Abstract

This study focused on the metaphorical structure of language ordinary/typical people use to describe sexual abuse. The goal of the study was to let the cultural pattern associated with sexual abuse emerge through the internal metaphorical structures of stories written by 31 respondents. The respondents were instructed to write a scenario for a TV film where two people were involved in a romantic/sexual relationship and where one of them forced the other to have sex. In half of the questionnaires the phrase "...and where anger was involved" was included. The respondents were selected from a small liberal arts college in New England, a psychiatric prison hospital and a large church in Upstate New York. About half were men and half women. The 31 stories were then analyzed using qualitative methodology. Meaning units were identified and categorized in thematic categories. These categories were then read for their metaphorical structure. About 36 metaphors emerged from this analysis. When the matrix of the metaphors and the thematic categories was constructed it revealed an array of overlapping metaphors across thematic categories representing semantic and conceptual areas which utilize common cognitive structures. The container metaphor serves as the main metaphor for the body and self. The main focus of the analysis centers on boundaries which are validated in loving relationships and violated during acts of coercion, the latter case leading to psychic or literal death. A discussion of the recent literature on self development and aggression in the context of this study were included