Abstract
M.A.
This study is an attempt to investigate the way in which female survivors of
childhood sexual abuse made sense of their experiences. Three participants were
interviewed and the relevant themes that emerged from those interviews were coded
and reported. The study was conducted from a qualitative perspective that was
grounded in social construction methodology. The survivors' individual constructions
of meaning at the time of their sexual abuse, their introduction to the social
constructions of meaning about child sexual abuse and the double bind between
these constructions are reported. The survivors' narratives are representations of the
positive way they constructed meaning about their experiences as a way of coping.
Their stories are also reflections of the confusion they experienced when introduced
to the social constructions of child sexual abuse that differed from the meaning they
attributed to their experiences. The study is a representation of the double bind that
the difference between the individual and social constructions of their child sexual
abuse created for them.