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The situation of mothers when their children are sexually abused by fathers

19.11.2002 |

Mellberg, Nea, When the unreal becomes reality. The situation of mothers when their children are sexually abused by fathers. Doctoral Dissertation in Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Umeå University 2002. This dissertation deals with the situation of mothers, when they get to know or suspect that their children have been sexually abused by men with whom they have an intimate relation - particularly fathers, biological or social, of the children. The empirical material consists of interviews with 13 Swedish mothers. From a hermeneutic perspective I emphasise their construction of meaning in social situations and cultural contexts. The main focus is on the mothers´ process of interpreting experience - the process of validation - which implies understanding something that has happened between her husband or ex-husband and the child as sexual abuse. The analytical interpretation of this process is made in the light of the predominant discourse and juridical discourse of child sexual abuse in society and the discourse of motherhood. One theme developed, deepened and strengthened successively in the analysis is the significance for the mother´s interpretation of the situation her living "in" or "out" of the relationship with the man. Another theme is the complex interaction between the normalising process of violence and the situation of mothers: the mother´s fear of her husband/ex-husband, her separation of different forms of sexual violence, her trust in the husband/ex-husband as a father, and internal and external resistance. A third theme is the mothers´ responsibility for a situation, where they have a very limited room for action. In particular there appears to be a clash between expectations and demands between the discourse of motherhood, concerning care and protection of the child, and the juridical discourse with its demands for very strong proof before any validity can be given to suspected child sexual abuse. This dissertation makes a contribution to the development and change in our knowledge about the situation of mothers. Instead of understanding their situation in the light of discursive separation, which predominates in society, a connecting understanding is gradually developed, whereby the mothers’ situation becomes comprehensive through their social and cultural – i.e. "normal" - contexts. Published by Sweden, , Lindenau, Linda (Sweden) Created 19.11.2002