The Need for Power in Women Who Were Sexually Abused as Children

An Exploratory Study

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12004331
AutoresJoan Huser Liem (University of Massachusetts Boston), Joan Gateley O'Toole (University of Massachusetts Boston), Jacquelyn Boone James (Murray Research Center, Radcliffe College), James J Do (0000-0003-4090-8606)
Año1992
Volumen16
Número4
Páginas467-480
Fecha de publicación1992-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPsychology of Women Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0361-6843 • E-ISSN: 1471-6402
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1111/j.1471-6402.1992.tb00269.x
OpenAlexW2145428587
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas16

Ten women who had been sexually abused as children and a matched group of women who had not been sexually abused participated in a preliminary study to explore the hypothesis that feelings of powerlessness and a compensatory need for power continue into adulthood for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The Picture-Story Exercise (PSE) was used as an indirect assessment technique to determine the level of the need for power (McClelland, 1985; Winter, 1973, 1988). Results indicated that the stories of women with sexual abuse histories revealed a higher need for power and greater fear of power than those of nonabused women. Further content analysis of the PSE revealed that sexual abuse survivors' stories also contained more references to Finkelhor and Browne's (1986) dynamics of powerlessness, traumatic sexualization, betrayal, and stigmatization. These findings suggest important directions for future research as well as areas for therapeutic exploration

Betrayal · Child abuse · Child sexual abuse · Developmental psychology · Feeling · Human sexuality · Poison control · Sexual abuse · Sexualization · Suicide prevention · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child Welfare and Adoption · Clinical Psychology · Gender Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology