Date
4-7-2026
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Sarah Walsh
Keywords
Childhood Sexual Abuse, Trauma, African American Women, Single Mothers, Cultural Secrecy, Disclosure
Disciplines
Counseling | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Blassingame, Najah Briana, "Childhood Sexual Abuse, Cultural Secrecy, and the Management of Social Relationships Among Single African American Mothers" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8046.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8046
Abstract
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of African American female survivors’ residing in the state of South Carolina. This study explored how the cultural norms of secrecy within the AA community discouraged the open disclosure of personal or familial trauma to maintain a family’s reputation, protect the community’s image, and display family loyalty (Brazelton, 2015). The normalization of secrecy within the AA community contributes to the continuation of generational trauma which can break the family apart or mend it back together (Petion et al., 2022). The theories that guided this study were identified as the Bowen Family Systems (BFS) Theory and the Ecological Systems Theory (EST). These theories provide a framework for understanding how intergenerational family dynamics and social environments shape survivors’ social functioning and lived experiences. Data was collected through virtual one-on-one interviews. The findings of this study revealed four major themes that were identified as cultural trauma silence and secrecy, parental emotional abandonment, parenting through trauma, and survival through hypervigilance. Participants described their experiences with parenting, emotional regulation, and relationship dynamics. There was a lack of research analyzing the impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) among single AA mothers, particularly regarding the long-term effects of unaddressed trauma induced by cultural secrecy that dejected their disclosure. This study addressed the gap in the literature by highlighting the experiences of single AA mothers who are survivors of CSA and emphasized the need for culturally responsive interventions that support their healing process and disclosure of abuse.
