Speaking of Mothers . . .

How Does the Literature Portray

Mothers Who Have a History
of Child Sexual Abuse?
Jan Breckenridge

ABSTRACT. The tendency to cast mothers in a negative light has

featured in much of the literature researching child sexual abuse. More recently however, this trend has become increasingly evident in any number
of empirical discussions focusing on mothers who themselves have a history of child sexual abuse. This article presents a detailed thematic analysis of the ways in which the literature presents these mothers, particularly
concentrating on research examining their parenting post disclosure of
their childs sexual abuse. A critical reading of the literature supports
commentary on methodological problems in research design as well as assumptions made about mothering, the nature of support, and the focus on
the effects of childhood sexual abuse to the exclusion of the influence of
other childhood experiences and difficulties. [Article copies available for a

fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail

address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com> Website: <http://www.Haworth
Press.com> 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

Jan Breckenridge, Bachelor of Social Studies (Hons), PhD, is Senior Lecturer,

School of Social Work, and Director, Centre for Gender-Related Violence Studies, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Address correspondence to: Dr. Jan Breckenridge, School of Social Work, University
of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia 2052 (E-mail: j.breckenridge@unsw.edu.au).
The author is grateful for the encouragement and research assistance of Jane
Davidson.
Submitted for publication 10/19/04; revised 02/18/05; accepted 02/22/05.
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, Vol. 15(2) 2006
Available online at http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JCSA
2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1300/J070v15n02_05

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KEYWORDS. Child sexual abuse, mothers, intervention, mother-child

relationship, inter-generational transmission of risk

SPEAKING OF MOTHERS . . . A CRITIQUE

OF THE LITERATURE DISCUSSING MOTHERS
WHO HAVE A HISTORY OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
Much has been written generally about mothers whose children have
been sexually abused, most often focusing on perceptions of the problems and difficulties of their choices and actions prior to and post disclosure, including their capacity to believe their child and appropriately
support them after they have disclosed sexual abuse. Not surprisingly,
this influential body of research promotes an often uncritical acceptance
of unhelpful and blaming ideas and beliefs such that in practice, the ability of mothers to support their child is often negated and in some cases
actively sabotaged by the very professionals who are designated to work
with them (Baker, 2001; Breckenridge & Berreen, 1992; Crawford,
1999; Humphreys, 1992, 1999).
While the tendency to cast mothers in a negative light is clearly not
new to the child sexual abuse literature, there is increasing evidence in
any number of recent empirical discussions of a narrower focus on mothers who themselves have a history of child sexual assault. Within this
narrower focus, research questions range from investigations that specifically concentrate on whether the long-term effects of their childhood sexual abuse affects their capacity to parent in any circumstances (e.g.,
Alexander, Teti, & Anderson, 2000; DiLillo, Tremblay, & Peterson,
2000), to literature that scrutinizes the capacity of these mothers to believe and support their own child once they have disclosed sexual abuse
(see Paredes, Leifer, & Kilbane, 2001; Schechter, Leifer, Kilbane, &
Baca, 2002). The results and tentative conclusions of these projects are
equivocal, demonstrating little common agreement as to precisely what
effect(s) a mothers history of child sexual abuse may have on later
parenting and under what circumstances difficulties may emerge. However, what these studies do share is a propensity to form research questions that in themselves assume a deficit or negativity about mothers with
a history of childhood sexual assault and their capacity to parent effectively.
This article presents a detailed thematic analysis of the ways in which
the literature portrays mothers who themselves have a history of child

