Sexual Abuse and its Effects on Sexual Development
In today’s haphazardly sexual culture, it is much harder for victims of sexual abuse to
cope and heal from such traumatic events. Additionally, sexual abuse is becoming more and
more common among adolescents and children. Although it is unclear whether or not the
increase of sexual abuse cases is caused by an increasingly sexual culture, these two situations
juxtapose each other and indirectly cause conflict between developing youth. This not only
affects a child’s social development but it also impairs the development of sexual identity. Even
though age has little to do with the currency of sexual abuse, the after affects of the abuse is
related to age. This means that a young child is going to cope or deal with sexual abuse
differently than an adolescent or teenager.
In an article by Maikovich, Koenen, and Jaffee, it is noted that there are a “multitude of
differences between children and adults in terms of psychological, biological, sexual, and social
development” (2009). Young children do not have the capacity to retain and remember
information like an adult does, so sexual abuse in a small child is going to have a different effect
on development than the sexual abuse even of a teenager. For example, younger children (1-3
years of age) are more likely to show Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms and “elicit psychological
trauma symptoms” in the future (Maikovich, Koenen, and Jaffee, 2009). This means that they
experience flashbacks or re-experiencing the abuse, hyper-arousal or strong response, and
numbing to emotions and social gatherings where it is inappropriate to do so. The abuse becomes
more like a nightmare than an actual account of history, and therefore can be interpreted many
ways. Younger children also do not fully know what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, it is a
lot harder for them to interpret situations like sexual abuse as wrong because at that age, they do
not know what sexual abuse is. This is detrimental to the affects sexual abuse has on children. If
no one tells a two or three year old it is wrong, then it must be right. As they get older, they learn
from television shows, peers, or their parents that things like sexual abuse are harmful and
against the law. Unfortunately at this point it is possible that there is not enough evidence to
convict the perpetrator, and the child is left without closure. Lacking in proof of the abuse, it is
possible for the clinicians, parents, and peers to not believe that such abuse happened. This is
especially true when the abuse reoccurs as a flashback or dream-like state because there is a
possibility that an over-whelming fear of abuse is triggering the flashbacks, and not necessarily
representing an actual event. With this in mind, the child may feel incompetent and confused, not
knowing what to believe, and not having support or aid in healing from the trauma of the sexual
abuse. These repercussions continue to harm the child as he or she gets older, especially
concerning social development. A child who experiences this will find it harder to obtain
effective, trusting relationships in the future (Graham, et al., 2010).
In a different setting, adolescents go through a tremendous amount of peer influence and
socialization, and therefore mainly cope with sexual abuse in a social way. This affects their
sexual identity because a teenager’s identity is strongly influenced by his/her peers. Since the
teenager can remember the abuse or continue to experience it, he/she responds to it directly or on
a day to day basis. It can be both a long term and a short term memory. Trying to relate the abuse
to what is expected and normal to the rest of the world is where teenagers manifest the most
confusion. On one side of the justice system, sexual behaviors and mannerisms between or
involving teenagers, especially forced and unwanted situations, are illegal. In today’s culture the
normal attitude is “if it feels good, do it.” This poses a problem for the highly influenced
adolescent. They are stuck with knowing that the sexual abuse is wrong, but are told that it
should not be that way. In the Journal of Child Development, it was stated that “children exposed
to abuse and neglect encounter difficulties accurately interpreting social cues” (Cullerton-Sen, et
al., 2008). This means that the more frequent and physical the sexual abuse is, the more sexual
behavior problems are identified. If a child is old enough to remember these events, then he/she
would exhibit more sexual behavior problems, which affects the development of his/her sexual
identity (Chromy, 2007).
There are many different angles in which sexual abuse harms and impairs the life of the
victim. Something many people underestimate is the power of a label. When a child is labeled as
a “sexual abuse victim,” the people that interact with that child treat him or her differently than
they normally would, “which may directly or indirectly impact the child’s psychological
functioning” (Maikovich, Koenen, and Jaffee, 2009). This “…labeling has been empirically
shown to lead to lowered expectancies of behavior and achievement” (Holguin & Hansen, 2003).
Under the assumption that the sexual abuse has detrimentally harmed the child, he or she is
deprived of maturing and developing just as any other human being would without undergoing
such circumstances. Therefore, sexually abused children are treated differently than other
children; they do not develop the same way as children who are not sexually abused. This
impacts the way they interact with other children, leading to a lag in social development
(Graham, et al, 2010). Many people make the mistake by assuming the child is on a different
developing level than other children their same age because they are quiet and shy, due to the
additional stress of the abuse. This behavior is sometimes recorded as incompetent and leads to
lower expectations of the child’s academia. Labeling also affects the way a child develops
behaviorally (Holguin & Hansen, 2003). If it is assumed that a child should act a certain way,
then that child will start to believe it about him/herself and actually behave according to what is
expected. Development is not only successful by nature, or the physiological impulses we are
born with, but also by nurture, or the environment which we are brought up in. Therefore, a child
who is developing in an environment that only expects the least amount of effort and allows the
child to have excuses for every mistake he or she has made, then that child will obtain those
characteristics and behaviors (Holguin & Hansen, 2003). Labeling a child as a “victim” of sexual
abuse might implore further behavior as a victim, or a dependent child who never fully develops
independence or security past certain people or things. Consequently, labeling can hinder the
crucial development a child needs for future social engagements and academic success.
Even though sexual abuse is becoming a more common experience, the consequences
and repercussions of the abuse is not decreasing. By researching and investigating the affects
sexual abuse has on its victims, we can better understand today’s culture. Sexual abuse affects
children differently depending on the age they were abused, and causes confusion in the
development of sexual identity. Labeling a child as a sexual abuse victim can hinder further
development socially and behaviorally. This goes hand in hand with the age at which the sexual
abuse occurs. When Post Traumatic Stress Disorder develops, the child is more likely to elicit
social and behavioral problems in the future. And as an adolescent, sexual abuse not only
confuses but stresses social development and has a negative impact on the development of sexual
identity.
References
Chromy, Samantha. (2007). Sexually Abused Children Who Exhibit Sexual Behavior Problems:
Victimization Characteristics. Brief Treatment & Crisis Intervention, 7(1), 25-33.
Cullerton-Sen, C., Cassidy, A., Murray-Close, D., Cicchetti, D., Crick, N., & Rogosch, F.
(2008). Childhood Maltreatment and the Development of Relational and Physical
Aggression: The Importance of a Gender-Informed Approach. Child Development, 79(6),
1736-1751. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01222.x.
Graham, J., English, D., Litrownik, A., Thompson, R., Briggs, E., & Bangdiwala, S. (2010).
Maltreatment Chronicity Defined with Reference to Development: Extension of the
Social Adaptation Outcomes Findings to Peer Relations. Journal of Family Violence,
25(3), 311-324. doi:10.1007/s10896-009-9293-9.
Holguin, G., & Hansen, D. (2003). The “sexually abused child”: Potential mechanisms of
adverse influences of such a label. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 8(6), 645.
doi:10.1016/S1359-1789(02)00101-5.
Maikovich, Andrea K., Koenen, Karestan C., & Jaffee, Sara R. (2009). Posttraumatic Stress
Symptoms and Trajectories in Child Sexual Abuse Victims: An Analysis on Sex
Differences using the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Journal of
Abnormal Child Psychology, 37(5), 727-37.