Abstract
D. Litt. et Phil.
This study aims to create a grounded model that can contribute to the knowledge about successfully coping with sexual molestation. Sexual molestation is a worldwide problem and is not unique to South Africa. In the past few decades, the problem of sexual molestation has emerged from the cloak of secrecy and has become an important theme in the social sciences and professions. Research on sexual molestation has mainly developed from a pathogenic perspective where the main function was to describe the nature and negative effects of sexual molestation, and to diagnose and treat sexual molestation as an illness. Recent research has however shown that not all sexually abused children develop psychopathology and therefore, a growing number of researchers have moved beyond psychopathology to a salutogenic perspective within the past two decades to explain why many people show signs of adaptation after traumatic experiences.
The epistemological framework of this study is that of constructivism where the approaches of both modernism and post modernism are integrated. The dominating paradigm of the study is that of salutogenesis where the focus is on health and the successful adaptation of mankind. The grounded theory research methodology was used to develop a conceptual model about successfully coping with sexual molestation. This model can serve as a point of departure for future research and can contribute to the existing knowledge on resilience.
Studying woman who have been sexually molested within a salutogenic paradigm, can have various implications for research and intervention strategies. Salutogenesis provides an optimistic alternative to the study of sexually molested woman and can help them to deal with the trauma in a more constructive way.