Child Sexual Abuse - A Developmental Perspective to Victimization

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a complicated phenomenon which needs an appropriate model to understand its nature, magnitude and impact. 26 Sexually abused children and a parent or guardian of each child were interviewed in-depth. These interviews and the respective case files form the informational foundation of the study. The study concludes that the seeds of vulnerability to CSA lie in the early developmental stage of the child, impacting specific developmental tasks in the process which can affect the functionality of the individual throughout her whole life. Furthermore, the study supports the assumption that complex processes and contexts can be better understood by applying an integrated model as a tool for analysis. This research analyzed only two contextual settings - the individual and the family. Future research can include other contextual factors in the model or focus on other microsystems affecting the child, e.g. peer groups and the school. The findings of this study are especially interesting for future researches using this approach and for psychologists, social workers and other related health providers in the community and beyond.