A theoretical framework that explains how survivors of childhood sexual abuse tell others about their abuse experiences is presented. Data are drawn from open-ended interviews conducted with 74 individuals who experienced ongoing childhood sexual abuse by a family member or close acquaintance. Grounded theory methods were used to develop the framework. The psychosocial problem shared by the participants is that childhood sexual abuse both demands and defies explanation. The core psychosocial process used in response to this problem is storying childhood sexual abuse. The framework includes five processes, and the stories associated with each process vary in their nature and function. The processes and associated stories are (a) starting the story: the story-not-yet-told, (b) coming out with the story: the story-first-told, (c) shielding the story: the story-as-secret, (d) revising the story: the story-as-account, and (e) sharing the story: the story-as-message. Clinical applications of the framework are discussed.
Alaggia, R. (2004). Many ways of telling: Expanding conceptualizations of child sexual abuse disclosure. Child Abuse & Neglect , 28, 1213-1227.
2.
American Medical Association. (2003). Diagnostic and treatment guidelines on child sexual abuse. Retrieved August 18, 2007, from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/386/childsexabuse.pdf
3.
Bavelas, J.B., Coates, L., & Johnson, T. (2000). Listeners as co-narrators. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6), 941-952.
4.
Benoliel, J.Q. (1996). Grounded theory and nursing knowledge. Qualitative Health Research, 6, 406-428.
5.
Berliner, L., & Elliott, D.M. (2002). Sexual abuse of children. In J. E. B. Myers, L. Berliner , J. Briere, C. T. Hendrix, C. Jenny, & T. A. Reid (Eds.), The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (2nd ed., pp. 55-78). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
6.
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall .
7.
Bolen, R.M., & Scannapieco, M. (1999). Prevalence of child sexual abuse: A corrective meta-analysis. Social Service Review, 73, 281-231.
8.
Campbell, R., Sefl, T., Wasco, S.M., & Aherns, C.E. (2004). Doing community research without a community: Creating a safe space for rape survivors. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 253-261.
9.
Charmaz, K. (2000). Grounded theory: Objectivist and constructivist methods. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 509-536). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
10.
Crowley, M.S., & Seery, B.L. (2001). Exploring the multiplicity of childhood sexual abuse with a focus on polyincestuous contexts of abuse. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 10(4), 91-110.
11.
Donalek, J.G. (2001). First incest disclosure. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 22(6), 573-591.
12.
Draucker, C.B., Martsolf, D.S., Ross, R., & Rusk, T.B. (2007). Theoretical sampling and category development in grounded theory. Qualitative Health Research, 17, 1137-1148.
13.
Esposito, N. (2005). Manifestations of enduring during interviews with sexual assault victims. Qualitative Health Research, 15, 912-927.
14.
Glaser, B.G. (1978). Theoretical sensitivity. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
15.
Godbey, J.K., & Hutchinson, S.A. (1996). Healing from incest: Resurrecting the buried self. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 10(5), 304-310.
16.
Goodman-Brown, T.B., Edelstein, R.S., Goodman, G.S., Jones, D., & Gordon, D.S. (2003). Why children tell: A model of children's disclosure of sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27, 525-540.
17.
Greenwood, D.J., & Levin, M. (2000). Reconstructing the relationships between universities and society through action research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 85-106). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
18.
Guba, E.G., & Lincoln, Y.S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 105-117). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
19.
Hall, W., & May, K.A. (2001). The application of grounded theory: Issues of assessment and measurement in practice. In R. S. Schreiber & P. N. Stern (Eds.), Using grounded theory in nursing (pp. 211-226). New York: Springer.
20.
Harvey, J.H. (1996). Embracing their memory. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
21.
Harvey, J.H., Orbuch, T.L., Chwalisz, K.G., & Garwood, G. (1991). Coping with sexual assault: The roles of account-making and confiding. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 4(4), 515-531.
22.
Harvey, J.H., Orbuch, T.L., & Weber, A.L. (1990). A social psychological model of account-making in response to severe stress. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 9(3), 191-207.
23.
Hermans, H.J.M. (2002). The person as a motivated story-teller: Valuation theory and the self-confrontation method. In R. A. Neimeyer & G. J. Neimeyer (Eds.), Advances in personal construct psychology: New directions and perspectives (pp. 3-38). Westport, CT: Praeger .
24.
