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Sexual Abuse Trauma

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Working With Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The case of Brenna
Marissa Bowman
Walden University

In the case of Brenna social and economic injustice was present in the areas of housing, education and healthcare. Brenna became a victim of sexual assault at the age of 15 by her mother’s boyfriend. When she disclosed to her mother about the sexual assault Brenna was asked to move out. There was an immediate lack of concern for Brenna’s well-being by her mother virtually kicking her out with no regard to how she would survive or continue going to school. Freud’s theory regarding the ego and psychosexual development states that: “perceiving welfare recipients as victims of psychologically abusive histories can result in character disorders that keep them in poverty” (Turner, K & Lehning, A. 2007).
Brenna lived in a variety of situations, sometimes residing with friends for short periods and sometimes living in a youth shelter (Plummer, Makris, & Brocksen, 2014). During this period she attended high school intermittently but did not graduate. Her history of abuse continued as Brenna 18 moved in with her boyfriend, Cameron; she became pregnant with his child. Prior to the pregnancy, Cameron would often abuse her physically, verbally, and emotionally (Plummer, Makris, & Brocksen, 2014).When Brenna was 4 months pregnant, Cameron attempted to strangle her, so Brenna moved to a shelter. Although the shelter was willing to house Brenna and her newborn temporarily, their policy required Brenna to secure new living arrangements prior to giving birth (Plummer, Makris, & Brocksen, 2014).
The social worker in this case employed empowerment strategies working with Brenna to set manageable goals s during her stay at the shelter and also developed a plan for ongoing mental health support. By addressing Brenna’s abusive history through therapy she was

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