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Unravelling the Web of Deceit: Enduring Perpetrator Dynamics and Recovery from Child Sexual Assault
Author(s) -
Foote Wendy
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1467-8438
pISSN - 0814-723X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1467-8438.1999.tb00359.x
Subject(s) - psychology , anger , intervention (counseling) , anger management , dynamics (music) , agency (philosophy) , social psychology , project commissioning , psychotherapist , family therapy , publishing , sociology , psychiatry , pedagogy , social science , political science , law
This is a description of therapeutic work with children who have been sexually abused, and their non‐offending parents. Such children need a therapeutic intervention which promotes their individual recovery, and positions them within a protective family network. The therapist works to make the perpetrator's agency visible by mapping his/her ‘targeting’, ‘grooming’ and ‘maintenance’ behaviour as experienced by the family members, and thus deconstructs the perpetrator's abuse of influence and power in the family. The management of the therapy process includes moving from individual to family work and identifying child protection issues. The experience of guilt and responsibility can be translated into anger and determination to rid the family of the remaining perpetrator‐driven dynamics and repair the affected relationships.