Briere & Gil (1998) defined CSA as “sexual contact ranging from fondling to intercourse between a child in mid adolescence or younger and a person at least five years older” (p. 611). The definition can be expanded to include incest, rape, sodomy, exhibitionism, and commercial exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic materials. Complex Trauma
Complex trauma is a phenomenon referring to the resulting intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of emotional trauma experienced by individuals who endure severe and repetitive childhood maltreatment and invalidation and who remain vulnerable to continuing emotional traumatization (Brown & Bryan, in press; Herman, 1992). Cortisol Cortisol is a bodily hormone regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis .
It is designed to allow humans and animals to respond appropriately to stressful, dangerous, or threatening situations. Dissociation Dissociation is a complex and creative psychological defense mechanism wherein specific anxiety-provoking thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, memories, and experiences are separated from the rest of the psyche. The function of dissociation in trauma is to disengage from stimuli in the external world and attend to the internal psychic world (van der Kolk, 1994).
Hippocampus The hippocampus is an area of the brain composed of a collection of nuclei and is responsible for the mediation of conscious memory. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis By regulating the stress hormone cortisol, the HPA axis mediates the brain’s network that controls the body’s physiological response to stress. Motivation Motivation is defined for the purpose of this study as a broad range of inner feelings or perceptions that lead to the act of SIV.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) As outlined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, Text revision (DSM-IV-TR) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000) PTSD is a normal human response to a traumatic event that lies outside the range of usual human experience and is characterized by symptoms such as reliving the event, reduced involvement with others, and manifestations of autonomic arousal such as hyper-alertness and exaggerated startle response. Risk Factor
The term risk factor indicates a non-random association between characteristics and the outcome, with the added requirement that the characteristics precede the outcome. Self-Inflicted Violence (SIV) The term self-inflicted violence will be used in this study to refer to a class of socially unacceptable and unsanctioned deliberate actions of violence inflicted upon the self that hurt or harm the body, including but not limited to cutting, burning, scratching, gouging, interfering with healing wounds, and head banging.
It is an adaptive coping mechanism, where the intent of the SIV is not about annihilation of the self, but rather it is a means of continuing to live (Babiker & Arnold, 1997; Himber, 1994). In the reviewed literature deliberate SIV was called a range of names: self-harm, self-inflicted violence (as cited in Brown & Bryan, in press), parasuicidal behavior (Linehan, 1987), self-mutilation (Walsh & Rosen, 1988), self-destructive behavior (Figueroa, 1988), self-damaging behavior (Courtois, 1988), and self-injurious behavior (de Young, 1982; Winchel & Stanley, 1991).
The author chose to use the term self-inflicted violence because it is the less pejorative option and best describes this particular presentation of trauma as a continuing cycle of interpersonal and intrapersonal violence perpetrated against the body and psyche. Suicide Suicide is defined as the intentional taking of one’s own life, in which there is little if any communication with others about the action.