• Journal of the Korean Society of Child Welfare
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• no.36
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• pp.197-230
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• 2011

This study is aimed to examine the emotional experiences of parents with children who have been sexually abused by others. Five mothers whose child was sexually abused participated in this study. They were first recruited through recommendations made by social welfare agencies that provided services to these children. We conducted two or more in-depth interviews for each mother to collect the data. The mothers' emotional experiences were analyzed using phenomenology. Mothers expressed that they felt like the whole world came crashing down around them, felt "totally lost", and felt deep pain together with their children, such that "my family and I were so devastated". Nevertheless, they gradually came to believe that they could overcome this tragedy by continuously making efforts to protect their children from the dangers outside. Despite their efforts, however, they kept the feeling of "hopelessness, neglect, and their children's wounds", deep inside them. The results indicate that it is necessary to have an intervention for mothers whose child has been sexually abused from a companions' perspective within 10 days after the sexual abuse incident.