What is it about?
The uniqueness of intimate wounds caused by sexual assault needs to be understood by would-be healers. There are pitfalls to be sensitive to, as well as appreciation of how prevailing cultural attitudes can contribute to the grooming process of victims (the "shadow abuser"). Unhelpful therapeutic attitudes are also delineated. No other group of survivors are required to be interviewed about intimate matters by such a large number of helpers following sexual assault including healthcare, legal, crime victim advocates, and therapists.
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Why is it important?
The sheer number of sexual assault victims-survivors pose the risk of insensitivity, microaggressions, and/or empathy failures in dealing with the extreme vulnerability and humiliating added exposure of people suffering intimate wounds. The systems induced trauma is compounded by high stress in the helping professions, high caseloads, and unhealthy work settings.
Perspectives
The authors appreciate the many dedicated helping professions who do heartfelt work on behalf of victims of sexual assault. Blind spots, countertransference reactions that operate outside of awareness do carry in spite of our best intentions a risk of harm in treating people who can ill afford secondary wounds from the systems designed to help them.
David Crenshaw
Children's Home of Poughkeepsie
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Nature of Intimate Wounding and the “Shadow Abuser”, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, December 2018, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0022167818815587.
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