NCJ Number
145098
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 1 Issue: 3 Dated: (1992) Pages: 47-61
Date Published
1992
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Motherhood is at once exalted and overburdened in society.
Abstract
Women have carried the primary responsibility of protecting children, yet they have been deprived of the necessary tools to do so. Psychological literature tended to support such contradictory societal attitudes until the late 1970's. Recent literature has indicated the importance of empowering women in order to protect children. A power imbalance in the family leads to the denigration and abuse of the mother, then abuse of the children by the mother or father. Further, the psychological mechanisms that characterize an abusive family reduce a mother's ability to protect her children. The basic key to real power--as opposed to pseudopower--is self-esteem. Through support groups, abused women can gain a feeling of belonging and find allies in those who have had similar experiences. They can be reminded that there are alternatives to the abusive family, and can learn potentially useful concepts. For instance, if an abused woman is the middle person in a cycle of abuse, she may feel less shame at being considered a "secondary" rather than "primary" victim (the abused child is then the primary victim), which makes clearer that the perpetrator is the one responsible. 44 references