Severe sexual maltreatment & social inclusion: a case study on insecure attachment.(Report)

Abstract

Attachment is a survival mechanism and also facilitates the transmission of cultural customs, speech and behaviors. The child develops behaviors based upon the responsiveness and availability of the attachment figure to the child. However, severe sexual maltreatment causes children to experience grave insecurities in the pursuit of their survival and inclusion in society. Further, it deprives the growing child of characteristics essential to living in a community--empathy, social trust, and generosity. For some who experienced extreme sexual maltreatment, predatory behaviors may be an outcome of disorganized/disoriented attachment. Using a case analysis, a connection is made between the maladaptive behaviors of disorganized/disoriented attachment emerging from severe sexual maltreatment, and the building blocks for social inclusion--culture, adaptive coping skills, healthy concept of self, positive degree of control, and social competency.

Overview

In his seminal work, Herman Daldin (1988) labeled child sexual abuse as soul murder to denote the human atrocity associated with child sexual victimization. Such a traumatic event sets the stage for the continued reenactment of the event to master or undo the trauma (Daldin, 1988; Righthand & Welch, 2001; Ryan, Lane, Davis & Isaac, 1987; Veneziano, Veneziano & LeGrand, 2000). When sexual victimization and maltreatment occur early in one's development, the developing child can suffer significant impairments related to attachment (Liem & Boudewyn, 1999; Renn, 2002; Righthand & Welch, 2001; Veneziano, et al., 2000). These youth ultimately have fewer peer attachments, feel less positive attachment toward school, and suffer from poor social adjustment that diminish their ability to build secure relationships (Glicken & Sechrest, 2003; Renn, 2002; Righthand & Welch, 2001 ; Weinrott, 1996).

Severe sexual maltreatment can deprive the child of characteristics essential to living and thriving in a community--empathy, social trust, and generosity. Research shows that adolescents with predatory behaviors develop in familial environments that deplete their abilities to acquire social skills and deprive them of nurturance to build secure relationships (Becker & Hunter, 1997; Daldin, 1988; Righthand & Welch, 2001; Veneziano, et al., 2000). The familial environment is a critical factor in the identification and treatment of adolescents with predatory behaviors (Liem & Boudewyn, 1999; Renn, 2002; Righthand & Welch, 2001; Waters, Weinfield & Hamilton, 2000; West, Adam, Spreng & Rose, 2001). Adolescents with predatory behaviors often come from familial environments frequented by extreme aggression, lack of impulse control, and inappropriate boundaries (Glicken & Sechrest, 2003; Levy & Orlans, 1998; Righthand & Welch, 2001; Veneziano, et al., 2000).

Marital stress, mental health problems, and substance abuse were also regularly cited as elements in abusive family environments of adolescents with predatory behaviors (Levy & Orlans, 1998; Miner & Crimmins, 1995; Righthand & Welch, 2001). In addition, it appears that parents/attachment figures were also physically and emotionally inaccessible and distant from the child, exhibited sexual pathologies, and often exposed their children to their own sexual behaviors (Kobayashi, et al., 1995; Miner & Crimmins, 1995; Righthand & Welch, 2001).

Understanding familial influences and a family's previous history with sexual victimization are critical to the treatment of adolescents with predatory behaviors (Kobayashi, et al., 1995). This paper theorizes that for some adolescents who experienced extreme sexual maltreatment, predatory behaviors may be an outcome of disorganized/disoriented attachment. This article discusses whether there is a connection between the maladaptive attachment behaviors emerging from severe sexual maltreatment and the building blocks of social inclusion--culture, adaptive coping skills, healthy concept of self, positive degree of control, and social competency.

Attachment & the Culture of Violence

Attachment theory postulates that a child instinctively attaches to another (i.e. the attachment figure) who is perceived to be better able to cope with the world and who can ensure the child's survival (Fonagy, 1997; Lewis, et al., 2000; Schneider, 1991; Schneider & Younger, 1996). Attachment behaviors seek to ensure the child maintains proximity to this desired figure--the attachment figure (Bowlby, 1982a; Fonagy, 1998; Schneider, 1991 ; Schneider & Younger, 1996). According to the theory, attachment behaviors develop from the attachment figure's responsiveness and availability to the child as well as the tenor of that responsiveness and availability (Bowlby, 1982b; Fonagy, 1998; …