Treating sexually abused children: issues of blame and responsibility.
It is proposed that clinicians refrain from telling sexually abused children that the experience of abuse was "not their fault," since such well-intentioned assurances can diminish the sense of power and control that the children may feel in addition to their guilt. Affirming children's sense of power rather than their status as victims may have future benefits for them and for their own children.
Lamb
Sharon
S
Department of Child Psychiatry.
D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D010553:Personality Development; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012930:Social Dominance