Research
Our interdisciplinary research team investigates how cultural, scientific, clinical and institutional ideas about trauma and recovery from child sexual abuse have developed over the second half of the twentieth century and why a medical model of recovery now dominates medical, psychiatric and public discourses of healing.
© Lee Cooper / Victorious Voices
Co-producing an investigation of the shared and separate histories of victim-survivors of child sexual abuse and those practitioners who support them.
Many of the 7,000 survivors who gave testimony to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) spoke of experiencing trauma and not getting the support they needed to aid their recovery or to help them to ‘live with’ the impact of trauma. IICSA’s final report (2022) stated that ‘the devastation and harm caused by sexual abuse cannot be overstated – the impact of child sexual abuse [CSA], often lifelong, is such that everyone should do all they can to protect children.’
Recovery Histories builds on the groundswell of interest following IICSA, from practitioners and survivors in working *together* for positive change. Co-produced with both communities, this project investigates the separate and shared histories of survivors from CSA and the practitioners who set out to help them recover from trauma. By developing a shared understanding of the histories that brought us to this point, we can find epistemic justice *with* survivors, as well as influence the development of policy recommendations for positive change in support for survivors.
CSA brings about negative outcomes for children in terms of brain function, development, health, sexuality, personal relationships, parenting, spirituality, education and economic stability. These vary for individuals, across time and geographical context and they are intersectional, affected by a victim’s race, gender, sexuality, disability, religion and the ways in which these interact together in relation to wider societal contexts. Developing a historical understanding of how ideas about trauma and recovery from child sexual abuse have evolved and using these as a platform to think creatively about new ways of healing has huge potential for survivors’ wellbeing and mental health. Given that over three million adults in England and Wales were reported by the Office of National Statistics to be survivors in 2019. This project can make a significant contribution to health and wellbeing.
The research questions are:
- How have public, activist and professional perceptions of what makes a ‘good recovery’ from child sexual abuse altered between 1950 and 2022?
- Professional here is defined broadly, e.g., psychology, medicine, psychiatry, social work, education, criminal justice and other ‘helping’ professions.
- In what ways have practitioners’ attitudes, feelings and practices in relation to the concepts of trauma, recovery and healing after CSA changed over time?
- Does working with trauma and recovery always medicalise the victim-survivor’s experience or do practitioners conceptualise the aftermath of CSA and interventions in other ways?
- How do victim-survivors understand their experiences of trauma and recovery following CSA; how do they make sense of and evaluate what helps them to live a ‘good life’ in its aftermath and how have their feelings and beliefs changed over the same period?
- Has recovery been a useful concept for survivors or does it pathologise them through stereotypes of ‘cycles of abuse’?
- Does a survivor’s sense of progress towards recovery or having recovered relate to external interventions, to different cultural backgrounds,(8) to how they controlled and experienced personal encounters, a particular relationship, a set of feelings, or the passing of time?
- How do models of recovery connect to structural constraints?
- Is supporting recovery a matter for the state as a promoter of public health, an opportunity for private enterprise and profit, or the responsibility of an individual?
- How are ideas about recovery linked to economic scarcity and rationing?
- What are the political and legal consequences of particular framings of trauma and recovery and how do they connect with notions of justice in terms of convicting perpetrators and compensating victims?
Research Strands
Archival historical research
Co-creating new oral histories with victim-survivors and practitioners
Ethnographic interviews and participant observations with survivors and practitioners
Survivor narratives – ethical data reuse
Affected by sexual violence or sexual abuse?
If you have been affected by issues relating to sexual violence, we can recommend some support services.
