker-Offer [Gender-Offender-Victim], Hindsgavl Slot, Middelfart, 2008, organized by ''Forskningsnetvaerket om seksuelle overgreb mod børn'' and Servicestyrelsen [''Research network on sexual assaults against children'' and the department of Ministry of Social Affairs]. It was later revised and presented at The Danish Conference of Sociology themed Troubled Identities, University of Aarhus, 2012, in the panel Affiliation, Identity and Interaction, organized by Birte Asmub and Jakob Steensig. I am grateful for all participant comments at these occasions.

Evaluating the association between interpersonal trauma and self-identity: A systematic review.

“…Collectively, the pediatric and adult studies attest to the detrimental impact that child abuse and maltreatment has on a child’s self-identity in formative developmental years. These findings are also in line with the literature that demonstrates childhood to be a critical point in the trajectory of self-identity development (McCarter, 2011) and that exposure to trauma can disrupt this process (Downs, 1993; Nielsen, 2016). Furthermore, adolescence is suggested to be a separate important stage on the identity trajectory (Capella, 2017) and is associated with further risk of subsequent adjustment issues following sexual abuse (Lewis & Sarrel, 1969).…”

“…Attachment theory posits that infants derive internal expectations from repeated experiences with their caregivers, which over time lead to the development of perceptions about (and the distinction between) the self and others (Alexander, 1992; Alexander, 1993). Moreover, it is well-documented that being exposed to potentially traumatic events at an early age can cause a disruption to vital stages of childhood development, including forming a stable sense of self, and can predispose children to subsequent psychological impairment (Nielsen, 2016; Zlotnick et al, 2008).…”

Contesting the Dominant Discourse of Child Sexual Abuse: Sexual Subjects, Agency, and Ethics

“…The survivor position offers a better sense of agency, but that agency is built around the specific experience of sexual abuse. Such positioning as survivor, in turn, reproduces the centrality of the incident of CSA in one's sense of self throughout their lives (Dunn 2005;Nielsen 2016;Warner 2001). By refusing to take up these positions, Hardi's subjectivity is not confined to these limited ways of seeing himself as a sexual subject.…”

The perspective of victims/survivors on media coverage of child sexual abuse

“…Furthermore, exemplification or case studies show that linking a topic to a case creates a much stronger impact on the recipients than factual reporting and thus, under certain circumstances, also creates a distorted perception of the topic (e.g., Krämer, 2015). At the same time, such reports on individual cases may trigger distress among affected groups (e.g., Maercker & Mehr, 2006) and lead to this topic being even more taboo because the factual reference is missing (e.g., Gold schmidt-Gjerløw, 2019;Nielsen, 2016).…”