Subjective accounts of post-rape adjustment amongst South African rape survivors

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-118)This study aimed to explore the subjective experiences of rape survivors, with a greater focus on the ongoing process of post-rape adjustment, as compared with the immediate psychological impact. The research employed feminist, qualitative methodology. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten rape survivors from the Rape Crisis office in Observatory, Cape Town, in the Western Cape. The interviews were recorded and the transcripts were analysed using grounded theory. The following broad thematic areas were identified: (1) psychiatric symptoms, (2) sense of self, (3) relationships with others, (4) coping attempts, and (5) grappling with meaning. The latter two thematic areas formed the focus of the study, and were discussed in more detail The main findings suggest that (l) subjective experience of the rape is more significant than the specific characteristics of the assault, (2) post-rape adjustment is not so much about recovery, but rather finding ways to adjust, which includes finding ways to live with the rape and making peace with the rape, and (3) meaning-making IS central to the process of post-rape adjustment. In addition, participants in the current study offered some alternative discourses to that of pathology. Recommendations for future research in this area are offered