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sexual assault, particularly concentrating on research examining their

parenting post disclosure of their childs sexual abuse. A critical reading of the literature supports commentary on methodological problems
in research design as well as assumptions made about mothering, the
nature of support, and the focus on the effects of childhood sexual abuse
to the exclusion of the influence of other childhood experiences and
difficulties.
The critique of the literature in this article has been organized into
three clear but related themes. The first theme deals with discussions of
the intergenerational transmission of risk of child sexual assault from
mothers to their children, specifically commenting on the (un)intended
effects that the intergenerational transmission hypothesis may have on
mothers. The second theme features research examining the competency and capacity of mothers with a history of child sexual abuse to
parent and support their children generally and at disclosure. The third
and last theme explores studies investigating the increased stress these
mothers face at the time of disclosure of their own childs sexual abuse
and the effects that stress may have on a mothers capacity to support
her child at this time.
There is a growing body of alternative literature that recognizes and
prioritizes different questions about the parenting of these mothers (e.g.,
Baker, 2001; Bowen, 2000; Breckenridge & Baldry, 1997; Freer, 1997;
McCallum, 2001), effectively extending the parameters of the literature
under investigation in this critique. A comprehensive thematic analysis
that makes relevant intersections with this emergent literature will
achieve the aim of this article, namely to extend our knowledge of
mothers who have a history of child sexual abuse by acknowledging the
diversity and complexity of their experiences and actions, rather than
narrowly focusing, as Crawford (1999) proposes, on what we think we
know about mothers.
THE INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF RISK
OF CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT
A sizeable number of studies investigating the intergenerational transmission of risk hypothesize that children of mothers who themselves
experienced child sexual abuse are at a higher-risk for various types of
maltreatment, including incest and child sexual assault. Cohen (1995)
suggests that these reports give the impression that incest may pass in
families from one generation to the next. The appeal of the hypothesis is

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that it directly relates to investigations of the etiology of the abuse and the
consequences of the abuse, which are undeniably of interest to any researcher wishing to understand more about child sexual abuse.
Mothers Own Concerns
A selection of the early clinical literature suggests that mothers who
have a history of child sexual assault themselves may express concerns
about their capacity to parent, very often appropriately as part of an
on-going therapeutic relationship (e.g., Herman, 1981; Sgroi, 1982;
Ward, 1984). Zuravin and Fontanella (1999) propose that much of the
literature on intergenerational transmission of risk focuses on the negative effects of a childhood history of sexual abuse on mothering, precisely because it does draw on clinicians reports of mothers own
concerns about their capacity to parent. Cole and Woolgers (1989)
study is an example of research that explicitly specifies that one rationale for their investigation was the frequent reporting of clinicians that
mothers in families where incest is a current problem were also very often sexually abused as children. Cole and Woolgers study concludes,
however, by questioning the veracity of the limited empirical support
for this hypothesis, noting the potential for such work to lean towards
blaming mothers, even if it is in an obtuse fashion.
Nevertheless, the theme of maternal concern or anxiety about parenting is clearly evident in the literature and is repeatedly reported by participants (mothers) as being of concern to them. Douglass (2000) study
replicated the work of other researchers (e.g., Freer, 1997; Lewin &
Bergin, 2001), finding that mothers with a history of child sexual assault
are significantly more anxious about aspects of their parenting. An unanticipated finding from the same study was that mothers with a history
of child sexual abuse were also significantly more worried about their
parenting being seen or assessed as inappropriate by other people. The
discourse of transmission of risk can be experienced as stressful and
may be seen to contribute to mothers anxieties about parenting more
generally and specifically after their childs own disclosure. Womack,
Miller, and Lassiter (1999) and McCallum (2001) acknowledge this
stress, arguing that very often mothers require therapeutic assistance not
to blame themselves or doubt their parenting as a result of internalizing
explanations for their childs sexual abuse that tacitly or directly blames
them, such as the intergenerational transmission of risk hypothesis.
Crawford (1999) cautions against basing research on paradigms
developed only from clinicians notes of case studies. She argues that as

