NCJ Number
196483
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 91-110
Date Published
2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Drawn from interviews with adult women, this article discusses multiple childhood sexual abuse and polyincest.
Abstract
In this article, the multiplicity of childhood sexual abuse and polyincest is explored through a clinical sample of 88 adult women and in-depth interviews with 30 of these women. Following a comprehensive literature review on issues of multiple sexual abusers in childhood and polyincest, the authors describe the quantitative and qualitative data used to explore the issue of childhood sexual abuse among adult women. Questionnaires were given to women who received various types of treatments for childhood sexual abuse, with 88 women returning the questionnaire and 30 women volunteering to participate in a follow-up interview. Residing in small towns and rural areas in central New York and Pennsylvania, 95 percent of participants were white, ranging in age from 19 to 64. Results indicate that 43 percent of the 88 women had three or more childhood sexual abusers and 23 percent experienced polyincest. Dividing the 30 women interviewed into three categories: Single Abuser, Multiple Abuser, and Polyincestuous, the authors found that various types of silencing was imposed on the victims/survivors of childhood sexual abuse, with victims of polyincest experiencing little support from their families, friends, or authorities. Experiencing denial, minimization, normalization, and fear, the women interviewed reported being confused, shamed, and terrified into silence concerning their childhood sexual abuse. Tables, references