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How Qualitative Research Can Inform Clinical Interventions in Families Recovering From Sibling Sexual Abuse
Author(s) -
Welfare Anne
Publication year - 2008
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 - 10.1375/anft.29.3.139
Subject(s) - sibling , psychology , psychological intervention , social connectedness , qualitative research , sexual abuse , developmental psychology , dysfunctional family , social psychology , clinical psychology , poison control , suicide prevention , psychiatry , medicine , sociology , medical emergency , social science
The impact of sibling sexual abuse (SSA) has been culturally and therapeutically minimised and has received scant research attention. Furthermore, prior research has focused upon the separate experiences of the victim or the offender, or upon seeking family dysfunction explanations. In contrast, this qualitative study attempts to understand the experiences of all family members (victims, offenders, parents and other siblings) when SSA is disclosed. The pathway to recovery for each family member is identified. A systemic analysis of these (often conflicted) pathways of recovery provides some surprising findings and contributes to an understanding of the difficulties facing families in this situation, the constraints on family support and connectedness, validation for the victim and offender accountability.