Professional responses to male survivors of childhood sexual abuse
This literature review was prompted by concerns in Canterbury about the lack of engagement by mental health professionals with the issue men’s experience of male childhood sexual abuse. Feedback by mental health professionals inside the CDHB (local health board) is that it is best not to address men’s experience of childhood sexual abuse while inside the mental health system because research shows that it doesn’t help them/ re-traumatises them.
The review was conducted by Silas Thielmann as part of his social work student placement. It found that there was no support in the literature for the above position and that the literature showed quite the opposite. He found that the trauma that men experience in the form of chidhood sexual abuse is being under addresed by the range of professionals that deal with mental health, and that there is a case for social workers, mental health workers, and counsellors to more actively screen and work with men’s childhood sexual abuse.
Professional responses to male survivors of childhood sexual abuse
An excellent paper Silas and well done Donald on getting it into the Men’s Arena. Results are not surprising, I guess we can lay some of it at Freud’s door as apparently he tended to blame the victims, perhaps too many of the offenders were his mates. We are conditioned to believe from an early age that men cannot be victims and we are responsible for what ever happens to us. Until we step down from our macho posturing high horses and acknowledge that many of us were victimised in some way as children the cycle will not get broken and we will continue our appalling rate of murdering our little children.
Many mental health professionals appear to have no training in this area and will often shutdown someone who raises it as an issue, the professional simply cannot cope with the client’s pain. While others take the dismissive “happened long ago no longer relevant” attitude which leaves the client feeling even more inadequate and frustrated.
“Were you sexually abused as a child?” will bring the response “No” but “Can you recall your earliest awareness of things sexual?” could be a better way to get started. Most men do not see their experience for what it was, because to do so identifies them as a victim, plus all the homophobic issues that go with it if the perpetrator was male. If the latter was female then they are supposed to have not only enjoyed the experience but feel a sense of pride, “I’m a real man” Yeah right.
Imagine the confusion for a young mind when they experience arousal during the abuse, “I must be gay”, “I must have invited it in some way”, “I’m not supposed to have enjoyed it, there must be something wrong with me, I’m a perverted freak”. All very common responses.
Frank disclosure will only come when trust has been established and the person asking needs to take responsibility to ensure the client is safe before terminating the discussion. Disclosure can often bring memories flooding back and overwhelm the survivor.
A genuine ability to express empathy, to mirror back a client’s emotion experience, allow the client to own the experience, and not provide solutions (the client must be allowed to discover the answers for himself) is essential when supporting survivors of sexual child abuse on their road to recovery, few have it.
John
1 Dec 11 at 12:01 am
Thank you Silas for a great piece of work. As a survivor I appreciate the time you dedicated to do this. Thank you Donald (and the Canterbury Men’s Centre) for allowing Silas to do this much needed paper. I will be using this in my professional work and have already handed a copy to ACC.
Ken
7 Dec 11 at 12:57 am