Narrative as a means of making sense of the experience with sexual abuse in childhood: an interactional perspective

This research study, that derives from an applied linguistics perspective and is grounded on conversational analytical (Sacks, 1992; Sacks; Schegloff; Jefferson, 1974) and ethnomethodological methods (Garfinkel, 1967), qualitatively analyzes interactions between a tutelary child protection counselor ("conselheiro tutelar") and two children victims of sexual abuse. By undertaking the demand of trying to understand sexual abuse in a more interdisciplinary way, research studies of the situated use of talk-in-interaction and of the narrative practices of children victims of sexual abuse might contribute to avoid the phenomenon of institutional revictimization (Cézar, 2007). During the demand of reconstructing the event of abuse, it is possible to identify that the counselor orients himself to a goal of producing a convincing report to the judiciary system (i.e. "Promotoria da Infância e da Juventude"; Public Ministry), leading the activity in such a way so as to produce evidences that he judges as necessary. The narrative is, then, shaped according to the actions being performed in the interaction (i.e. to guarantee a restraining order and punishment to the abuser). In particular, the data analysis shows that the counselor gets highly involved with the task of signifying the victim's experience with them, actualizing diverse interactional practices, among which, the use of polar questions and the offer of specific lexical itens, in order to describe the child's feelings. The counselor's engagement in the task of signifying the experience ends up assuming a prescriptive value of meaning attribution to the experience of abuse and of identity performance of the victim (Ehrlich, 2002; Trinch, 2013). Upon undertaking the activity of signifying the victims' experiences, the counselor actualizes in talk-ininteraction the moral values that permeate the judicial discourse, which are also elements of socialization of the child on how to feel and talk about the violence they have suffered. Studies such as the one proposed here - i.e. that investigate the interface of language use and sexual violence - might contribute to equalizing the dilemma generated by the need of producing narratives reportabled and valued by the judicial system without depriving the victim's right of agency in signifying their own experience. Furthermore, they might work as input for the professionals who act as interlocutors to narratives of children victims of sexual abuse.

talk in interaction; institutional mandate; child sexual abuse; narratives