Citation

Sonia H, David V. Bull. Psychol. (Paris) 2018; 556(4): 759-770.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Universite de Paris. Groupe D Etudes de Psychologie)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article focuses on sexual violence committed by women and the resonance of trauma. Based on a clinical case of a woman sex offender, we examine how the dynamics of sexual violence relate to the psychic functioning and individual history of the subject. We seek to understand how sexual violence can constitute a response to intrapsychic conflict by means of acting out, and how it can reveal knots of psychological and social vulnerability whose expression may vary according to the contexts and moments of an individual's life story. We show how sexual violence can be considered as a defensive solution, underpinned by complex psychic dynamics in the face of major anxieties resulting from the weight of traumatic life events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

Keywords

Trauma; trauma; Violence; sexual violence; Sexual Abuse; female sex offender; Human Females; Perpetrators; traumatic life events