1. Revictimization & Self Harm in Females Who Experienced Childhood Sexual Abuse

2. Lifetime Trauma Histories Abused participants reported twice as many subsequent rapes or sexual assaults Several studies have found higher rates of self-abuse or self-harm in childhood sexual assault victims

3. Self-harm, suicide, and self destructiveness (risk taking, self-defeating behaviors and eating disorders) have all been studied as forms of revictimization However, according to Noll, self harm and revictimization are separate but related behaviors

4. Dissociation A psychophysiological process whereby information is actively deflected from integration with its usual or expected associations This may range from daydreaming to extreme multiple personality disorder

5. Dissociation has been implicated as a factor that leads to the development of revictimization It is thought to be useful initially. It may lead to greater vulnerability to reenactment

6. This is because it prevents victims from engaging in self protective measures The more it is used as a defense against repeated trauma, the more likely it is that the person will use it as a primary defense in adulthood

7. Dissociation By blocking or distorting threatening material from entering the conscious awareness Individuals are less able to process danger cues

8. May be less likely to experience the anticipatory anxiety that normally signals the presence of danger

9. Dissociation During a traumatic event it is called “Peritraumatic dissociation” Thought to be a primitive coping mechanism Protects the child from being psychologically overwhelmed by the abuse event

10. However, the memory disruption associated with the tendency to dissociate peritraumatically Leaves the victim with an inability to learn from traumatic experiences