Feelings of adult survivors of child abuse toward their offender-parents

This study investigated the relationships among explanations given by adult survivors of child abuse for their offender's abusive behavior, the survivor's personal coping resource (potency), and his/her feelings toward the offender in adulthood. A sample of 51 adult survivors of child abuse, former patients at the Matar and Human Family centers and the rehabilitation center for substance abusers in Israel, were administered questionnaires consisting of four parts: family-history questionnaire, explanation of abusive behavior scale, potency scale, and feelings toward offender-parent scale. Results indicated that potency contributed to lowering the degree of negative feelings toward the offender-parent, while attribution of the abusive behavior to the offender's personality and frequency of the abuse exacerbated the negative feelings.