“Childhood trauma doesn’t come in one single package”: Exploring the Cycle of Abuse from Childhood to Adulthood with a Focus on Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA)

Abstract

This dissertation is focused around the cycle of abuse and the journey a victim takes from childhood to adulthood including any gender-based differences. Each chapter explored a different journey a victim could take following their abuse and what factors could contribute to the different outcomes. The first chapter explored the victim-to-victimiser theory. This is where the possibility for an abused child going on to abuse others in adulthood, with some of the contributing factors being hypersexuality and the social learning theory that supports learned behaviour. Intergenerational sexual abuse is researched to determine if victims learn from the abuse from a family member and then go on to inflict the same abuse on their own children. The second chapter investigated the likelihood of a victim being revictimised in their adult life and, what about their past CSA makes them more susceptible. Some contributing factors found were alcohol and dissociation which separate the victim from their conscious mind and make them more vulnerable to experiencing sexual abuse again. The third chapter explored how we can break of the cycle of sexual abuse. The two concepts investigated were coping and resilience. Each of these contributed to a victim's journey to a survivor and was essential in the prevention of the other harmful pathways that are possible following CSA.