Accounts of Sexual Abuse Using a Cultural Semiotic Model

Investigation in sexual abuse in children resorting to semiotic analysis is scarce. In this study semiotic transformation processes of four girls aged 7 to 12, attending Treatment Centers for abused children in Santiago, Chile, are examined. Analysis of excerpts from therapy sessions was undertaken tracing meaning trajectories of psychological elaboration around sexual abuse drawing on the methodological approach of the Trajectory Equifinality Model (TEM). Girls dialogical exchanges with therapist were followed, as girls meaning making in semiotic fields was displayed in psychotherapeutic dialogues. Two meaning complexes were analized: to talk about abuse, displayed semiotically as Talk- Not Talk and Remember-Not Remember. Three psychological dynamics are highlighted: psychological distancing, ambivalence and tension. They appear as girls intensely inquire about themselves, trying to look for new perspectives for their lives. Difficult issues appeared around these notions, mostly self concept and relational difficulties. Issues of trust, shame, blame and denial are dealt with. Finally, therapeutical implications are discussed.