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case studies are dependent on theoretical frameworks for standardization

and because a theoretical framework guides the data collection, analysis,
and interpretation of results the potential for bias (in this case, motherblame) is ever present. Equally, the reliance on small non-probability
samples drawn from clinical populations can be problematic. Research
participants are drawn from clinical samples where mothers with a history of child sexual abuse are already attending mental health services for
issues not explicitly pertaining to their history of child sexual abuse
(Douglas, 2000); are receiving therapeutic assistance privately or from
hospitals (Oates, Tebbutt, Swanston, & Lynch, 1998; Paredes et al., 2001);
or have been chosen to participate in abuse prevention programs (DiLillo
et al., 2000). Moreover, where comparison groups of mothers without a
history of child sexual abuse are used, control mothers may be drawn
from non-clinical populations (McClosky & Baily, 2000). McClosky
and Baily raise an equally valid methodological concern, arguing that
many of the studies often begin with the mothers history of sexual abuse
as the risk factor rather than it emerging as an outcome. They claim that
the problem with this process is that proposed risk factors are always
stronger in retrospective than prospective studies, hence providing the
most negative assessment possible.
An Association or Causal Relationship?
Very often this hypothesis is an explicit research aim as opposed to an
unintended research finding. For example, Oates et al. (1998) investigated whether mothers who were sexually abused in their own childhood
are at risk of their children being sexually abused. The researchers did
find that a maternal history of sexual assault was related to an increased
risk of sexual abuse occurring in the next generation, but importantly also
found that prior maternal childhood sexual abuse did not affect outcomes
in their children who were sexually abused. Armsworth and Stronk
(1999) found similar results and were quick to point out that an uncritical
acceptance of the intergenerational transmission of risk hypothesis may
have unintended consequences, such as blaming the adult victim.
Waters and Kelk (1991) move from the concept of risk to claim that
the notion of intergenerational continuity of harm done to children is
well documented despite a later acknowledgement that the potentially
harmful effects on children of the consequences of incest a generation
earlier have not been adequately examined in empirical studies. The linguistic shift from the concept of risk to an unqualified acceptance of an
intergenerational transmission of harm is an example of the way in which

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this hypothesis can be used to blame mothers with a history of child

sexual assault. Waters and Kelk typify much of the literature on this topic,
which presents the inter-generational transmission of risk as an acknowledged causal fact but which fails to empirically substantiate this claim.
Other studies have followed the shift from risk to specifically focusing
on the potential transmission of harm. DiLillo et al. (2000) propose that
a mothers own history of child sexual abuse may significantly predict
adult risk of physically abusing ones children. They compared a sample
of 138 mothers with a history of child sexual assault with a sample of 152
non-sexually abused mothers already enrolled in a preventive child abuse
parenting program. They report an unexpected finding: the comparison of
the two groups on the parenting variables assessing participant developmental expectations of their children, frequency of spanking and punishment, and maternal nurturance revealed no significant differences.
Despite there being no significant difference in these groups actual behaviours, importantly including physical punishment and nurturing, the
researchers still claimed that a history of child sexual assault may be a
risk factor for physically abusing ones own children.
McClosky and Baily (2000) provide a feasible, if empirically untested,
alternative explanation to the intergenerational transmission of risk of
child sexual assault from mothers to daughters. They suggest that a proportion of survivor mothers may sustain contact with their family of origin despite prior sexually abusive experiences perpetrated by family
members, and this continued contact places their daughters at the same
risk to which they were once subjected. Given that many of the research
samples are drawn from clinical populations (including lower-socio-economic classes and those already involved with welfare agencies) combined with an acknowledged under-reporting of child sexual abuse, this
suggestion bears further investigation.
The literature is unable to explain the repeated finding of the
intergenerational transmission of child sexual assault, and certainly there
is no evidence to suggest a causal link between a maternal history of child
sexual assault and their childs sexual abuse. McClosky and Baily (2000)
make note of the preponderance of studies on the past abuse experiences
of mothers of victims rather than perpetrators, which they believe lends
emphasis more to the mothers rather than fathers role in their daughters
victimization. Their point is to highlight what they term the cloaking of
paternal responsibility (p. 1021) in the literature, but another question
may be inferred from their discussion: What of the intergenerational
transmission from fathers with a history of child sexual assault to their
children? How is it that, with the growing awareness of male children as

