Life stories of boys who have been sexually abused: an educational psychological perspective.

M.Ed.Child sexual abuse is a deep social concern in South Africa. Its impact affects all areas of development, which warrants a need for appropriate therapeutic intervention. Despite a need for such an intervention, many children, especially boys from disadvantaged African communities, are still without such services. This made me wonder, as an intern-Educational Psychologist, how to help such children. In my search to help them I found that available literature does not document sexual abuse among boys, especially from disadvantaged African communities. Instead it focuses on sexual abuse among girls, women and men. Hence, this study was proposed. The aim of this study is to describe and explore, from an Educational Psychology perspective, the life stories of boys who have been sexually abused. The study presents an in-depth exploration of how the five boys in the research group made meaning of their experiences with sexual abuse. The qualitative research paradigm with a phenomenological design was followed in this study. Data was mainly collected through Narrative Therapy sessions and other complementary methods. In analyzing data, the narrative method of data analysis categorical content mode, was followed. The findings were presented as metaphorical stories, which include: The story of ‘The Rubbish’, “it mixes up my mind” and “it tears what you like”. The conclusion was that boys who have been sexually abused can be aided in their healing process through psychotherapy. Therefore, further research should be done on an appropriate psychotherapy approaches for boys who have been sexually abused and as well as on strategies to encourage the boys to report the abuse immediately. The findings of this study may be helpful to educational psychologists and other therapists working with boys who have been sexually abused.Dr. E. Frit