Constructing a Sense of Self Following Early Sexual Experiences with Adults: a Qualitative Research Study

The aim of this research project was to develop a fuller understanding of the process of constructing a sense of self following early sexual experiences with an adult. Using narrative inquiry, a sample of twenty-two men and women aged twenty-five to seventy were interviewed about their early sexual experiences, at the age of fifteen or under with someone over eighteen. Participants told four different narratives about these experiences: narratives of silence; of ongoing suffering; of transformation and transcendence. These four narratives have been examined in the light of the literature relating to childhood sexual abuse, and the victim and survivor discourses. To an extent they changed current conventional views about child sexual abuse. The implications for therapists working with men and women who have experienced child sexual abuse are discussed.