I began writing about reenactments in my last two posts. A reenactment is an effort to undo or understand a traumatic event by unconsciously repeating it. In this post, which I have divided into two parts, I will focus on the second most common type of reenactment: re-victimization reenactments. Research suggests that adults, particularly women, who were victimized as children are at high risk of re-victimization in later life. For example, in one survey, it was found that 72% of women who experienced either physical or sexual abuse as a child also experienced violence in adulthood, compared to 37 % of women who did not experience child abuse.[1]

This type of reenactment is particularly common for those who were victims of child sexual abuse (CSA). Arata (2002) found that sexual abuse victims had a two to three times greater risk of adult victimization than women without a history of CSA.[2] Other research shows that women who experience CSA are twice as likely to experience intimate partner victimization.[3]

Although much of this research has focused on female samples, several studies that have included male samples also reveal a strong association between CSA and subsequent victimization among males (Desai, Arias, Thompson, & Basile, 2002; [4]Krahe and Berger 2007,[5] Papalia 2017. [6]).

Still another common type of........

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