Was It Possible to Rape Me as a Baby
Tin Kids Remember Babyhood Sexual Abuse?
Children may only remember feelings, not actions, of early sexual abuse.
Oct. 4, 2007 — -- Many may wonder how a girl who was raped and filmed for a child pornography tape could e'er be considered a "happy, and perfectly healthy niggling girl" just a few years afterwards the assail occurred.
But according to the Nevada female parent whose daughter was discovered concluding week to have been featured on a sex corruption record when she was just 2 years old, the child is not reeling from the traumatic events. In fact, she is actually doing quite well.
In a printing conference Wednesday, Jerry Donohoe, the family's attorney who read the mother's statement, said that he did not believe the girl has any thought what happened to her.
"I believe she had no memory of the event," said Donohoe, who also said that the girl had been reviewed by psychologists since the tape was discovered.
While nosotros only have the statements of the mother and lawyer to guess the status of the child, the case raises questions about how young children remember traumatic events and whether it is possible that this girl in question may not remember -- also known as suffering "traumatic amnesia" -- the very events that put her in headlines nationwide.
Children Likely to Remember Sensations, Not Specific Events, Experts Say
"It is possible that if a kid is sexually molested at a very early age that they might not have a recollection of the incident," said Dr. Due north.K. Berrill, a forensic psychologist who has not treated the girl in the Nevada sex activity record. "There would exist the possibility of some kind of retentivity [of the incident] but not necessarily the kind of memories we talk virtually."
The traumatic experience, Berrill said, may be translated into nervous or timid behavior past the child, who does non sympathize exactly what happened or may not exist able to remember the specific events. As a result, the child is only able to think the feelings and sensations that occurred during the incident.
"Developmentally, the younger you are the less you remember well or accurately," said Berrill, who is the director of New York Forensic, a psychiatric consulting group. "Kids think sensory memories -- they don't have memories that are coherent similar XYZ occurred, but they call up that they felt a lot of tension or fright."
Simply Berrill, like many psychologists ABCNEWS.com consulted, said that how much a kid remembers varies considerably depending on both the child involved and the extent of the corruption.
"[The outcome on the child] depends to some extent on what actually happened and the nature of the experience," said Dr. Joe Scroppo, a clinical psychologist and attorney who concentrates on kid corruption cases. "Information technology'due south possible that whatever occurred wouldn't be perceived as hurtful [to the victim] depending on how the perpetrator interacted with the child. On the other mitt, if information technology was done in a violent or scary way, then it's possible the kid would express negative emotions."
If an assail occurs more than once, Scroppo said, the effect on the child is likely to exist worse. In the case of the Nevada girl, it has not been fabricated articulate whether the sex tape was the only case of sexual assail or whether the perpetrator habitually raped the daughter.
Could This Little Girl Really Be 'Perfectly Happy?'
"I remember many people would exist shocked to learn how many people have inappropriate sexual experiences as a kid and are molested and even so turn out OK," said Berrill. "Merely subtle residual effects still occur."
"I recall she could pb a normal life," added Berrill. "She even so might have to exist in therapy later on if she's respondent to the abuse in the sense that she's more timid or more than fearful toward men or strangers."
And for those victims of sexual set on who practice appear to be well-adjusted in the years straight following the traumatic experience -- much similar the Nevada female parent insists her girl is -- some psychologists say it is still possible to take a "delayed" reaction to the incident.
"Some people who are traumatized -- which depends on what happened -- can cake information technology out and disassociate it and don't connect and don't remember the trauma," said Dr. Bob Geffner, the president of the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma at Alliant International Academy. "They might live a 'normal' life for who knows how long because they blocked out the trauma and and so erstwhile afterward information technology could be triggered." Experiences including sexual relationships and scenarios involving trust and honesty, Geffner said, could all be things that may trigger a victim'due south retention about prior traumatic experiences.
Again, depending on the child, there are many cases where people who were assaulted at very immature ages never accost the assail in their adult lives, leading researchers to believe that their traumatic amnesia or repression of the memories was never disrupted by trigger events.
"In that location is non enough inquiry to show that everyone [who is sexually assaulted at a young age] is affected," said Geffner. "Some people overcome and are resilient."
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=3688395&page=1
Belum ada Komentar untuk "Was It Possible to Rape Me as a Baby"
Posting Komentar