S ince the publication of Susan Brownmiller's Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape in 1975, the number of studies of sexual assault on women has skyrocketed, and more attention than ever before has been focused on the effects of rape on the functioning of survivors. Additionally, many suggestions have been offered for those who counsel survivors (this term is preferred to victim because of the implication of helplessness in the latter). Although the aftereffects of rape can extend into many areas of survivors' lives, it seems apparent that sexual attitudes and behaviors are especially vulnerable to disruption after such an assault. As Whiston (1981) has pointed out, the brutal and terrifying experience of rape may change the attitude of the woman who previously viewed sex as a "desirable, pleasurable and intimate method of expressing love" and may also confirm the negative view of the woman who previously perceived sex as "a necessary evil for a man's pleasure and ego" (p. 364).In this article several aspects of the recent literature concerning sexual problems resulting from sexual assault of women are reviewed. First, prevalence, types, and duration of post-assault sexual problems are discussed, followed by consideration of data concerning survivors' sexual satisfaction. Finally, suggestions for counseling rape survivors on the sexual aspect of their recovery are made. The articles cited here were identified through a search of Psychological Abstracts from 1975 to 1985; virtually all the articles that specifically addressed postrape sexual functioning are reviewed. This article does not provide specific descriptions of methods of sex therapy; rather, integration of sexual recovery into more general recovery from rape is discussed.
PREVALENCE AND TYPESOF DYSFUNCTIONS Three studies have focused primarily on rates and types of sexual dysfunctions among rape survivors. Becker, Skinner, Abel, and Treacy (1982) compared survivors of rape or incest to women who had never been sexually assaulted on number and types of sexual dysfunctions. Whereas only 11.1% of the non-assaulted group reported one or more dysfunctions, 56% of the rapeincest survivors reported one or more sexual dysfunctions. Furthermore, 71% of the sexually dysfunctional rape survivors reported that the assault had definitely precipitated the sexual dysfunction. For these women, fear of sex and lack of desire or arousal were the most common problems. Burgess and Holmstrom (1979) studied a group of women who had been sexually active before the rape and found that 71% had decreased levels of sexual activity after the rape, with 38% completely abstaining from sex for at least 6 months after the rape. Specific sexual acts that had occurred during the rape were now distressing to 35% of these women, and 41% reported problems with sexual arousal and orgasm. Miller, Williams, and Bernstein (1982) considered the impact of rape on the sexual functioning of couples. In their study 14 of 18 couples (78%) reported that sex had become a major problem in their relati...
E. Joseph Shoben, Jr., a pioneer in the development of counseling, was interviewed about his intellectual and career development, his views of the present and future of counseling, his ideas about several issues in psychotherapy, and his reflections about himself and his career. In addition, several others who know Shoben were interviewed about him.
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