ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the stories told by two people, Greta and Bert, who saw their childhood sexual experiences as part of the normal process of sexual development, even though they would be defined by legal systems all over the world as sexually abusive. Both Greta and Bert thought of their childhood sexual experiences as an exciting part of their normal sexual development in adolescence. Each felt that these experiences had neither a positive nor a negative effect on their lives. Bert was in his late forties and lived in a small rural town. He worked part-time and looked after his two adolescent children, following a separation from his wife. The chapter explores the narrative of normal sexual development. This is a similar narrative in that the men and women telling it also believed that they had not been badly affected by their childhood sexual experiences.