Mothers' and daughters' experiences of motherblaming in relation to sexual abuse investigations
Date
1997
Authors
Priest, Sharon
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Abstract
This thesis explores mothers' and daughters' experience of motherblaming during child sexual abuse investigations. The impetus for the study arose out of my own professional practice as a child welfare worker in the Ministry for Children and Families. During sexual abuse investigations, we were required to assess the mothers' ability to protect her children from the offender. That investigation became the focus of our work. I had no idea how mothers and daughters felt about this process as we received little feedback from them.
I began this study with a review of literature in three particular areas. The first area focused on theories that penetrate the training of social workers and other helping professionals. A feminist critique of these theories underscores their potential for perpetrating motherblaming beliefs. Second, I reviewed the feminist literature itself. It provides new perspectives on caring that connects the function of caring to broader social forces, well beyond the control of individual mothers. The third area, the organization of child welfare work, provides insights into how work processes focus attention on mother's responsibilities and not on those of the perpetrator.
To gather data for this study I chose a case study approach, with a feminist lens. This method allowed me to explore the experiences of four mothers and three daughters during child sexual abuse investigations. Questions related to the unfolding of this process were used to prompt a recount of it. The data analyzed according to themes emerging from the interviews, themes that helped ilucidate the experience of motherblaming. These themes were connected to literature in the area.
Mothers' and daughters' experience of motherblaming differed in many respects but some common themes were evident. The process of investigating child sexual abuse opened the family to scrutiny and provided opportunities for mothers to feel responsible for what occurred. Whether mother took strong actions against the perpetrator was important to their experience of motherblaming. Taking such action was not a simple matter as mothers' relationship to the perpetrator may have many other facets.
Although daughters did not necessarily blame their mothers, particularly if she left the perpetrator, there was a feeling that this blame could appear at a later time. One strong theme was the feeling of shame experienced by mothers and daughters. Dealing with shame is not really considered in child sexual abuse investigations, yet shame can prevent long term recovery from sexual abuse and the investigation.
This study further provides support for recent research on motherblaming in child sexual abuse investigations. A further study on the phenomenon of shame is warranted. Recommendations for improving policy and practice in child sexual abuse are included.