NCJ Number
171531
Journal
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry Volume: 66 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1996) Pages: 468-473
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study examines the meaning of college for older female students who were survivors of sexual abuse.
Abstract
A study of the general college experience of 44 female undergraduates 30 years of age and older revealed a high prevalence of childhood sexual abuse. The article discusses the impact of this abuse on the women, the meaning of higher education in resolving the negative sequelae of their earlier traumatic experiences, and implications for counseling. Extremely high levels of academic achievement and university participation, hallmarks of the abused women in this study, may be indicative of a need to overcompensate that is typical of abuse survivors. For this group, the function of higher education may well include the opportunity to begin to feel effective and in control, rather than being controlled by others. However, apparent success does not mean that old wounds are healed. Some of the women interviewed for the study claimed to still be keeping secret the fact of their abuse. A return to college does not reflect closure or complete healing, but is movement toward that goal, a vehicle through which healing may ultimately take place. Note, references