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63

victims of sexual abuse, fathers have not been the object of parallel
research inquiries?
THE COMPETENCY AND CAPACITY OF MOTHERS
WITH A HISTORY OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
TO PARENT AND SUPPORT THEIR CHILDREN
Schreiber and Lyddon (1998) criticize researchers who take a symptom approach, looking only for short and long-term deficit and incapacity. They argue that this singular focus fails to explain why some
survivors of childhood sexual abuse report profound traumatization and
certain long-term effects while others do not. An example of the deficit
focus is found in the work of Burkett (1991), who stated that the sole purpose of her inquiry was to identify important but unforeseen concerns and
issues experienced by mothers with a history of child sexual abuse, not
their strengths.
The tendency to focus only on problems and deficits can equally be
found in the work of Cohen (1995). This study investigated the maternal
functioning of women survivors of child sexual assault by looking at the
possible long-range consequences of child sexual assault on the victims future ideas about parenting as well as her functioning in this role.
The unfolding picture of this study suggests that women with a maternal
history of child sexual assault function generally on a lower level than
mothers who were not exposed to this trauma in their childhood. This
finding, however, becomes problematic once the comparison of the 54
mothers in the sample is carefully scrutinized. The sample was comprised of two groups, the first being 26 mothers with a history of child
sexual abuse assessed as being in the middle stage of therapy. This first
group was compared with a control group of 30 mothers without this
history drawn from professionals in the community who attended lectures on child sexual abuse at the same therapy center: A fair comparison, or as Cohen herself acknowledges, a research effect due more to
the women feeling insecure about their mothering because of mental
health issues independent of their abuse histories?
Later work has explicitly tried to link a mothers history of child sexual
assault with the abuse of her own children. Sidebotham, Golding, and the
ALSPAC Team (2001) over-emphasize an aspect of their findings,
claiming that by using logistic regression analysis they found that a maternal history of child sexual assault is a significant risk factor for child
maltreatment. This research and the study by DiLillo and colleagues

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(2000) are excellent examples of what Crawford (1999) terms looking

through the lens of particular problems (p. 63). For example, the two
specifically stated aims of the DiLillo et al. study (2000) were to (1) examine the association between child sexual assault and later parenting
characteristics, particularly physical abuse potential and (2) to explore
maternal anger as a mediator of the relationship between child sexual assault and adult physical abuse potential. Both aims are so specific in their
focus that they exclude other possible explanations or risk factors such as
childhood experiences of domestic violence, physical abuse, and neglect
and family breakdown, a point that Bowen (2000) and McCallum (2001)
comprehensively cover in their discussions.
Other studies have concentrated on identifying maternal characteristics and the ways in which these characteristics may affect mothers
competency generally and specifically after their childs disclosure of
sexual abuse. Burkett (1991) explored links between a childhood history
of sexual assault and the current parenting behaviours of mothers of
school age children using observation of family interaction and interviews with 20 survivor mothers and 20 non-survivor mothers. Burkett
found that women who had been sexually abused in childhood were more
self-focused, rather than child-focused, and that in interviews the survivor mothers gave strong evidence of greater reliance on their children for
emotional support. However, the author noted in the results that significant differences were due to the behaviour of only some (around half) of
the survivor mothers. Despite the researchers explicit aim of concentrating only on unforeseen concerns, this finding led Burkett to assert that a
history of child sexual assault does not necessarily result in aberrant or
dysfunctional parenting.
Schreiber and Lyddon (1998) studied the relation between perceived
parental bonding to a maternal and paternal primary caregiver and the
current psychological functioning of an adult female sample (N = 78) of
child sexual assault survivors. This study found that mothers with a history of child sexual assault revealed significantly poorer psychological
adjustment than those without such a history. But importantly, the
researchers expanded their focus slightly to include factors that may explain different levels of functioning among this group of mothers, finding
high paternal care was significantly associated with better psychological
functioning among women with a history of sexual abuse.
Schechter, Leifer, Kilbane, and Baca (2002), in a pilot study of 35
dyads comprising 15 cases referred by child protection agencies who
were compared to 20 matched control dyads, found that significantly
more case mothers than control mothers reported relational disturbances,

