What Will the Future Hold for Bone?
...nt media depictions, all of which would more than likely be experienced throughout Bone’s adult life. Unfortunately all of these experiences are apart of life and in most cases can’t be avoided. Bone is obviously going to be exposed to such things, which could induce flashbacks. Without question Bone would suffer from cognitive distortions. As a result from the traumatic events throughout her life with Glen her assumptions and self-perceptions typically reflect an overestimation of the amount of danger in the world and an underestimation of her self-efficacy and self-worth. Feelings of anger can become internalized as self-hatred and depression, or be externalized and result in abuse against others. The development of a sense of self is thought to be one of the earliest developmental tasks of an infant and young child, typically unfolding in the context of early relationships. Bone’s maltreatment influenced her growing self-awareness interfering with her development of her sense of self. Without such an internal base, she may lack the ability to soothe or comfort herself adequately, leading to what appears to be overreactions to stress or painful effects. This impairment can also cause difficulties in separating herself from others. Avoidant behavior among victims of sexual abuse may be understood as attempts to cope with the chronic trauma. Among the dysfunctional activities associated with avoidance of abuse-specific memories and feelings are dissociation, substance abuse and various tension-reducing activities. Unfortunately, although sometimes immediately effective in reducing distress, avoidance and self-destructive methods of coping with child abuse experiences may lead ultimately to higher levels of lower self-esteem and greater feelings of guilt and anger. It has been observed that sexually abused children tend to be less socially competent, more aggressive, and more socially withdrawn than non-abused children. A specific interpersonal effect of sexual abuse among children is that of increased sexual behavior. This is prominent when we were introduced to Bone masturbating at such an early age. It’s known that sexually abused children are consistently reported to have more sexual behavior problems than non-abused children or children whose abuse was restricted to (nonsexual) physical or emotional maltreatment. Although some kinds of sexual behaviors are quite common among non-abused children (for example, kissing, touching genitals manually), sexually abused children tend to engage in a greater number of sexual behaviors than their non-abused peers, many of which are developmentally talented and seemingly imitative of adult sexual activity. Such behavior not only may result in interpersonal rejection or stigmatization by the victim's peer environment, but also may lead to social sanctions and punishments when it escalates into the victimization of other children. As adults, survivors report a greater fear of both men and women. They are more likely to remain single and, once married, are more likely to divorce or separate from their spouses than are those without sexual abuse histories. Sexual abuse survivors typically report having fewer friends, less interpersonal trust, less satisfaction in their relationships, more maladaptive interpersonal patterns and greater discomfort, isolation, and interpersonal sensitivity. It is said that adults victimized as children may see themselves as unworthy of relationships with people they consider good or healthy, and that some victims may attempt to gain mastery over the abuse experience by recreating it in the form of involvement in poor or abusive relationships. In this regard, sexual or physical re-victimization (that is, rape or spousal abuse) has been associated with prior child sexual abuse in a number of studies. Adults who were sexually abused as children are particularl...