• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.53-82
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• 2007

This study, driven by the question of 'what the experience of healing of female sexual abuse victims is like,' explores the process the victims undergo as they heal from the traumas. Using the methods suggested by Strauss and Corbin's Grounded theory, it analyzes nine interviews taken from victims who have received counseling. The study found that the central phenomena that take place in the process of their healing is 'mental pain due to the damage caused by sexual abuse,' the causal conditions are 'the recognition of the sexual abuse' and 'desperation,' and the contextual conditions are 'the reaction of the close ones of the victims,' 'the preconception about sexuality,' and 'the incarceration and punishment of the offenders.' The victims have been intervened in the healing process by 'being supported' and 're-interpreting the meaning of the damage caused by sexual abuse,' and are found to utilize the interactive strategy among 'facing their emotions,' 'learning new coping strategies,' and 'hoping for the future.' They are also found, as a result of the healing, to 'live unafraid as survivors' and 'have structured their lives in a new way.' This study is of significance in systematically elucidating the healing process and the related elements found through the voices of the survivors of sexual abuse in the context of the Korean society and culture. The limits of this study and suggestions about the studies that should follow this one are included as well.