Abstract
Background: Harmful preadolescent sexual behavior (HPSB) is an understudied phenomenon in the field of child sexual abuse (CSA). Objective: The purpose of the present study was to analyze and describe the experiences and perceptions of adult survivors of HPSB. Participants and setting: 16 survivors of HPSB were recruited as part of a purposeful sample. Their ages at the time of the study ranged from 21 to 50; they were Jewish-Israeli, secular, and Hebrew-speaking. Methods: Semi-structured interviews and qualitative thematic analysis were conducted based on a descriptive phenomenological-psychological approach. Results: Participants described elements of complexity in their perceptions of the “truthiness” of their memories and the mutuality of the HPSB experiences, as well as their primacy, seriousness, and life impact. They also described elements of support during disclosure, but mostly exposed the challenges and hardship involved, particularly the lack of legitimacy in exposing harmful sexual behavior perpetrated by other children. Conclusions: Both the HPSB experiences themselves and the subsequent disclosure contributed to the development of detached, mistrustful identities among the participants.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 105368 |
Journal | Child Abuse and Neglect |
Volume | 123 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Most interviews in this study were conducted by the first author's graduate and undergraduate students in social work, as part of their fulfillment of the requirements of a seminar on the topic. We are grateful to our students for their time, effort, dedication to this difficult topic, and, most importantly, for their help in giving voice to survivors of PAPSA, in some cases for the first time in their lives.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Child sexual abuse (CSA)
- Harmful preadolescent sexual behavior (HPSB)
- Harmful preadolescent sexual behavior disclosure
- Peer sexual behavior
- Survivors' perceptions
- Sexual Behavior
- Humans
- Survivors
- Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology
- Disclosure
- Child Abuse
- Adult
- Child