The Legacy of Shame following Childhood Sexual Abuse Disclosures

ABSTRACT

Shame has been recognized as a barrier to child sexual abuse (CSA) disclosures, but there has been less focus on the impact of shame on post-disclosure. This study explores how shame is experienced by CSA survivors following disclosure. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven CSA survivors aged 14–25 years on their CSA disclosure experiences. Thematic analysis of the transcripts produced four themes that highlight the various impacts of shame post-disclosure: 1) struggles with identifying as a sexual abuse survivor; 2) manifestations of shame; 3) shaming responses to disclosures; and 4) strategies to overcome shame. Clinical implications are presented using a social ecological perspective.

KEYWORDS:

• Shame
• child sexual abuse
• sexual abuse
• recovery
• disclosure
• clinical issues
• adolescent survivors
• adult survivors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board and internal ethics board of the participating agency. Participation in the study was voluntary. Youth over the age of 16 years provided written informed consent to participate. Parental consent and youth assent were obtained for youth under the age of 16 years.

Notes

¹ “Disgust” has been implicated as a code word for shame (Tangney et al., 2007).

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (435-2014-0626) awarded to Dr. Delphine Collin-Vézina; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Notes on contributors

Rusan Lateef

Rusan Lateef, School of Social Work, McGill University, Canada; Ramona Alaggia, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Canada; Delphine Collin-Vézina, School of Social Work, McGill University, Canada; Rosaleen McElvaney, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy, and Community Health, Dublin City University, Ireland. Rosaleen McElvaney is now at Children’s Health Ireland.

Rusan Lateef, MSW, is a PhD Candidate in the School of Social Work at McGill University in Canada. She specializes in sexual violence and shame research.

Ramona Alaggia

Professor Ramona Alaggia, PhD, is the Margaret and Wallace McCain Chair in Child and Family. She teaches and does research in gender-based violence issues across the life course.

Delphine Collin-Vézina

Dr. Delphine Collin-Vézina, PhD, is the Director of the Centre for Research on Children and Families at McGill University, a licensed clinical psychologist, and a Full Professor at the McGill School of Social Work. She leads the Canadian Consortium on Child & Youth Trauma, a federally-funded partnership network.

Rosaleen McElvaney

Rosaleen McElvaney, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. She is Assistant Professor of Psychotherapy in Dublin City University and Principal Psychotherapist in Children’s Health Ireland.