Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Abuse Victims and High-Profile Offenders: A Discourse Analysis of Victim Construction and Adult Mental Health

  • Chapter
The Palgrave Handbook of Adult Mental Health

  • 1837 Accesses

Abstract

When individuals are sexually abused in their childhood, it can have a long-lasting effect on their well-being and mental health. Child sexual abuse has been at the root of many scandals globally, many of which have been exposed by the media. This form of abuse of children is a widespread issue that affects children of all ages, and their socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds (Modelli, Galvão, & Pratesi, 2012), and is carried well into and throughout their adult years. Consequently, the impact of being a child victim of sexual abuse has attracted a great deal of media attention and there is now a broad research literature examining these issues. In this chapter, we focus on how traumatic incidents in childhood can have a significant impact on adults who were childhood victims of sexual abuse. Specifically, we examine this phenomenon in the context of celebrity abusers, to examine how media spotlight on such high-profile cases creates an additional layer of complexity in relation to the discourse of blaming victims and mental health construction of the now adult individuals.

Unfortunately, evidence worldwide indicates that children and adolescents are at risk from sexual predators, exploiters, and opportunists.

(Lalor & McElvaney, 2010, p. 159)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Alaggia, R. (2005). Disclosing the trauma of child sexual abuse: A gender analysis. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 10(5), 453–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. C., & Lupfer, S. L., (1987). Family characteristics and long-term consequences associated with sexual abuse. Archives of Sexual behaviour, 16(3), 235–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, K. J., & Accomando, C. (1999). Madcap misogyny and romanticized victim-blaming: Discourses of stalking in there’s something about Mary. Women and Language, 22(1), 22–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arata, C. M. (1998). To tell or not to tell: Current functioning of child sexual abuse survivors who disclosed their victimization. Child Maltreatment, 3(1), 63–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banyard, V. L., Williams, L. M., & Siegel, J. A. (2004). Childhood sexual abuse: A gender perspective on context and consequences. Child Maltreatment, 9(3), 223–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bebbington, P. (2009). Childhood sexual abuse and psychosis, epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 18, 284–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckett, K. (1996). Culture and the politics of signification: The case of child sexual abuse. Social Problems, 43, 57–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billig, M. (1991). Ideology and opinions. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billig, M., Condon, S., Edwards, D., Gane, M., Middleton, D., & Radley, A. (1988). Ideological dilemmas: A social psychology of everyday thinking. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breen, M. J. (2007). Through the looking glass: How the mass media represent, reflect and refract sexual crime in Ireland. Irish Communications Review, 10, 5–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briere, J., & Runtz, M. (1986). Suicidal thoughts and behaviours in former sexual abuse victims. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 18(4), 413–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Browne, A., & Finkelhor, D. (1986). Impact of child sexual abuse: A review of the research. Psychological Bulletin, 99(1), 1–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnam, M. A., Stein, J. A., Golding, J. M., Siegel, J. M., Sorenson, S. B., Forsythe, A. B., & Telles, C.A. (1988). Sexual assault and mental disorders in a community population. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(6), 843–850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burr, V. (2003). Social constructionism. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bussey, K., & Grimbeek, E. J. (2006). Disclosure processes: Issues for child sexual abuse victims. In K. Rotenberg (Ed.), Disclosure processes in children and adolescents (pp. 166–203). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collishaw, S., Pickles, A., Messer, J., Rutter, M., Shearer, C., & Maughan, B. (2007). Resilience to adult psychopathology following childhood maltreatment: Evidence from a community sample. Child Abuse and Neglect, 31(3), 211–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (2009). Report of the commission to inquire into child abuse, volumes 1–5. Available at: www.childabusecommission.ie(accessed August 2015).

