Child Sexual Abuse : Emotional Reactions, Part 2

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

(Page 3 of 5)

The Impact of Socioeconomic and Professional Status

Professionals need to be aware that they may react differently to cases involving middle to upper class individuals and cases involving the poor. Moreover, situations in which the accused is in a sensitive profession may evoke personal reactions that make it especially difficult to maintain professional distance and act without bias. As with gender, the issue of identification and consequent disbelief may play an important role.

Most professionals working in sexual abuse identify themselves as middle class; thus, they may be more aware of the impact on a middle class person of being accused or found guilty of a sex offense. Class bias is reflected in a commonly held assumption that the trauma of being accused or getting caught is greater for someone who has had an economically successful life and a promising future. In addition, professionals may have more difficulty believing abuse of a middle class person because the accused is "like us."

Likewise, the middle or upper class person may seem less likely to be a sex offender because he/she functions well enough in other aspects of living to sustain class status and may deny more convincingly than someone who is poor and undereducated.

Moreover, the affluent accused who are denying are able to mobilize more resources on their behalf than poor people. They can afford competent lawyers and will have funds to hire mental health experts for their defense. They may enlist the assistance of professionals they know personally and professionally. They may have greater capacity to enlist family, including the wife or husband and others, who are financial dependents to support their claims of innocence.

Adding to the difficulty of impartial intervention, an economic argument may be made. It is that cases involving middle and upper class male offenders should be handled differently because, if the offender is arrested or tried, he will lose his job and not be able to support his family. If convicted, he won't be able to practice his profession any more. If he is incarcerated, he won't be able to pay his bills.

In addition, as professionals, we often experience pressure from the accused's advocates as well as from other professionals, including our superiors, to moderate our intervention when the alleged offender has means or is prominent in the community. Such experiences exacerbate existing ambivalence regarding our professional roles.

The most problematic cases are ones in which the alleged offender works with children or is a member of one of the professions that play a role in sexual abuse intervention - a health care professional, a lawyer, a judge, a law enforcement officer, a mental health practitioner, a day care provider, or a teacher. As professionals, we must be involved in the reporting, investigation, treatment, or prosecution of one of "our own." The psychological and pragmatic need to deny or to minimize the wrongdoing of one of "us" may be especially strong. When faced with the knowledge of the sexual abuse, our ability to respond on a solely professional basis may fail.

Moreover, the stakes are extremely high because the accused professional almost certainly will not be able to continue to practice if found guilty. He/she knows this and therefore is very unlikely to admit to the sexual abuse or seek treatment. Because we as professionals can very easily imagine what it would be like to have our livelihood and well-being so jeopardized, we may become immobilized by denial or may perform our duty with great agony. Such responses reflect our overidentification professionally with the accused.

The Impact of Personal Experiences

Many life experiences can intrude upon professional practice, and working in sexual abuse can intrude upon a professional's personal life. Three personal issues that seem particularly salient are discussed below: having been sexually victimized, being a parent, and sexuality.

Sexual Victimization

A professional who has been sexually abused her/himself or who is part of a family in which there has been sexual abuse must cope with this personal issue as well as with the other stresses of work with sexual abuse. It is both infeasible and inappropriate to consider excluding such persons from working in this area. First, an estimated one-fourth to one-third of women are sexually victimized as children. The current estimates for men are lower, around 10 per cent. However, the majority of professionals who work in the field of sexual abuse are women. Second, persons who have sexual victimization in their background bring a special sensitivity and experience that can be of great value in their work. There is no research on professional motivation to work in sexual abuse. However, based on knowledge of what in general draws persons to help others, it is safe to assume that for a fair proportion of professionals, it has to do with some direct or personal knowledge about the problem.

Nevertheless, professionals who have personal experiences of sexual abuse need to have addressed these in therapy, be especially aware of countertransference issues, and be alert to the importance of protecting their own mental health.

Warning signs that the professional's own victimization is impeding performance include feeling so overwhelmed by fear, anxiety, disgust, or anger that the victimization interferes with sound decision making or intervention or evokes the strong desire for retribution; experiencing intrusive thoughts or having flashbacks at work; recalling previously repressed memories of victimization when involved in cases of sexual abuse; and displaying overly punitive responses to the nonoffending parent or offender. These signs certainly indicate the need for additional, skilled treatment and clinical supervision, but they should not automatically lead to a conclusion that the professional must cease her/his work in the field.

About the Author

www.childwelfare.gov
Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.