Conclusion
I saw a great deal of previous personality damage. She handles herself very well, but there is only a short distance between her stolid self control and care and losing total control. I believe she is living in a suspended seige of depression. Years ago, doctors called it a phase of "melancholy". It was a nice way to hide the acute psychological trouble.
I worked with Wanda for some time, but, in the end, sent her to a friend who is much more knowledgeable in this area. This experience only blew the top off her carefully controlled life-style. It brutally reinforced her feelings of lack of self worth. She was only good enough to be used and abused. The physical harm she suffered was almost negligible, but the psychological damage was deep.
I do believe that this is the kind of case that shows that the act of molestation, in itself, is not the harmful part of the experience, but the significance it is given in the person's life. To this unfortunate girl, that one relatively harmless sexual experience proved to tip the balance against her.
GENERAL CONCLUSION
As I indicated in the foreword of this case book, it is my belief that the actual sexual experiences of young children with adults are not permanently damaging and ultimately detrimental. I feel these case histories have demonstrated that in the relatively normal child, the act of sex perpetrated on them is not entirely disagreeable in every phase. More than one of these subjects willingly participated in some part of the action.
In every case where there was a harmful reaction to the act, it came to the fore that society, in some way, was involved. For some, society took the form of their parents. The parents were punishing the girls and reminding them of the terribleness of the deed. They were, in fact, blamed for the act. The subtle clues that the parents gave, indicated to the victims that they were responsible in some way. Some parents were not that guarded in blame. There was a distinct indication that they felt the girl was in some part responsible.
I advocate, in light of these findings, that society become more aware of the actual sexuality of children. They can appreciate pleasure in their genitals and do actively seek it through masturbation before the child is much past one or two years of age. It is the onus that society places on sex, the taboos of our sexual culture that forces these girls into doubt and hiding. I say let them alone. In fact, as far as this area is concerned, I am in favor of keeping the information from the parents unless there is reasonable safety that the parents will understand.
Ideally, the parents should help a child to overcome such an experience, but until our society begins to show more respect for child-rearing and provides some training for being a parent, these biologically related persons are no better equipped to handle a problem such as this than is just any stranger off the street. I do not wish to appear to dislike parents in general. It is just that my experience with inept parents has changed my attitudes about this supposedly inherent talent in all who bare children.