UNITED STATES
Hamilton and Griffin on Rights
July 3, 2014
The little girl was weeping as she recounted to the police officer her history of sexual abuse at the hands of her father. When it was all over, when she had told all that she remembered, the police officer asked her if she had any questions for him. The child froze for a moment, and then began to play with her hair and stare at her toes. Slowly, nearly inaudibly, she asked “am I still a virgin in God’s eyes?”
This account, based on a real case, is not isolated. There is a large and growing body of research documenting that many abused children are not only impacted physically and emotionally but also spiritually. This may happen because a religious theme is used in the abuse of the child. In this particular case, the abusive father specifically told the girl she was no longer a virgin and, if she ever told, she could never wear white at her wedding. In other instances, a child simply has spiritual questions about the abuse. Many children, for example, may be hurt or angry that God did not answer their prayers to stop the abuse.
Although the spiritual impact of abuse can be devastating, research also documents that spirituality can be a source of resiliency for many children and that those who are able to cope spiritually, also do a better job of coping emotionally and physically. In this blog, I summarize the research on spiritual injuries, and offer some thoughts on improving our abilities to address this aspect of child abuse.
The spiritual impact of child abuse
There a dozens of studies, involving more than 19,000 children, detailing the spiritual impact of child abuse (Walker 2009). For example, a study of 527 victims of child abuse (physical, sexual or emotional) found a significant “spiritual injury” such as feelings of guilt, anger, grief, despair, doubt, fear of death, and belief that God is unfair (Lawson 1998).
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