Translating scholarship on intrafamilial sexual abuse: The utility of a dialectical perspective for adult survivors

The impact of childhood sexual abuse is widespread, affecting the victim, family, friends, and society. While the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse has become part of the public consciousness in recent years, the public remains less aware that a large number of these abusive acts are perpetrated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Applied Communication Research 1999-05, Vol.27 (2), p.139-157
Main Authors: Ford, Leigh Arden, Ray, Eileen Berlin, Ellis, Beth Hartman
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child abuse & neglect
Families & family life
Incest
Sex crimes
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Summary:The impact of childhood sexual abuse is widespread, affecting the victim, family, friends, and society. While the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse has become part of the public consciousness in recent years, the public remains less aware that a large number of these abusive acts are perpetrated within familial relationships. Adult incest survivors face a past often shrouded in secrecy and must find a way to make sense of their experience in the present. This article presents an argument for the utility of a dialectical framework for helping adult incest survivors understand intrafamilial sexual abuse. The dialectical approach to communication in personal relationships consists of four assumptions: contradiction, dialectical change, praxis, and totality (Baxter & Montgomery, 1996). In this essay these assumptions are explicated and the accounts of adult incest survivors are used to illustrate and support the utility of the dialectical framework for understanding the communication dynamics which affect and are affected by childhood sexual abuse by a family member.
ISSN:0090-9882
1479-5752
DOI:10.1080/00909889909365531