Kogan, S.M. (2004). Disclosing unwanted sexual experiences: Results from a national sample of adolescent women. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28(2), 147-165.
25.
Kogan, S.M. (2005). The role of disclosing child sexual abuse on adolescent adjustment and revictimization. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse , 14(2), 25-47.
26.
Lisak, D. (1994). The psychological impact of sexual abuse: Content analysis of interviews with male survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7(4), 525-548.
27.
London, K., Bruck, M., Ceci, S.J., & Shuman, D.W. (2005). Disclosure of child sexual abuse: What does the research tell us about the ways that children tell? Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 11(1), 194-226.
28.
MacDonald, M., & Schreiber, R.S. (2001). Constructing and deconstructing: Grounded theory in a postmodern world. In R. S. Schreiber & P. N. Stern (Eds.), Using grounded theory in nursing (pp. 35-54). New York: Springer.
29.
Martsolf, D.S., Courey, T.J., Chapman, T., Draucker, C.B., & Mims, B.L. (2006). Adaptive sampling: Recruiting a diverse sample of survivors of sexual violence. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 23(3), 169-182.
30.
Nehls, N., & Sallman, J. (2005). Women living with a history of physical and/or sexual abuse, substance abuse, and mental health problems. Qualitative Health Research, 15, 365-381.
Orbuch, T.L., Harvey, J.H., Davis, S.H., & Merbach, N.J. (1994). Account-making and confiding as acts of meaning in response to sexual assault. Journal of Family Violence , 9(3), 249-264.
33.
Paine, M.L., & Hansen, D. (2002). Factors influencing children to self-disclose sexual abuse. Clinical Psychology Review, 22, 271-295.
34.
Pals, J.L. (2006). Constructing the "springboard effect": Causal connections, self-making, and growth within the life story. In D. P. McAdams, R. Josselson , & A. Lieblich (Eds.), Identity and story: Creating self in narrative (pp. 175-198). Washington: American Psychological Association.
35.
Pasupathi, M. (2001). The social construction of the personal past and its implications for adult development. Psychological Bulletin , 127, 651-672.
36.
QSR International Pty. Ltd. (2002). N6 (non-numerical unstructured data indexing searching & theorizing) qualitative data analysis program (Version 6).
37.
Roberts, G. (1999). Introduction: A story of stories. In G. Roberts & J. Holmes (Eds.), Healing stories: Narrative in psychiatry and psychotherapy (pp. 3-26). New York: Oxford University Press.
38.
Ruggiero, K.J., Smith, D.W., Hanson, R.F., Resnick, H.S., Saunders, B.E., Kilpatrick, D.G., et al. (2004). Is disclosure of childhood rape associated with mental health outcome? Results from the national women's study. Child Maltreatment, 9(1), 62-77.
39.
Schank, R.C. (1990). Tell me a story. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Smith, D.W., Letourneau, E.J., Saunders, B.E., Kilpatrick, D.G., Resnick, H.S., & Best, C.L. (2000). Delay in disclosure of childhood rape: Results from a national survey. Child Abuse & Neglect, 24(2), 273-287.
42.
Strauss, A. (1987). Qualitative analysis for the social sciences. New York: Cambridge University Press.
43.
Thorne, A. (2000). Personal memory telling and personality development . Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 45-56.
44.
Tyagi, S.V. (2001). Incest and women of color: A study of experiences and disclosure. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 10(2), 17-39.
45.
Ullman, S. (2003). Social reactions to child sexual abuse disclosures: A critical review. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 12(1), 89-121.
46.
Ullman, S. (2007). Relationship to perpetrator, disclosure, social reactions, and PTSD symptoms in child sexual abuse survivors. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 16(1), 19-36.
47.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2000). State and county quick facts. Summit County, OH: Author.
48.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2005). Summary: Child maltreatment 2005. Retrieved April 18, 2007, from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm05/summary.htm
49.
Washington, P. (2001). Disclosure patterns of black female sexual assault survivors. Violence Against Women, 7(11), 1254-1283.
50.
Williams, J.K., Wyatt, G.E., Resell, J., Peterson, J., & Asuan-O'Brien, A. (2004). Psychosocial issues among gay- and non-gay-identifying HIV-seropositive African American and Latino MSM. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 10(3), 268-286.
51.
Wortham, S. (2001). Narratives in action: A strategy for research and analysis. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
