Indian Adolescents’ Perspective of Childhood Abuse and Neglect as Reflected Through Narratives and Drawings

Atreyee Bhattacharyya, Rachel Lev-Wiesel, Mallika Banerjee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The study explores thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of victims about their experiences of abuse and neglect and how therapeutic intervention encourages disclosure. Narrative accounts given by 15 Indian adolescents during therapeutic interventions were analyzed by the Descriptive-Phenomenological-Psychological Perspective, which evoked three themes. The first theme explains how coping styles and personal resources contribute to the victims’ dealing with trauma. The second theme explores to whom, when, and in what circumstances victims prefer to disclose. The third theme explains how “time” is perceived in the light of trauma. Results suggest that the Indian sociocultural system acts as a mold to shape the victim’s perception and belief system, and causes confusion about whether the incident was at all abusive. Initiation to help victims should come from their parents and from adult stakeholders outside the family.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)568-593
Number of pages26
JournalJournal of Loss and Trauma
Volume24
Issue number5-6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Narratives
  • abuse
  • culture
  • descriptive-phenomenological-psychological perspective
  • disclosure
  • drawings
  • neglect
  • time

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Psychiatric Mental Health
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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