About the Abused

People who have been abused often struggle with the “why me?” question. Was there something about me that caused/prepared me/set me up for the abuse? Is this about me? Does that make me responsible? These questions are particularly acute for people who have experienced multiple forms of abuse in multiple life stages.

It is for that reason that it is extremely important to emphasize that the most stricking characteristic of people who are abused is that there is no common characteristic. Anybody can be abused. Anybody. There are risk factors for abuse but there is nothing in the character, personality or person of the abused that accounts for the abuse or makes the abused person ‘responsible for’ the abuse.

Getting real clear about who is responsible for abuse is an important part of the recovery process.

It is, however, also clear that people who have experienced one kind of abuse are at higher risk for additional experiences of victimization. That does not mean that victims are “responsible” for additional experiences of abuse. It may mean, however, that victims who learn about their increased risk can take appropriate measures to avoid additional abuse. Identifying people who have been abused as ‘at risk’ of additional abuse is not rooted in a “blame the victim” mentality but rather in an “empower the victim” mentality that assumes that victims have the potential for appropriate self care.

Are people abused as children more likely to be abused as adults?

• Jeremy Coid et. al. Relation between childhood sexual and physical abuse and risk of revictimisation in women: a cross-sectional survey.. Lancet, 8/11/2001, Vol. 358 Issue 9280, p450 [Full text available on line at EBSCOhost. Accession Number: 4984037]
  

  Summary: Childhood abuse substantially increases risk of revictimisation in adulthood. Women who have experienced multiple childhood abuse are at most risk of adult revictimisation. Identification of women who have undergone childhood abuse is a prerequisite for prevention of further abuse.

• Barbara Krahé,Childhood Sexual Abuse And Revictimization In Adolescence And Adulthood. Journal of Personal & Interpersonal Loss, Apr-Sep2000, Vol. 5 Issue 2/3, p149, 17p [Full text available on line at EBSCOhost. Accession Number: 3244689]
  

  Summary: the evidence reviewed in this chapter clearly highlights the need to recognize the risk of revictimization as a significant adverse consequence of sexual abuse and to address this risk factor in counseling and intervention. This is particularly important in view of the finding (e.g., by Arata, 1999) that coping with the trauma of rape and sexual assault is even more difficult for revictimized women than for victims not burdened with a childhood history of sexual abuse

• Charlene L. Muehlenhard et. al. The sexual revictimization of women and men sexually abused as children: A review of the literature. Annual Review of Sex Research, 1998, Vol. 9, p177 [Full text available on line at EBSCOhost. Accession Number: 1824291]

Risk Factors for Abuse

The 1999 WHO Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention [pdf] compiled the following list of risk factors:

Risk Factors Related to the Parent

1. young age
2. single parent
3. unwanted pregnancy
4. poor parenting skills
5. early exposure to violence
6. substance abuse
7. inadequate prenatal care
8. physical or mental illness
9. relationship problems

Risk Factors Related to the Child

1. gender
2. prematurity
3. unwanted
4. disabled

Risk Factors Related to the Family

1. size/density
2. poor socioeconomic status
3. social isolation
4. high levels of stress
5. family abuse/domestic violence history

Risk Factors Related to the Community/Society

1. non-existence, un-enforced child protection laws
2. decreased value of children (minority, disabled, gender)
3. social inequalities
4. organized violence (wars, high crime rates)
5. high social acceptability of violence
6. media violence
7. cultural norms

The WHO report includes this important statement:

“Compiling lists of general or culturally relative risks is a necessary first step toward assessing the interaction of risk and protective circumstances in each family, community and culture. However, theories that propose single factors or combinations of risk factors as invariably leading directly to child abuse will stigmatize families which fall within the profile and lead to missed cases of child abuse, which do not fit the profile. In families where child abuse does exist, they may be more likely to hide the abuse as it now carries a public condemnation. In families where it is not present, stigmatization may translate into marginalization of the family, including the children” (WHO Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention, p.23)