How would a Western, White Female Counsellor Work with an African Caribbean Sexual Abuse Survivor? (Essay Sample)

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Question: How would a Western, white female counsellor work with an African Caribbean sexual abuse survivor?
Sexual Abuse Survivor Counselling
Counselling sexual abuse survivors is a delicate process that requires patience and a strong bonding between the victim and the counselor for best results. The success of the process requires therapeutic trust so that the victim can disclose as much information as needed for counselling and the counselor to understand the situation and details of the sexual abuse CITATION Und07 \l 1033 (Underwood, Stewart, & Castellanos, 2007). To capture the necessary information of the ordeal, cooperation, trust and understanding of the victim and therapist is key to achieving the best positive results CITATION Chr06 \l 1033 (Sanderson, 2006). In the case where the counselor is a white female and the victim is an African Caribbean, then gender, culture, religion, spirituality, language among others might affect the therapy process and its overall results. In this particular case the full details of the victim have not been given and therefore multiple angles representing possible victim characters are considered in explanation. The key issues of religion, culture and shame have been discussed in detail in this article highlighting the best practices to follow to achieve the best positive results and the consequences associated with the other options.
Culture
In this case, the cultural background of the counselor is totally different from that of the victim. The abuse the victim went through might be tolerated by the society or the punishment for the offender is not severe enough to warrant justice for the victim. In western countries, the justice system offers to the victim through severe sentences. The offender can be sentenced to death or life imprisonment which can be relatively justifiable as the victim might not have to see the offender again free in the streets and that can help him/her heal from the effects of the abuse CITATION Chr06 \l 1033 (Sanderson, 2006). The white counselor comes from such a background and therefore there is obvious difference if the survivor came from a community that still has flawed justice system or rooted in retrogressive chauvinist community.
Some Caribbean cultures are rooted in traditions and punishment of the offender might just be a goat for the council of elders and undergo several purifications rights and the matter is settled. The victim might not be present to weigh in to the best punishment for the offender. The offender might be a powerful figure in the society and he/she can compromise the justice system to his/her advantage. In some cases, the victim might be forced to marry the offender that adds up more pain and completely slows down the healing process CITATION Mye11 \l 1033 (Myers & Harvey, 2011). Dealing with cross cultural cases raises cultural conflicts mainly because of judging and analyzing the situation from the perspective of your culture and it not only slows the process, but makes mutual understanding difficult.
Some Africans’ cultural values might be judged from a western perspective as sexual assault while the African community it is a norm. For example, marrying juveniles in some communities is acceptable and that amounts to child and sexual abuse in the west. Finding a survivor of such sexual abuse it might be hard to prove to them that is wrong and that children ought to get education first and not families. Helping a victim from such a community means detaching him/her from that culture which is not easy. Counselling a victim form such community needs patience and prove to the victim it is wrong and against the law and the fundamental rights of the individual to be coerced into marriages. Teaching the victim new cultural values that are consistent with this century might be helpful and might open his/her eyes to understand why retrogressive cultures have not place in this century.
If the victim is a man, then the cultural values of the victim’s community might impose limits on what the man should open up about or discuss with a woman. A male chauvinist society bring up their boy children having authority over women and if the offender is a woman then the victim can shy off getting help as it will be interpreted as a sign of weakness. The man might not be allowed culturally to share sexually related information with a woman especially a foreigner and the situation worsens if there is a wide age difference. Some communities in the Caribbean have retrogressive cultures that overlook the importance of women in the society and therefore the idea of a female white sexual assault therapist might not be very welcome if the victim is a man. Some cultures are heavily connected to ritualism and therefore the counselor should be careful about the rituals i.e purification rituals practiced by the victim’s community and can likely worsen the situation CITATION Und07 \l 1033 (Underwood, Stewart, & Castellanos, 2007).
As a counselor, you should understand very well the victims background culture and avoid judging the victim. The counselor can blend the constructive therapeutic components of the victim’s culture specific to sexual assault and her work experience to help the victim to heal, forgive and resume normal life without traumatization, stress or stigma. this can be done through encouraging the victim to go through purification rituals that help him/her be accepted back in to the society and avoid stigma.
Religion
There is a very good chance the victim and the counselor come from very different religions. Religion is important in therapy as it can help the victim heal and forgive their offenders and offer possible ways forward for the victim CITATION For06 \l 1033 (Fortune & Enger, 2006). If the victim’s religion is traditional African Caribbean, then the counselor ought to learn it so as to infer some teachings from the religion that can help the victim to overcome the effects of the sexual abuse. It is important to note that the counselor should avoid all forms of prejudices and focus on helping the victim. Some religious practices might be inconsistent with her dogma but they should be avoided at all times unless the victim agrees to switch religion to hers.
It is also possible that the offender is a religious person who is highly regarded and esteemed in the society. If this is the case, the victim might develop a negative feeling towards that particular religion or judge its believers negatively. It is important in counselling such a victim that the counselor ensures the victim doesn’t hate religion just because one or few people assaulted him/her. In such cases the victim can become a religion extremist due to hatred of the people of the other religion. Religious sex offenders make it hard for the victims to desire being members of that religion as many religions prohibit sexual assault. If the clergy doesn’t take stern measures against the offender the victim might feel betrayed by that religion and lead to further breakdown. Religious leaders are under the law no matter their religion and it is important justice to prevail under the law to avoid making victims feel ostracized or marginalized.
If the victim and the counselor share the same religion, then the counselor finds it easier to use the religion to offer consolation and suggest the best practices that can help the victim overcome the effects of the ordeal and life a full normal life. Using religion in therapy should be done with caution to avoid self judgement as the victim might feel it is his/her fault or it was a divine punishment. In some circumstances the self-blame imposed by religion can lead to suicide or further stress and trauma.
However, if the need to incorporate religion in counselling is unavoidable, the counselor ought to choose her words carefully. Religious beliefs are interpreted differently and can further lower the self-esteem of the victim. It is very likely that in this situation the religious beliefs held by the victim and the counselor are different. Therefore, it would be advisable to avoid religion in counselling as it might bring many conflicting ideologies about how such a situation should be handled.
Shame
Shame can slow or hinder the therapy program with the victim and can lead to poor and unexpected results CITATION Rit12 \l 1033 (Budrionis & Arthur E. Jongsma, 2012). Shame affects both the victim and the counselor on different issues depending on the details of the sexual abuse, age difference of therapist and victim, culture, environment among others. To achieve the optimal results of the therapy, the counselor ought to figure out the best way to ensure there is freedom of expression with the victim.
One of the key elements that contribute to shame is gender and age. If the victim and the counselor are of opposite genders, then they might find it difficult to share some information that would be crucial to healing. In this particular situation if the victim is a woman, then it is likely that he would find it hard to open up about the whole experience to the counselor. Withholding some information since he thinks it is embarrassing to share his traumatizing sexual assault experience with a woman would be degrading his manhood especially if he comes from a male chauvinist society. However, some people find it easier sharing details of their traumatic experiences with people of the opposite sex. It is important that the counselor wins the trust of the victim to enable him/her to open up more about the sexual assault.
Age difference can also contribute to shame especially if the therapist is a young woman and the survivor is older. The victim might feel that the counselor is too young to understand and might judge him/her. Sharing traumatizing se...