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65

including hostility toward their daughters. However, they did not find that
these case studies had a significantly more likely history of childhood
sexual abuse compared with controls. Clearly, it would seem that the focus on the inevitability of negative effects resulting from a history of child
sexual abuse alone is not always supported by the research findings.
Moreover, other factors may influence a mothers psychological functioning, which lends support to claims that mothers with a history of child
sexual abuse are not a homogenous group.
Mothers Capacity to Support their Children
Other studies concentrated further on examining how a history of
child sexual assault may influence the ways in which mothers support
their children generally, and at the time of disclosure. Kreklewetz and
Piotrowski (1998) examined the effects of incest on later parenting, specifically with regard to protective behaviours towards their own children.
Importantly, all of the 16 mothers in this sample had received a combination of counselling for their own abuse, parent education literature, and
parenting groups, factors that the mothers identified as contributing to an
increase in their own self-esteem and which they perceived also as enabling them to become more actively involved and protective in their relationships with their adolescent daughters. The participants in this study
identified the need for more information about parenting, and the need for
skills and strategies that would allow more open communication with
their children as being prerequisites for increasing their capacity to protect their children from sexual abuse or supporting them after disclosure.
While not stated, it is conceivable that such strategies and skills would be
helpful in allowing children to disclose should they be abused and also
may enhance the childs engagement with a therapeutic relationship post
abuse.
Cole and Woolger (1989) examined the child-rearing attitudes of
child sexual abuse survivors (including incest and extra-familial sexual
assault) and their perceptions of their own parents behaviour. The researchers were particularly interested in examining whether incest
alone affected attitudes towards parenting in survivor mothers or
whether later effects noted in mothers were more a by-product of dysfunctional relationships with both parents, a theme that has emerged in a
number of studies. Their work showed a difference between incest and
non-incest survivor mothers perceptions of their parents, with incest
survivors holding more negative attitudes and also differences between

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the two groups in relation to attitudes about some aspects of child

rearing.
Because Cole and Woolger (1989) felt the pattern differences between
the two groups could still be evidenced in mothers with different family
stresses (not only incest), Cole, Woolger, Power, and Smith (1992) compared incest survivor mothers to adult children of alcoholic fathers and to
women with no known risk during their childhood. The researchers found
that incest survivor mothers reported significantly less confidence and
less sense of control as parents than non-risk mothers with mothers who
had alcoholic fathers falling somewhere in between. This finding is consistent with the work of Douglas (2000), who reported that mothers with a
history of child sexual assault were significantly more anxious about intimate aspects of parenting and reported significantly more overall stress as
parents. Contrary to her own prediction, Hiebert-Murphy (2000) found
that a maternal history of child sexual abuse was not related to parenting
satisfaction or efficacy. This is in contrast to the earlier research presented
on women with histories of incest, which suggests that these childhood
experiences inevitably affect attitudes and feelings about parenting.
Other Contributing Factors
The early study of Cole et al. (1992) indicates that other contributing
stressors frequently accompany child sexual abuse and may affect survivor mothers in a range of ways. For example, they found that incest
and the attendant problems in such a dysfunctional family of origin predicted difficulties in the parental relationship more consistently than
they predicted the mothers individual parenting problems. Alexander
et al. (2000) obtained similar results in their later study, finding that
parenting stress was inversely predicted by the significant main effect
of relationship satisfaction but neither parenting stress nor child behaviour problems were predicted by the main effect of a child sexual assault
history or by the interaction between a history of child sexual abuse and
relationship satisfaction. Arguably, these findings have implications for
a mothers capacity to harness support from her partner should her child
be sexually abused by another person.
Armsworth and Stronk (1999) specifically focused on mothers own
ideas about the possible ways in which incest may continue to affect
them as adults. In a qualitative study of 40 mothers who had been sexually abused as children, the researchers explored in depth the womens
perceptions of generational influences of incest on their skills, abilities,
and attitudes towards parenting their own children. They found that all