    Google Scholar 

  • Coons, P. M., & Milstein, V. (1986). Psychosexual disturbances in multiple personality: Characteristics, etiology, and treatment. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 47(3), 106–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daro, D. (2002). Public perception of child sexual abuse: Who is to blame? Child Abuse & Neglect, 26, 1131–1133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, J. (2006). Victims and offenders victims speak: Comparing child sexual abusers’ and child victims’ accounts, perceptions, and interpretations of sexual abuse victims speak. Victims and Offenders, 1(2), 159–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B., & Harré, R. (1990). ‘Positioning: The discursive production of selves’. Journal for the theory of social behaviour, 20(1), 44–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeVoe, E. (2002). Questioning strategies in interviews with children who may have been sexually abused. Child Welfare, LXXXI(1), 5–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dollar, K. M., Perry, A. R., Fromuth, M. E., & Holt, A. R. (2004). Influence of gender roles on perceptions of teacher/adolescent student sexual relations. Sex Roles, 50(1–2), 91–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Double, R. (2005). Blaming the victim and blaming the culprit. Think, 4(10), 21–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dube, S. R., Anda, R. F., Whitfield, C. L, Brown, D. W., Felitti, V. J., Dong, M., & Giles, W. H. (2005). Long-term consequences of childhood sexual abuse by gender of victim. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 28(5), 430–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easton, S. (2013). Disclosure of child sexual abuse among adult male survivors. Clinical Social Work Journal, 41(4), 344–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, J. N., Saunders, B. E., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (1997). Predicting PTSD in women with a history of childhood rape. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10(4), 573–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor, D. (1984). The prevention of child sexual abuse: An overview of needs and problems. Siecus Report, 13(1), 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frewin, K., Pond, R., & Tuffin, K. (2009). Sexual abuse, counselling and compensation: Discourses in New Zealand newspapers. Feminism Psychology, 19, 29–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gavey, N. & Gow, V. (2001). ‘Cry wolf’, cried the wolf: Constructing the issues of false rape allegations in New Zealand media texts. Feminism & Psychology, 11, 341–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, G., & Mulkay, M. (1984). Opening Pandora’s box: A sociological analysis of scientists’ discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goddard, C., & Saunders, B. (2000). The role of the media. In Queensland Crime Commission, Project Axis (Eds.), Child sexual abuse in Queensland: Selected research papers (pp. 73–127). Brisbane: Queensland Crime.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gubrium, J., & Holstein, J. (2008). The constructionist mosaic. In J. Holstein & J. Gubrium (Eds.), Handbook of constructionist research (pp. 3–12). New York: Guildford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heshkowitz, I., Lanes, O., & Lamb, M. E. (2007). Exploring the disclosure of child sexual abuse with alleged victims and parents. Child Abuse and Neglect, 31(2), 111–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulme, P. A. (2000). Symptomatology and health care utilization of women primary care patients who experienced childhood sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 24(11), 1471–1484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchby, I., & Wooffitt, R. (2008). Conversation analysis (2nd edition). Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jefferson, G. (1990). List-construction as a task and a resource. Interaction Competence (pp. 63–92). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. (2004). Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. In G. H. Lerner (Ed.), Conversation analysis: Studies from the first generation (pp. 13–31). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler, K. S., Thornton, L. M., Gilman, S. E., & Kessler, R. C. (2000). Sexual orientation in a US national sample of twin and non-twin sibling pairs. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(11), 1843–1846.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitzenger, J. (2001). Transformations of public and private knowledge: Audience reception, feminism and the experience of childhood sexual abuse. Feminist Media Studies, 1(1), 91–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurzman, C., Anderson, C., Key, C., Lee, Y. O., Moloney, M., Silver, A., & Van Ryn, M. (2007). Celebrity status. Sociological Theory, 25(4), 347–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lalor, K., & McElvaney, R. (2010). Child sexual abuse: Links to later sexual exploitation/high-risk sexual behavior, and prevention/treatment programs. Traum a, Violence and Abuse, 11(4), 159–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamb, S., & Edgar-Smith, S. (1994). Aspects of disclosure: Mediators of outcome of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 9(3), 307–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leisenring, A. (2006). Confronting ‘victim’ discourses: The identity work of battered women. Symbolic interaction, 29(3), 307–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leserman, J. (2005). Sexual abuse history: Prevalence, health effects, mediators, and psychological treatment. Psychosomatic Medicine, 67(6), 906–915.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacMartin, C., & Wood, L. A. (2005). Sexual motives and sentencing judicial discourse in cases of child sexual abuse. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 24(2), 139–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mc Elvaney, R., Greene, S., & Hogan, D. (2014). To tell or not to tell? Factors influencing young people’s informal disclosures of child sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29(5), 928–947.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAlinden, A. M. (2012). ‘Grooming’ and the sexual abuse of children: Institutional, internet and familial dimensions. Clarendon Series in Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • —. (2013). ‘Grooming’ and the sexual abuse of children: Implications for sex offender assessment, treatment and management. Sexual Offender Treatment, 8(1). http://www.sexual-offender-treatment.org/118.html.

