Individual Treatment Programme for Sexually Abused Adult Males: Description and Preliminary Findings

• NCJ Number: 208946
• Journal: Child Abuse Review Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Dated: January-February 2005 Pages: 40-56
• Author(s): Elisa Romano; Rayleen V. De Luca
• Date Published: January 2005
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This article describes a Canadian individual treatment program developed for adult males who have been sexually abused as children, and preliminary findings are presented on treatment effects.

Abstract

The treatment philosophy focused on three problem areas: self-blame and sense of responsibility for the abuse, anger toward the offender and significant others, and heightened anxiety due to the threatening and disruptive nature of sexual victimization. Addressing self-blame for the abuse is the focus of the initial victim phase of therapy, which involves educating individuals about sexual abuse and helping them accept that full responsibility for the abuse lies with the offender. Understanding and coping with anger and anxiety are addressed in the "survivor" and "thriver" phases of the program, which involves helping individuals develop functional ways of dealing with their abuse-related emotional, cognitive, and behavioral problems. Five of the male clients who participated in the program agreed to participate in the evaluation component. All of these men had been sexually abused by trusted family members or older males who had befriended them when they were children. Abusive acts ranged from fondling to oral sex and sometimes involved physical force or coercion. The evaluation findings indicated that most participants experienced a significant decrease in anxiety states from pre-treatment to post-treatment. At follow-up, state anxiety remained at a moderately low level and within the normative range for the sample of university students. Apparently, treatment that explores the ways in which childhood sexual abuse contributed to clients' heightened sensitivity to danger helped them to engage in a more realistic appraisal of current situations and/or develop alternative ways of coping with perceived danger. 5 figures, 35 references, and appended outline of the program's treatment phases