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9 J. Child Sexual Abuse 1 (2000-2001)

handle is hein.journals/wcsa9 and id is 1 raw text is: INTERVENTIONS Quality of Life in Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse Who Have Undergone Therapy Rachel Lev-Wiesel ABSTRACT. This study examined perceptions of past sexual abuse experiences and quality of life among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Fifty-two adult survivors (15 men, 37 women) of child- hood paternal sexual abuse who had completed therapy were inter- viewed about their past and current life. A qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed three types of explanations for the offenders' abu- sive behavior (fathers and/or mothers in terms of compliance): charac- teristics of the offender-parent (incestuous father), the victim's charac- teristics, and circumstantial conditions. The results indicated that a higher percentage of survivors who attributed the abuse to the offend- er's characteristics managed to keep their self-esteem fairly intact and had a higher quality of life, in contrast to survivors who took full blame on themselves or blamed situational factors. The results further re- Rachel Lev-Wiesel, PhD, is Lecturer in the Department of Social Work, Ben-Gu- rion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel (E-mail: rachellv@bgumail.bgu. ac.il). Correspondence should be addressed to: Rachel Lev-Wiesel, Ben-Gurion Univer- sity of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer Sheva 94105, Israel. Submitted: 12-10-98; first revision: 6-14-99; second revision: 11-11-99; accepted: 11-12-99. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, Vol. 9(1) 2000 2000 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 1