Original Research

Reading Robert and beyond: Narrative analysis of the story of a sexually abused Catholic man

R. Ruard Ganzevoort, Jean-Guy Nadeau
Verbum et Ecclesia | Vol 35, No 2 | a868 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v35i2.868 | © 2014 R. Ruard Ganzevoort, Jean-Guy Nadeau | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 20 May 2013 | Published: 06 August 2014

About the author(s)

R. Ruard Ganzevoort, Faculty of Theology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Practical Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Jean-Guy Nadeau, Facult, Canada

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to the understanding of what is at stake in counselling religious male victims of sexual abuse. We analyse the narrative of ‘Robert’, a sexually abused Roman Catholic man who later committed suicide. We focus on issues that concern many sexually abused males, such as talking and relationships, agency and responsibility, emotions of guilt, shame and anger, sexual identity, God-talk and God-images. In terms of a triangulating case study, we then confront this narrative analysis with some biographical elements gathered from other sources, from which we complement and critique the analysis.


Keywords

Sexual abuse; Religion; Narrative analysis

Metrics

Total abstract views: 2926
Total article views: 6199


Crossref Citations

No related citations found.