THE IMPACT OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON THE FORMATION OF THE ADOLESCENT'S SELF-CONCEPT

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the impact of sexual violence on the formation of adolescents' self-concept. It is revealed how traumatic experiences of sexual abuse disorganize the development of the self-concept, disrupt bodily identity, reduce self-worth, and transform the system of representations about oneself, others, and the world, contributing to the formation of stable negative beliefs about one's own body, sexuality, safety, and personal boundaries. It is shown that during adolescence, a period characterized by intensive identity formation, such trauma acquires particularly destructive power, leading to profound changes in self-esteem, the sense of integrity, and the ability to experience oneself as a subject who has the right to ownership of one's own body and life. The theoretical foundation of the study consists of three complementary paradigms that allow for a comprehensive understanding of the dysregulation of the adolescent's self-concept following sexual violence. The first paradigm is based on the concepts of bodily trauma and somatic dissociation, within which sexual violence is considered an event that disrupts the integration of bodily and psychological experience, leading to alienation from the body, somatization of psychological distress, and a split between experience and awareness. The second paradigm is grounded in the theory of early maladaptive schemas and personality modes, explaining how sexual trauma activates schemas of defectiveness/shame, mistrust/abuse, vulnerability to harm, and impaired boundaries, which become structurally embedded in the adolescent's self-concept and determine emotional states and behavioral strategies. The third paradigm is represented by contemporary theories of dissociation (including structural dissociation of the personality) and disorganized attachment, which describe the fragmentation of experience into parts associated with everyday functioning and traumatic experiences, and demonstrate how this fragmentation affects the integrity of the adolescent's self-concept. The article examines the phenomenon of self-concept dysregulation through the lens of disturbances in basic constructs – desire, ownership, and pleasure – which mediate the adolescent's relationship with their body, sexuality, and intimacy. It is emphasized that sexual violence forms a specific «ownership trauma», in which the adolescent loses the sense of belonging to their own body, perceiving it as "foreign" or «contaminated», leading to internal conflicts between parts of the self, tendencies toward self-blame, shame, self-punishment, avoidance of intimacy, or, conversely, risky sexualized behavior. It is outlined that such changes in the self-concept are closely related to disturbances in self-esteem, a decreased sense of self-worth, difficulties in establishing trusting relationships, and an increased risk of deviant and auto-aggressive behavior during adolescence. A central place in the empirical part of the study is given to the use of the «Self-Reconstruction» method (T. Pavlenko) as a tool for diagnosing and therapeutically reconstructing the self-concept of adolescents who have experienced sexual violence. The key constructs of this approach and the psychodiagnostic toolkit (questionnaires for assessing the state of the self-concept, internal conflicts, bodily experience, and trauma-related symptoms) are described, allowing for the identification of the structure of self-concept dysregulation, the nature of maladaptive schemas, the level of dissociation, and bodily alienation. It is shown that the combination of verbal and non-verbal methods (narrative, expressive, and body-oriented techniques) creates conditions for the safe processing of traumatic experiences in situations where direct verbalization of sexual violence is difficult or impossible. Based on the integration of these theoretical paradigms, a model is proposed in which the adolescent's self-concept following sexual violence is understood as the result of the interaction of cognitive schemas, emotional modes, dissociative processes, and bodily markers of trauma. It is substantiated that targeted psychotherapeutic work, based on trauma-informed principles and supplemented with methods aimed at restoring emotional regulation, bodily sensitivity, and the integration of traumatic experience, creates conditions for the gradual reconstruction of the self-concept and strengthening of the adolescent's psychological resilience. It is emphasized that such reconstruction opens opportunities not only for symptom reduction but also for the formation of a more integrated, autonomous, and resourceful self-concept, in which traumatic experience is integrated without totally defining identity.