Identifying and Understanding Revictimization Patterns

Identifying and Understanding Revictimization Patterns

Revictimization is defined as an experience that will be endured repeatedly. For more than four decades, researchers, social workers and therapists have discussed the probability that once a child has been sexually assaulted, s/he is at higher risk for suffering subsequent assaults. David Finkelhor and colleagues found in their sample of 1467 children questioned about a comprehensive range of victimization experiences that those who had been sexually abused were nearly seven times more likely to encounter further sexual assault than those who had never been abused. Children who had suffered physical abuse were 2.2 times more likely to experience a similar assault within the next year. The researchers concluded that victimization of any type left a substantial vulnerability for subsequent revictimization.1

In one article about sexual revictimization, Lalor and McElvaney reviewed 128 international scholarly articles pertaining to child sexual assault that had been published between 1979 and 2009. Cumulatively, these studies found that children or adolescents who had been sexually assaulted were twice to nearly fourteen times more likely to be sexually victimized in adulthood.2

In 1995-1996, 8,000 females and 8,009 males in the US were polled via telephone about their history of abuse. Women who had experienced child sexual assault were twice as likely to report adult sexual victimization than those who had not been assaulted. Females who had experienced both child sexual assault and childhood physical abuse were three times more likely to report physical or sexual victimization in adulthood. Men who experienced child sexual assault were nearly six times more likely to experience adult sexual victimization than those who had not.3

In Diana Russell’s book about incest, she reported that 68% of incest survivors were subsequently victims of rape or attempted rape by a nonrelative. Of the women in her study who had not been incestuously abused, 38% reported experiencing rape or attempted rape. Seven percent of women who were not incest victims reported having been raped by a marriage partner while nearly three times as many incest victims (19%) disclosed such assaults.4

Incest survivors in Russell’s study also described markedly greater anxiety about further sexual abuse than women who had not been subjected to incest. As adults 82% of incest survivors feared their own children would become victims of sexual assault.

But Why?

Some researchers hypothesize that childhood abuse may interfere with normal development of interpersonal relatedness and affect regulation, which decrease the victim’s awareness of danger. Some female victims may associate sexuality with pain or punishment, leading them to believe that coercion and trauma are normal aspects of sexual relations, leaving them with a tolerance for coercive or forceful sexual advances.

Finkelhor and Browne believed the four factors below alter children’s cognitive and emotional orientation to the world, distorting their self-concept, world view, and affective capacities.

Traumatic Sexualization – a process in which a child’s sexuality (feelings and attitudes) is shaped in a developmentally inappropriate and interpersonally dysfunctional fashion as a result of sexual abuse. Some children respond to sexual exploitation by becoming promiscuous as adolescents or adults. Others develop an aversion to sex, associating it with revulsion, fear, anger, or a sense of powerlessness.

Betrayal – the dynamic in which children discover that someone on whom they were dependent has caused them harm, a consequence of which is an impaired ability to judge the trustworthiness of others. This may make them more vulnerable to subsequent abuse.

Powerlessness – the process in which the child’s will, desires, and sense of efficacy are violated. During child sexual assault, his/her territory and body space are invaded against the child’s will. That inability to protect one’s boundaries may result in reduced confidence and the assertiveness necessary to reject unwanted sexual advances.

Stigmatization – negative connotations, such as “badness,” shame, and guilt that are communicated to the child about the sexual assault experience that become incorporated into the child’s self-image. These may be communicated by the perpetrator and/or may be a result of the child’s awareness of taboos against child sexuality and incest. These beliefs may be reinforced by victim blaming or shocked responses when the child discloses the abuse to an adult.5

Can the Cycle be Stopped?

Walker, Freud, et. al, found that 47.9% of sexual assault survivors are revictimized at some point in their lives.6 If this phenomenon is to be altered, drastic changes must be implemented. Parents, childcare providers, and teachers can redouble their efforts to equip children with prevention strategies such as assertiveness and refusal skills. Investigation of child sexual assault can be streamlined to reduce trauma and be used as a springboard to the healing/recovery process for the victim. Follow-up therapy which puts the responsibility of the abuse directly on the perpetrator, and focuses on building the confidence, self-esteem, and efficacy of the child to stand up for his/her rights has the potential to prevent subsequent assaults. An informed society can make an impact on the scourge of sexual assault.

References

1 Finkelhor, D.,.Ormrod, R. K., & Turner, H. A. (2007). Revictimization patterns in a national longitudinal sample of children and youth. Child Abuse and Neglect (5), 479-502.

2 Lalor, K & McElvaney, R. (2010). Child sexual abuse, links to later sexual exploitation/high risk behavior, and prevention/treatment programs. Sage Journals, 4.

3 (No authors cited.) (1996). National Violence Against Women Survey. National Institute of Justice and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

4  Russel, D. The Secret Trauma. New York: Basic Books, 1986.

5 Finkelhor, D. & Browne, A. (1985). The traumatic impact of child sexual abuse: a conceptualization. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, (4), 530-541.

6 Walker, H. E., Freud, J. S., et al. (2019). The prevalence of sexual revictimization: a meta-analytic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse (20), 67-80.