NCJ Number
176484
Date Published
1997
Length
261 pages
Annotation
Based on extensive testimony and data from 93 adult women who were sexually abused by their mothers, this book discusses the nature, dynamics, and consequences for the victims of mother- daughter sexual abuse.
Abstract
This book reports on and analyzes a survey of 93 volunteer adult women across the Nation who self-reported sexual abuse by their mothers, primarily, but not exclusively, during their childhoods. The data were provided in 1990. The respondents heard about the study in a variety of ways, including at a conference or workshop, through their therapists, and in other ways. There were no responses to surveys through direct mail contact. Over 500 survey items focused on five major areas: survivors and the survivors' families of origin, the abusive experiences, the impact of the abuse on the survivors' development, major areas of impact on the survivors, and daughters' therapy experiences. The data were collected solely as self-reports, and no attempt was made at other validation; thus, the results rely on the memory and truthfulness of each respondent. The author's interpretations of the data are based in her experience in treating women sexually abused by women as well as clinical observation. The formulation of definitions of sexual abuse by mothers and other females requires information from adult survivors about what was abusive, what was damaged, and what keeps this abuse hidden. The survey elicited such information, such that abuse was defined very much by the daughters' subjective experience of it in accordance with David Finkelhor's standards of traumatic sexualization, betrayal, powerlessness, and stigma. Three chapters address the characteristics of the survivors, the perpetrators, and the survivors' families. Two chapters report on the nature of the abuse experiences, and three chapters focus on the effects of the sexual abuse by mothers, followed by one chapter on the emotional, behavioral, and physical aftermath of the abuse. The concluding chapter discusses adult survivors' relationships with their mothers. An appendix presents findings from a survey of nine men who experienced sexual abuse from their mothers, including a comparison of this survey with that of the women. 14 references