Factores de Éxito Percibidos en Mujeres que han Sobrellevado Eventos de Abuso Sexual en Sus Vidas
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Women who have been victims of sexual abuse often experience higher rates of psychopathologies such as anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and/or depression than do women who have not lived through these types of experiences. They also suffer from social, physical, and economically related consequences associated to the received abuses. However, there are victims who do not present permanent damage. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore about the factors that victims of sexual abuse perceived as useful for overcoming their experiences. An intentional sampling was used for recruiting the participants. Semi-structured interviews were applied to eight participants and 11 main coping mechanisms were identified in the research that led to more effective responses to the abuse. The mechanisms included (a) perception of control or independency, (b) life philosophy, (c) acceptance of the abuse, (d) finding a purpose or giving a meaning to the event, (e) learning something from the experience, (f) perceiving oneself as lucky or being thankful for how the things happened, (g) receiving social and family support, (h) talking about the event, (i) knowing that there are more victims, (j) religion or spirituality and (k) reflection and relating with their emotions were the main coping mechanisms mentioned by the participants. Four secondary topics were also found: (a) getting involved in extracurricular activities, (b) not feeling embarrassed or guilty about what happened, (c) forgiving the aggressor or finding meaning to his motives for abusing them, and (d) attending therapy sessions. Two other relevant topics were included because they made the process to be harder for the participants, those factors were the lack of information and social impact. Clinical implications, study limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. \n
Author: Catalina Aguirre Burneo
Language: Spanish
Topic: Child Abuse and Trauma
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2275882781