An exploratory study of the experiences of rural Chinese families facing an extra-familial child sexual abuse problem upon disclosure.

摘要

Western studies on the sexual abuse of children and the resulting trauma on the abused and their families have adopted primarily a psycho-pathological perspective. This has led to the tendency of blaming the victim, the mother and the family. Until now, comparative studies on this subject have not been carried out in a Chinese context.; As the first exploratory qualitative study on child sexual abuse in the People's Republic of China, this study adopted system-individual-culture-gender-resilience perspectives under social constructionism approach using the family as the unit of study, and extended the research parameters beyond the individual child to other systems. The data was collected through ethnography, family and couple interviews, individual interviews with parents and the abused children, participant and part-participant observation by this researcher in a village in north-eastern China. Six families were selected for the study, each with a 10-year-old daughter who had been sexually abused by the same male teacher for two years, with the said teacher engaging in molestation, masturbation, oral sex, intercourse, etc. on the girls, two of whom were also known to have been physically abused. The researcher conducted the field study between eight and thirteen months after the disclosure (over a six-month period), and sought to understand the family experiences from seven aspects: the disclosure process, the family coping, traumatic experiences (including the abused and their family), the family relational process, the reactions from extra-familial systems, the healing process for the abused, and the need for professional support.; Results indicated that while the entire family was traumatically impacted, there were significant differences in reactions from male and female parents. In responding to "one of their own" being sexually exploited by an outsider, parents made concerted efforts in facing external ramifications, often at the expense of marginalizing the abused daughter and adding an extra burden on the whole family in healing from the trauma. Furthermore, parents were observed to become more protective in the process, providing physical care and material needs, and refraining from mentioning the trauma before the abused. As for emotional support, families varied in their coping at different stages in time. At the initial stage, parents seemed to be overshadowed by shame towards their daughter's loss of chastity. As time went by, they resumed their parenting routine, until eventually the adult-, sibling- and extended family relations constituted a circular impact that would in turn impact on the parent-child relations. The external systems, the family relational reality before disclosure, as well as family financial conditions combined could either facilitate or hinder the family system in seeking change.; The study further analyzed the systems and cultural mechanisms vis-a-vis the traumatic experience and family support, seeking to de-construct the chastity myth in the Chinese rural culture, as well as expert discourses in mainstream western research that focused on a psycho-pathological approach to study trauma. It further challenged the cultural practice of attributing blame to the individuals and their family, and provided recommendations to address the above-mentioned issues.