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mothers perceived long-term effects of the incest, although for many

other significant issues in childhood (e.g., physical abuse and extreme
neglect) were equally or more influential in relation to the perceptions
of their own parenting and the parenting they were currently providing.
All participants were concerned with protecting and supporting their
children and were very distressed if they felt that they had been unable
to do so. The authors suggested that one possible implication for practice would be to provide a mother who had experienced child sexual
abuse the possibility of exploring in counselling how they were parented and how they want to parent their own child prior to having children
if this was possible (Armsworth & Stronk, 1999).
Zuravin and Fontanella (1999) similarly investigated the possible
long-term effect of childhood sexual abuse in their retrospective survey
of 516 very low-income, urban mothers. Their first hypothesis investigated the apparent effect of child sexual abuse on targeted parenting
behaviours as being a consequence of other growing-up experiences. The
second, a mediational hypothesis, predicted that the effect of child sexual
assault on parenting was a function of maternal depression, as depression
is a documented long-term effect of child sexual assault. Results did not
support this latter mediational hypothesis, although the authors believe
this focus remains worthy of further investigation. With respect to the
first hypothesis, for the dependent variables (severely violent methods for
handling conflict and perceived parenting competence), findings showed
that any observed differences between child sexual assault and non-child
sexual assault survivors were completely accounted for by other growing-up experiences. This latter finding is inconsistent with the results
reported by DiLillo et al. (2000) and Sidebotham et al. (2001) but supported by studies such as Gomes-Schwarz, Horowitz, and Cardarelli
(1990), Crawford (1999), and McCallum (2001).
Bowen (2000) supports the findings of Zuravin and Fontanella (1999)
and further argues that focusing only on a mothers history of child sexual
assault ignores other significant issues such as domestic violence or physical abuse experiences in their family of origin. The focus on other contributing factors to mothers stress and parenting skills is fundamental to
understanding the complexity of mothers experiences and parenting outcomes. Banyard (1997) stresses that negative long-term effects on
parenting may stem from child sexual abuse or equally from a negative
family environment, which may accompany it. Through the secondary
analysis of archival data, Banyard examined the impact of a history of
child sexual assault and the quality of more general family relationships
on the parenting of a sample of low-income mothers. The findings

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indicated that a history of child sexual abuse was related to more negative
parenting outcomes in terms of feelings about self as a parent and the use
of physical strategies in conflicts with children, while negative family of
origin experiences affected the mothers degree of worry about their children and their hopefulness about future parenting. The research conclusions emphasize that although a history of child sexual abuse was
associated with some dimensions of negative parenting, once again not
all survivors demonstrated negative parenting behaviours. Future research,
in Banyards opinion, needs to also attend to the survivors who become
successful parents as it is important to understand their resilience so that
more effective interventions can be designed that build on existing
strengths.
After reviewing the research in relation to the competency and
capacity of mothers with a history of sexual abuse to parent and support
their children, it becomes clear that these mothers are not a homogenous
group. The diversity and complexity of their experiences and actions become increasingly evident as the literature unfolds in this critique. The
third and last theme explores studies investigating the perception that
mothers with a history of child sexual abuse face increased stress at the
time of disclosure of their own childs sexual abuse and that the effects of
this stress may adversely influence a mothers capacity to support her
child at this time. Arguably, this theme could be considered a subset of
the overarching theme just discussed. However, the analysis of the literature highlighted a particularly intense focus of researchers on this select
aspect of survivor mothers parenting such that it warrants brief attention
in its own right.
DISCLOSURE:
A TIME OF INCREASED STRESS
FOR NON-OFFENDING PARENTS
Recent literature has concentrated on investigating the assumption
that mothers with their own history of child sexual assault suffer increased levels of stress following their childs disclosure and that this
may affect their parenting capacity at this time. In part, this interest derives from the growth of research examining post-traumatic stress disorder generally and concepts such as secondary traumatisation. For
example, Timmons-Mitchell, Chandler-Holtz, and Semple (1997) chose
to investigate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in child
sexual abuse victims and their mothers. Two pertinent findings emerged

