Group treatment for female adolescent sexual abuse victims.

The incidence of childhood sexual abuse has reached epidemic proportions. Many of the perpetrators are family members or a parent figure to the victim. Adolescent sexual abuse victims are identified as an underserved population. The Sexual Assault Center in Seattle, Washington, offers a treatment group for older adolescent females who have been sexually abused and who exhibit significantly disturbed behaviors as a result. Group composition, goals, and organization are discussed. Using the framework of the four traumagenic dynamics of child sexual abuse, as developed by Finkelhor and Browne (1985), the wide range of symptoms seen in these adolescents is described. Each dynamic-traumatic sexualization, betrayal, powerlessness, and stigmatization-is reviewed in terms of how it manifests in victims' responses to the abuse. Practical application of these dynamics in terms of group intervention strategies is reviewed.