Abstract
Thousands of adolescents in South Africa are victims of long-term sexual abuse and
violence. Their life narratives are saturated with oppression and suffering, and their
therapeutic needs differ from those who experience single-event traumas (Brown,
Scheflin & Hammond, 1998; Draucker & Stern, 2000). Little has been documented
about the unique outcomes they have experienced throughout their lifetimes, perhaps
because, as Narrative therapists suggest, these experiences often remain unstoried.
This study therefore focuses on an exploration of unique outcomes (stories of strength,
autonomy and emotional vitality) in the life narratives of two black adolescent girls who
have suffered long-term violence and sexual abuse. Contributing to a better
understanding of the nature and the type of unique outcomes they experience in the
face of trauma may ultimately assist Narrative therapists who highlight such stories for
therapeutic use. This research is theoretically situated in a social constructionist
framework. The research was conducted in a qualitative research paradigm and a
narrative research approach was employed. A multiple case study research design was
used, guided by the storying metaphor according to which participants tell their stories
during unstructured narrative conversations or Narrative therapy. In addition to
collection through unstructured conversations, data was also collected through active
observation and field notes by the researcher. Two black adolescent girls aged
eighteen years were purposefully selected as participants in order to increase the
likelihood that rich data relevant to the research question would be obtained. Narrative
categorical content analysis was used as method of data analysis to answer the
research questions. It was found that unique outcomes were present in the participants’
life stories and six unique outcome categories were identified. These categories include
rebellion stories, breaking-free stories, retreat stories, a spiritual revival story, self-worth
stories and a support story. There was also some correspondence between the unique
outcome categories of the two participants. Finally, recommendations to other
therapists concerning the utilization of unique outcomes in Narrative therapy were made
based on die identified unique outcome categories.
Prof. J. Byrne