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from this study. The first finding indicated that more mothers who were
sexually victimised as children suffer PTSD when their children report
being sexually abused than mothers without such a history. This result
was anticipated by the researchers and is consistent with select other investigations. For example, Baker (2001) similarly believes that mothers
who are forced to accept their partners or close relatives have sexually
abused their children are often additionally traumatised by re-stimulated
memories of their own abuse. McGruder-Johnson, Davidson, Gleaves,
Stock, and Finch (2000) suggest that this phenomenon is a form of secondary traumatisation. They found in their investigation that an individual need not be a direct victim of interpersonal violence, such as child
sexual abuse, but may be affected by witnessing or hearing about traumatic events that happen to others, as occurs for mothers with a history of
childhood sexual abuse at the time of disclosure of their childs abuse.
The second finding of Timmons-Mitchell et al. (1997) was unexpected: The children of mothers who had themselves experienced child sexual assault reported less PTSD symptoms than children of non-abused
mothers. Just as mothers with a history of child sexual abuse are complex,
this study highlights that child victims are not a homogenous group. Explanations for this latter finding may include that survivor mothers suppress acknowledgement of their childs symptoms as an expression of
their own avoidance, or as Burkett (1991) suggests, that these children often display more parentified behaviour, perhaps masking some PTSD
symptoms. Another possible explanation is that sexual abuse is less of an
unknown for survivor mothers, and their own knowledge of what can
happen and the aftermath combined with whether they themselves experienced effective support may allow them to be more immediately responsive to their childrens distress.
Increased Stress Affecting the Mother-Child Relationship
Other researchers focus on this area as a result of their strongly held
belief that increased stress may inhibit the development of supportive
mother-child relationships post disclosure, this relationship being key
to a child victims recovery and critical to the treatment plan and constructive outcomes (e.g., Freer, 1997; Humphreys, 1999; Womack,
Miller, & Lassiter, 1999). Once again, these investigations are based on
the assumptions that mothers with a history of child sexual assault
actually experience greater levels of stress at disclosure than mothers
without the same history and that stress may adversely affect their
behaviour.

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Hiebert-Murphy (1998) deliberately set out to investigate the various

psychosocial factors related to mothers distress following their childrens disclosure. Specifically, this study examined the relationship
between mothers emotional distress, a history of child sexual assault or
adolescent sexual assault, and social support and coping strategies. The
findings of this research indicate that the distress experienced by mothers
following disclosures of child sexual assault is related not only to mothers personal histories of child sexual abuse, but also to the social support
they receive and the coping strategies they employ to deal with their
childs disclosure. Hiebert-Murphy (1998) suggests that while there is
some evidence that women with a maternal history of childhood sexual
abuse experience more distress, not all such mothers experience clinically significant levels of distress following disclosure.
A key finding of Lewin and Bergins (2001) study of both mothers
with and without a history of abuse is that mothers of children who are
sexually abused who have their own history of abuse are not distinguished from mothers without a history in self-reports of depression, state
and trait anxiety, or observers assessments of attachment behaviours following the onset of investigation of their childrens sexual abuse. They
further speculate that the demands of a child sexual abuse investigation
for their children may override any effects of the mothers own past history, at least temporarily while the childs investigation is ongoing.
This explanation is supported by other research such as that of GomesSchwarz et al. (1990), who found that most parents experienced increased
stress at, and post-disclosure of their childs sexual abuse. Importantly,
they also found that despite 41% of the mothers in their sample of 156
families had a history of child sexual abuse themselves, they did not respond differently to mothers without this history. This is consistent with
the work of Humphreys (1992), who comprehensively details the experience of disclosure for mothers whose children have been sexually assaulted. Humphreys found that the mothers in her study who had a
maternal history of sexual assault had no trouble believing their childs
disclosure and that most were able to respond constructively.
The importance of not making assumptions about mothers with a
history of child sexual abuse is best evidenced in a study by Morrison and
Clavenna-Villaroy (1998). They found that adolescent girls who perceived their mothers to be supportive when they disclosed sexual abuse
had higher self-concept scores and fewer symptoms of depression compared with adolescents whose mothers were perceived to be non-supportive at that time. The unexpected aspect of this finding pertinent to this
discussion is that mothers who reported a history of sexual abuse were

