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Q: Victim Domestic Abuse vs. Adult Victim of Childhood Abuse ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Victim Domestic Abuse vs. Adult Victim of Childhood Abuse
Category: Science > Social Sciences
Asked by: benfranklin-ga
List Price: $40.00
Posted: 12 Jul 2003 06:56 PDT
Expires: 11 Aug 2003 06:56 PDT
Question ID: 229123
I have research on typical profiles of victims of spousal abuse.  What
I need now is research that describes characteristics of adults who,
as children, were victims of both sexual abuse/incest and/or physical
abuse.  What would be really great is to show/compare/contrast the
similarities and differences between spousal abuse victims and adult
child abuse victims.  I will give a $25 bonus for this comparison.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Victim Domestic Abuse vs. Adult Victim of Childhood Abuse
Answered By: techtor-ga on 12 Jul 2003 11:04 PDT
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
Mr. Franklin (I presume),
I have decided to post this as an answer since I feel I have found
adequate resources for making an answer. I decide to make a list of
similarities and differences based on what I found.

Similarities: 
- Tendency to develop clinical depression
- Tendency to develop serious self-destructive behaviors, such as
drugs, alcoholism, anxiety attacks, suicide tendencies, etc.
- Victims are forced into secrecy
- Contact with outside people is minimal or subdued
- Difficulty leaving the abuser
- Women who’ve had an abusive childhood can be expected to get into an
abusive adult relationship
- Trauma suffered all throughout life
- Physical injury is noticeable 
- Behavior of withdrawing from friends and people who do not know
- Conservative/old-fashioned atmosphere in home often observed

Differences: 
- Fear or discomfort toward the opposite sex is the tendency for
adults abused as children; abused spouses generally stick to or return
often to their spouses
- For adults abused as children, sexual abuse is included; in spousal
abuse, it’s mostly physical abuse
- Child abuse not prerequisite, but probability in spousal abuse
- Both sexes recognized as victims in child abuse, but in spousal
abuse, male as victim is rare and not widely accepted
- Changes in brain function noted for women with child abuse history
- Some victims of child abuse might let a close friend or condifante
know of the abuse; spouses more often than not keep quiet
- Usual factors and circumstances are different for spouse abuse and
child abuse

If these that I listed do not give you what you need, perhaps the
sources below I got ideas from will help:

Sources on Child abuse:
Treating Adults Who Were Sexually Abused As Children: Central
Principles - National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
http://www.ncptsd.org/publications/cq/v6/n2/briere.html

Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
http://www.hope.edu/academic/psychology/335/webrep2/spabuse.html

Childhood Abuse and Neglect Causes Changes to Brain 1/7/01
http://www.mercola.com/2001/jan/7/abuse_brain.htm

Clinical Characteristics Of Women With A History Of Childhood Abuse
http://www.healthlibrary.com/reading/pointers/may/abuse.htm

About Adults Abused During Childhood
http://www.meersinc.com/articles/adults_abused.html

Childhood Abuse Changes the Developing Brain
http://www.nospank.net/teicher.htm

Women abused as children show elevated hormonal responses to stress
http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/HSNEWS/releases/aug00/Nemeroff_psychiatricdisordr.htm

What Can Happen to Abused Children When They Grow Up - If No One
Notices, Listens or Helps?
Some Statistics from the Research
http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/abused_children.htm

What are the Effects of Child Sexual Abuse
http://www.apa.org/releases/sexabuse/effects.html


Sources on Spouse abuse:
12-17-1996 - Spouse Abuse: Profile Of A Victim
http://www.timeswrsw.com/archive/1996/N1217963.HTM

National Council On Child Abuse And Family Violence - Spouse/Partner
Abuse Information
http://nccafv.org/spouse.htm

The Spouse/Mate/Partner of the Narcissist
http://samvak.tripod.com/faq6.html

Abuse of spouse or partner
http://atoz.iqhealth.com/HealthAnswers/encyclopedia/HTMLfiles/2782.html

Understanding Abuse: Spouse & Partner Abuse
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1478X5.pdf

Profile of a Battered Woman
http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/9562/domesticviolence/profileofabused.html

Profile of a Battered Woman
http://www.co.bannock.id.us/profile.htm


Some other resources to look at:
National Council On Child Abuse & Family Violence
http://nccafv.org

General advice for adults abused as children
http://www.equip.ac.uk/docs/guidelines/sexualabuse/genadvi.html

Characteristics That Might Identify A Potential Abuser
http://www.amie.org/abuse/abuser.shtml

Myths of Male Sexual Abuse
http://www.malesurvivor.com/myths.htm

Common Myths About Spouse Abuse
http://organizations.rockbridge.net/projecthorizon/dvcommonmyths.htm


Bibliography:
Adult Abuse Survivor list of books
http://www.psychologyinfo.com/bookstore/adult_survivors.html

There are many other reports published on the web, but they are not
available for free. I will one example I found.

PANIAMOR-Adults who where sexually abused as children: long term
effects and therapeutic support
http://www.metabase.net/docs/paniamor/0966.html


Google Search string:
characteristics adults abused children
spouse abuser child profile
spouse abuse victim characteristics
traits adults abused children
adults abused "as children"
battered women victim profile
battered woman profile

I hope this has been a most helpful answer. If you have any problem
with it, do please post a Request for Clarification and I shall
respond. Thank you.
benfranklin-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars and gave an additional tip of: $25.00

Comments  
Subject: Re: Victim Domestic Abuse vs. Adult Victim of Childhood Abuse
From: techtor-ga on 13 Jul 2003 10:49 PDT
 
Thanks for the tip! It was a generous one! :)

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