Chapter 3 Young Children’s Drawings after Sexual Abuse: Disclosure and Recovery
In: Where To From Here? Examining Conflict-Related and Relational Interaction TraumaSearch for other papers by Elspeth McInnes in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
Child sexual abuse is a contested social field where victims can face a range of risks arising from disclosure, including fear of threats and punishment by the perpetrator, lack of language or understanding to identify what has happened to them and the reactions of others, such as non-offending parents, police, child protection workers and educators. Unlike other forms of child abuse, child sexual abuse is always a criminal act, normally denied by alleged perpetrators, often involving investigations by child protection authorities and police. Disclosing sexual abuse can leave victims disbelieved, blamed for making such claims and isolated from safety and recovery processes. Despite these barriers, young children who are experiencing abuse can indirectly disclose what is happening to them through their behaviour and through drawings depicting their experiences. The interpretations placed on children’s behaviour and the meanings attributed to their drawings are vulnerable to the beliefs of relevant adults, such as teachers, and their reactions. Improving educators’ and other relevant professionals’ abilities to interpret children’s behaviours and drawings after abuse is important to improving the safety and recovery of victims. Using a collection of drawings from child victims the chapter identifies some common elements of abuse disclosures and the relationships between the drawings and the victims’ emotional states. It briefly reviews some of the key behavioural differences marking normal and concerning behaviour of young children at school.