ABSTRACT
In the complex trauma literature, shame is primarily conceptualised as an emotional response to abuse that shuts down social connections and inhibits recovery. Drawing on Queer Theory, this chapter considers complementary and seemingly contradictory functions of traumatic shame – social connection and disconnection – in the development of survivor identity and as manifest in forms of social action. Rather than seeing different versions of shame-based socialisation in opposition to one another, we argue that they are deeply enmeshed, formed as a foundational response to abuse that looks for social recognition but often finds its absence. We develop an understanding of shame as both multifaceted and generative, at times dignity conferring while also diminishing in the formation of survivor identity. We also consider how shame in the context of child sexual abuse is both sticky in its contagion between people and can lead to ruptures between survivors when connection is hoped for but not always possible. The chapter then turns to some international examples of successful survivor activism and engagement related to public inquiries and concludes with some observations about the ways in which social connections between survivors, academics, and other socially engaged groups can lead to transformative shifts in how child sexual abuse is spoken about.
