NCJ Number
128876
Date Published
1990
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the use of the terms "victim" and "survivor" as applicable to the sexual abuse of males and provides an overview of therapy for such persons in the grief process.
Abstract
The feminist perspective has sought to replace the term "victim" for sexually abused women with the term "survivor," as a means of conceptually neutralizing the power imbalance between male abusers and the females who have been abused. These terms do not carry the same conceptual connotations with males who have been sexually abused, however. Since men traditionally have not thought of themselves as being victims, applying this word to what has happened to them triggers profound emotional reactions of fear, anger, hurt, shame, and sadness. Access to these emotions is more easily attained when the term "victim" is used rather than the term "survivor." The term "survivor" appropriately applies to persons who have overcome the victimization experience, but even this term must be transcended as the abuse experience is removed as an issue of identity. These concepts are best applied in the context of viewing therapy as a grief process similar to that described by Kubler-Ross (1969). These stages include denial of victimization, bargaining to reduce negative effects, anger at the victimization, sadness due to the losses suffered, and acceptance and forgiveness that lead to a minimization of the incident's impact upon subsequent life experiences and possibilities. A therapeutic style that leads the client through the process is described. 13 references