The Production of Therapy: The Social Process of Construction of the Mother of a Sexually Abused Child

Abstract

This study qualitatively examined the perspectives of clinical social workers on non-offending mothers of sexually abused children. The study examined whether clinicians still used collusion to explain mothers' behavior, despite research refuting collusion. Findings revealed that, although workers did not use collusion, they still constructed mothers negatively. Multiple contexts of agency practice influenced constructions. Administrative use of authority to implement external constraints led to workers' resistance, which involved humor with gender and ethnic components. The agency's role as a graduate social work teaching site contributed the following: Field instructors transmitted the belief that incest typified severe family difficulties and posed complex assessment and intervention problems. Implications for effective practice are discussed.

Voices in thread: Women's childhood experiences of a primary caregiver that remained in a relationship with an alleged or known sex offender, an arts-based inquiry.

“…Social constructionism originated in 1900's as a theory to examine how social problems emerge, are identified, defined, and responded to, and how a sociopolitical society discovers and invents its problems (Joyce, 2007). The construction of social problems creates images of people, victims or villains, which creates moral outrage (Joyce, 2007).…”

“…The construction of social problems creates images of people, victims or villains, which creates moral outrage (Joyce, 2007). Social constructionism provides a theoretical lens to clarify how the collusive mother came to be the accepted explanation for non-offending mothers of sexually abused children.…”

“…Social constructionism provides a theoretical lens to clarify how the collusive mother came to be the accepted explanation for non-offending mothers of sexually abused children. The collusive mother construct has been created and maintained by the social and political contexts of both, the explanation and etiology of CSA and its treatment despite theoretical disagreement (Joyce, 2007). The majority of cases studied have been father-daughter incest and the non-offending caregivers have been overwhelmingly mothers.…”

“…Reflecting on the normalcy o f mothers' responses to disclosures of sexual abuse is not to be The majority o f the literature focuses on the maternal response as being critical to a child's ongoing protection, physical and psychological well-being, and overall development after a disclosure of sexual abuse (Joyce, 2007). Child protection work is based on the needs and interests of children, but in actuality, the system usually evaluates children's needs based on the mothers' caretaking or mothering ability (Risley-Curtiss & Heffeman, 2003).…”

“…If all o f the attention is directed to the failing mother, the ways that violent and abusive fathers harm their children becomes obscured. Many researchers have commented on the plethora of ways in which violent men are invisible in the system, while women are held to different standards from men (Humphrey, 1994;Joyce, 2007;Risley-Curtis & Heffeman, 2003). There is generally a greater tolerance in society of men's anti-social behaviour and wrongdoing than that of women, and especially mothers (Philpot, 2009).…”