Child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome: what is it, and its characteristics?

Let's see what is the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome proposed by Roland C. Summit.

Over the last decades, the problem of child sexual abuse and its consequences have been deeply investigated.

Many of these consequences are psychological. This is the perspective that addresses the child sexual abuse accommodation syndromeWe will analyze this construct in detail in the following paragraphs to find out what it consists of and what implications it has for the victims.

What is the syndrome of accommodation to child sexual abuse?

People who have been sexually abused as minors are not only victims of the atrocious event itself, but may also be victimized later as a consequence of the event. This phenomenon was explored by Roland C. Summit, when in 1983 he proposed the existence of the syndrome of accommodation to child sexual abuse.

This author developed this concept in an attempt to establish the steps through which, according to him, all or most of the children who had been repeatedly sexually abused went through. This scheme shows a psychological process of becoming accustomed to this type of maltreatment. To this end, he suggested the existence of five stages or milestones through which children should pass during this process.

Below we will explore these five stages of the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome. Summit also talks about the relationship that the abuser usually has with the victim, since in a high percentage of cases, it is usually a close person, whether a family member, a teacher, a monitor, a family friend, etc.

This relationship has a direct effect on the child's perception of the situation, feelings of shame, helplessness and even guilt, as we will see when we describe the phases of the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome. This process describes, always from the author's point of view, the usual way the abused child responds psychologically.

The stages of the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome according to Summit

As mentioned, the syndrome of accommodation to child sexual abuse proposed by Roland Summit consists of five stages. Below we will describe each of them in detail in order to understand the scheme that this author put on the table.

1. Secrecy

The child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome begins with the stage of secrecy. In general, this is the typical feature that occurs at the beginning of all abusive behavior.. Recall that we have mentioned that usually the abuser is an individual from a close environment of the child. Therefore, that person usually stresses to the victim the need not to tell anyone.

In this way, the child who suffers a sexual assault, which already makes him/her a victim, is obviously also (usually) a victim of a person with whom he/she had a certain trust, sometimes even someone very close to him/her. But, in addition, the child is forced to keep it secret, which can increase even more the anguish, anxiety and discomfort of the child.

Sometimes this secret is imposed by threats, either of harm to him or his family, or even by deepening the feeling of guilt and shame if others find out what they have done. All of these are ways of further victimizing the child, beyond the very abuse to which he or she has been subjected, and is done through fear.

Therefore, this first level of the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome is crucial to understand the psychological implications of the child's perception of the aggression received.

2. Powerlessness

The victim, knowing that he/she is vulnerable and unable to ask anyone for help, because he/she is forced to keep the secret under threat, or because of shame, believing that he/she has done something wrong, finds him/herself powerless and helpless.helpless, helpless. This is the second phase that includes the syndrome of accommodation to child sexual abuse.

The child may not know why this event has happened, may be confused, or may not have the capacity to understand what has happened and its implications. Even more so when the aggression has come from someone he/she trusted or even loved, someone who should protect him/her and in reality has done the opposite.

All this generates a deep sense of helplessness, which is further aggravated by the obligation to keep the aggression secret. The child's perception is that he/she cannot escape the abuse, which he/she will have to face repeatedly, without being able to do anything to avoid it.

If the aggressor also represents some kind of authority for the child, this feeling of helplessness and helplessness will increase, as confusion and the perception of the inevitability of the abuse will increase.

3. Entrapment and accommodation

The third stage reached in the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome, according to Summit, is that of entrapment and accommodation to the abuse itself. This idea may seem strange or shocking, but the truth is that many times, the child who many times, the child who suffers sexual aggression on a regular basis, knowing that he/she cannot tell anyone and therefore no one will help him/her, sadly ends up getting used to it.sadly ends up getting used to it.

It is a terrible thing, since it happens as a consequence of the two previous points we have seen. On the one hand, the obligation to maintain silence, probably based on threats, and on the other hand, the perceived lack of protection due to this fact. These factors crystallize in a situation of entrapment in which the minor perceives that he/she has no choice but to continue to suffer the abuse.

Therefore, he ends up accommodating himself to them, not in the sense of being satisfied with the situation, obviously, since it is a terrible drama that no person should have to live through, much less a minor. The sense of accommodating is that of getting used to it, due to a lack of options.. In other words, the child ends up accepting that he/she has to be a victim of such abuse, since he/she cannot avoid it in any way.

4. Late disclosure

The next stage experienced in the child according to the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome is that of delayed disclosure. What this refers to is disclosing secrecy about the assaults of which he or she is being a victim.. This act often occurs, according to Summit, spontaneously, after a conflict, or because the child has reached an age when he or she can muster the courage to tell.

The problem is that this fact can lead to yet another form of victimization, and that is discrediting.. Many victims of abuse, who decide once and for all to tell the terrible situation they have lived through, find that their own family does not believe them, and think that the child is inventing the facts, that he or she is confusing them with other behaviors or that they are the fruit of his or her imagination.

This is an extremely difficult situation to deal with, and many people resort to the defense mechanism of denial. The point is that this attitude only deepens the child's wound. Many adults even blame the child for not having said anything before, which is, again, a way of making the child a victim again.

5. Retraction

But the cycle does not end with this confession. The child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome still has a final stage, which is none other than retraction. Indeed, although the disclosure of the facts may happen because of a moment of explosion or by gathering the strength to do so, this does not mean that the fear has completely disappeared..

As soon as the fear of retaliation returns, the child may retract his confession, claim that it was all a lie, that he made it up, or use any excuse. This happens because the fear of the consequences, both for him and for his family, is so strong that he does not see himself capable of trying to escape the abuse.

The recantation phase, Summit explains, is frequent, except in cases where the child perceives that he has the full support of his family and feels that he has the necessary support to be protected from the abuser for having revealed the secret of the terrible acts he was subjecting him to.

Criticisms of the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome

The so-called child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome has not been accepted by all. It has received some criticism, to begin with, for using the word syndrome, which may lead one to believe that it is a diagnosis of a psychopathology, when in fact it is not.

Likewise, authors such as Mary de Young criticized this concept for having been overused in the 80s and 90s to make accusations of sexual abuse of minors that later turned out not to be such.

It is important to keep in mind, therefore, that this is a theory formulated by a single author, but it does not have the recognition or support of institutions such as the American Psychological Association (APA).

Bibliographical references:

• De Young, M. (2008). The day care ritual abuse moral panic: A sociological analysis. Sociology Compass. Wiley Online Library.
• Olafson, E., Corwin, D.L., Summit, R.C. (1993). Modern history of child sexual abuse awareness: Cycles of discovery and suppression. Child abuse & neglect. Elsevier.
• Summit, R.C. (1983). The child sexual abuse accomodation syndrome. Child abuse & neglect. Elsevier.