Citation

Quadrio C. Aust. N. Zeal. J. Psychiatry 1996; 30(1): 124-31; discussion 131-3.

Affiliation

School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8724335

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: That sexual abuse in therapy occurs predominantly with male perpetrators and female patients is a phenomenon that requires analysis in terms of gender relations. Such an analysis is undertaken here from the perspective of feminist psychoanalytic and psychosocial theories. METHOD: Data informing the analysis are derived from assessments of 40 women who experienced sexual abuse in therapy. These women had mostly presented depression, 68% had a history of childhood abuse, and one half were themselves helping professionals. RESULTS: The majority were seriously damaged by the abusive therapy. Offenders were chiefly male (90%) and most were senior, well-qualified therapists of high status: some were charismatic leaders or teachers. Such a group cannot be dismissed as marginal, deviant, or ill-informed; a more systemic analysis is necessary to understand how the professions spawn and sometimes protect offenders. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the professional culture mirrors fundamental problems of gender relations that inhere in the larger socio-cultural context where they are expressed in various forms of sexual abuse and violence. A cultural change requires better education on issues of power and sexual politics.

Language: en