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perceived as more supportive by their daughters than the mothers who

reported having no history of sexual abuse. Furthermore, 100% of the
mothers with a history of sexual abuse were perceived as supportive at the
three-month follow-up interview in contrast with only 50% of mothers
who reported no history of sexual abuse. The adolescent participants in
this study were extremely articulate in defining behaviours that they
would find supportive, including mothers verbalising their belief about
the disclosure, and for their mothers to be more involved in their counselling and talk about the abuse with them more.
Consequently, in spite of its appeal the importance of a history of
maternal sexual abuse in assuming an increased level of stress of mothers
should not be over-emphasised. Crawford (1999) argues in her critique of
the literature on intrafamilial child sexual abuse that although research
findings seem to indicate a relationship between childhood history and
mothers stress and behaviour at disclosure, the cross-sectional nature
of the studies precludes causal inference. Other researchers, such as
Humphreys (1992), are equally skeptical about the suggestion that all survivor mothers face increased levels of stress at disclosure. Instead,
Humphreys (1992) suggests that all mothers are vulnerable at the time of
their childs disclosure, implying that increased levels of stress and the
possibility of secondary traumatisation should be expected at disclosure,
and not only from survivor mothers.
CONCLUSIONS
Casting mothers of children who have disclosed sexual abuse in a
negative light is by no means a new phenomenon. The relatively recent
framing of research questions focusing on the (in)capacity of mothers
with a history of child sexual abuse is simply more of the same. By
choosing to pursue research questions that are so narrowly focused, researchers restrict their inquiries to an investigation of the inevitability of
poor parenting by mothers with a history of child sexual assault. The reliance on small non-probability samples drawn from clinical populations
very often compared with control mothers drawn from non-clinical populations contributes to the negative sameness in much of the literature on
mothers with a history of childhood sexual abuse. The problem with such
a particular lens is that it allows us to speak of mothers only in limited
ways. Equally, it continues and propels mother blaming in a more subtle,
but arguably more harmful, manner.

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There is, however, an emerging trend in the literature that not only
acknowledges the diversity of mothers with a history child sexual abuse
but also focuses on the multiplicity of experiences in their childhood
that may influence the ways in which they respond to, and support their
child post-disclosure. Such experiences include past or current domestic violence, the experience of physical abuse, and poor parenting in the
family of origin. Just as past experiences may affect mothers generally,
it is important to review their current circumstances alongside factors
that may affect them, such as violence in the home, mental health issues,
and the presence of a supportive and constructive partner. Presumably,
past and present circumstances potentially affect how mothers with or
without a history of child sexual abuse respond to the disclosure of their
childs abuse. It is therefore crucial to gain a more thorough understanding of the non-offending parent who assumes responsibility for caring
for the sexually abused child whether they have a history of child sexual
abuse or not.
The critique of the literature in this article provides compelling evidence to suggest that we should broaden our inquiries to consider other
factors that may either inhibit or facilitate a mothers support to her child
at disclosure and beyond. If we fail to accept the diversity of mothers with
a history of childhood sexual victimization by ignoring the complexity
and multi-faceted nature of their responses and behaviour as parents, then
we will inevitably continue to concentrate on deficit or negativity, both in
our research and clinical practice. To avoid this, it is as necessary to build
on recent research that reports on the parenting successes of survivor
mothers. It is critically important to understand their resilience and skills
so that more effective interventions can be designed that build on existing
strengths rather than perceived deficits.

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