  • Modelli, M. E. S, Galvão, M. S., & Pratesi, R. (2012). Child sexual abuse. Forensic Science International, 217, 1–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molner, B. E., Buka, S. L., & Kessler, R. C. (2001). Child sexual abuse and subsequent psychopathology: Results from the national co-morbidity study. American Journal of Public Health, 91(5), 753–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, J. (1989). Childhood sexual histories of women with somatization disorder. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 146(2), 239–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, A. P., Frame, L., & Larkin, W. (2003). Relationships between trauma and psychosis: A review and integration. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43, 331–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullen, P. E., Martin, J. L., Anderson, J. C., Romans, S. E., & Herbison, G. P. (1993). Childhood sexual abuse and mental health in adult life. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 163(6), 721–732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. (1994). The effect of child sexual abuse on social, interpersonal and sexual function in adult life. British Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 35–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naples, N. (2014 [2003]). Deconstructing and locating survivor discourse: Dynamics of narrative, empowerment, and resistance for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Signs, 40(1), 1151–1185.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN). (1998). Child maltreatment 1996: Reports from the states for the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, M., & Parker, N. (2013). ‘Unsatisfactory saturation’: A critical exploration of the notion of saturated sample sizes in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 13, 190–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owen, J. (1995). Women-talk and Men-talk: Defining and resisting victim status. In R. E. Dobash, R. P. Dobash, & L. Noaks (Eds.), Gender and crime (pp. 46–68). Cardiff: University of Wales Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paine, M. L., & Hansen, D. J. (2002). Factors influencing children to self-disclose sexual abuse. Clinical Psychology Review, 22(2), 271–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paivio, S. C., & Pascual-Leone, A. (2010). Transforming guilt, shame, and self-blame. Emotion-focused therapy for complex trauma: An integrative approach. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, R. L., Oppenheimer, R., Dignon, A., Chaloner, D. A., & Howells, K. (1990). Childhood sexual experiences with adults reported by women with eating disorders: An extended series. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 699–703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paolucci, E. O., Genuis, M. L., & Violato, C. (2001). A meta-analysis of the published research on the effects of child sexual abuse. The Journal of Psychology, 135(1), 17–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: Some features of pre-ferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis (pp. 57–101). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter, J. (1996). Representing reality. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Read, J. (2013). Childhood adversity and psychosis. In J. Read & J. Dillon (Eds.), Models of madness: Psychological, social and biological approaches to psychosis (pp. 249–276). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Root, M., & Fallon, P. (1988). The incidence of victimisation experiences in a bulimic sample. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 3(2), 161–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sas, L. D., Wolfe, D. A., & Gowdy, K. (1996). Children and the courts in Canada. Criminal Justice and Behaviour, 23(2), 338–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schönbucher, V., Maier, T., Mohler-Kuo, M., Schnyder, U., & Landolt, M. A. (2012). Disclosure of child sexual abuse by adolescents: A qualitative in-depth study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27, 3486–3513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shevlin, M., Dorahy, M., & Adamson, G. (2007). Childhood traumas and hallucinations: An analysis of the National Comorbidity Survey. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 41(3), 222–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smart, C. (1999). The discursive construction of ‘child victims’ of sexual abuse. Social and Legal Studies, 8(3), 391–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spataro, J, Mullen, P. E, Burgess, P. M, Wells, D. L, & Moss, S. A. (2004). Impact of child sexual abuse on mental health: Prospective study in males and females. British Journal of Psychiatry, 184(5), 416–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Daily Telegraph. (2011). Sir Jimmy Savile: Obituary. 29 As retrieved 11 November 2013 at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8857428/Sir-Jimmy-Savile.html.

  • Tong, L., & Oates, R. K. (1990). Long term effects of child sexual abuse. In R. K. Oates (Ed.), Understanding and managing child sexual abuse (pp. 354–369). Sydney: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ullman, S.E. (2002). Social reactions to child sexual abuse disclosures: A critical review. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 12(1), 89–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, R. (2004). Discourse analysis and social constructionism. Nurse Researcher, 12(2), 7–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Recommended reading

  • • Bussey, K., & Grimbeek, E. J. (2006). Disclosure processes: Issues for child sexual abuse victims. In K. Rotenberg (Ed.), Disclosure processes in children and adolescents (pp. 166–203). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • • Dollar, K. M., Perry, A. R., Fromuth, M. E., & Holt, A. R. (2004). Influence of gender roles on perceptions of teacher/adolescent student sexual relations. Sex Roles, 50(1–2), 91–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • • Smart, C. (1999). The discursive construction of ‘child victims’ of sexual abuse. Social and Legal Studies, 8, 391–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Naima Fowlis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michelle O’Reilly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mary Farrelly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leicester, UK

    Michelle O’Reilly (Senior Lecturer) (Senior Lecturer)

  2. Indiana University, USA

    Jessica Nina Lester (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

Copyright information

© 2016 Naima Fowlis, Michelle O’Reilly, and Mary Farrelly

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Fowlis, N., O’Reilly, M., Farrelly, M. (2016). Abuse Victims and High-Profile Offenders: A Discourse Analysis of Victim Construction and Adult Mental Health. In: O’Reilly, M., Lester, J.N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Adult Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137496850_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation