NCJ Number
168026
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1997) Pages: 107-117
Date Published
1997
Length
11 pages
Annotation
A qualitative study explored the impact of childhood sexual abuse on the lives of a nonclinical sample of 25 adult males in the United Kingdom who responded to advertisements for adult male survivors of child sexual abuse and focused particularly on seven participants who were abused by their mothers.
Abstract
The author conducted detailed interviews with the participants to discover how their experiences of childhood sexual abuse had influenced their psychosocial development. Results revealed that 13 of the 25 men were abused by females. Further analysis of information from seven men who were abused by their mothers revealed how the definition, prevalence, and outcomes of maternal sexual abuse are affected by male socialization, creating additional difficulties for these men. Only one of the seven men is currently married. Four have been divorced and two have never married. All the divorced men related their marital difficulties to their abuse. The men were all first sons. Repression was the main coping mechanism used. Two men had directly acted out their abuse during childhood or adolescence. Findings indicated the need to acknowledge that mothers can abuse their sons to allow men the opportunity to acknowledge their pain and for mothers to acknowledge their shame, confusion, and other feelings. Tables and 29 references (Author abstract modified)