Along with psychological effects, childhood sexual abuse victims exhibit a wide range of emotional disturbances resulting in an overwhelming sense of emotions and the inability to understand certain feelings. Finkelhor states "a number of mechanisms may traumatize the child by distorting their cognitive and effective apacities, so that when children try to deal with the world through these distortions, we see some of the symptoms and dysfunctional behavior that characterize victims of abuse" (Finkelhor, 1990, p. 329).
This incapacity to come to grips with a victim's sexual abuse trauma may result in lack of self-confidence, guilt, shame, isolation and a distorted of view sexuality. Beitchman, Zucker, Hood, DaCosta, and Akman (1991) report in their studies of preschoolers "a purported effect of sexual abuse [as] the display of some form of sexual behavior Judged to be abnormal. Abnormal or bjects into the vagina or anus, masturbation, seductive behavior, requesting sexual stimulation, and age-inappropriate or precocious sexual knowledge" (p. 539). Beitchman et al. 1991) also report in their study of the development of sexualization of children that "sexually abused school-age children of both sexes, like their sexually abused pre-school counterparts, appeared more likely to manifest inappropriate sexual behaviors like excessive masturbation, sexual preoccupation and sexual aggression" (p.
544). The psychological and emotional effects of childhood sexual abuse discussed bove generate and contribute to multiple detrimental after-effects such as delinquency, substance abuse, self-destructiveness, and suicide.Children and teens affected by sexual abuse may feel isolated during and after the abuse because they are unable to relate to others their age or because of the shame and stigmatization behind their trauma. Feiring, Miller-Johnson, and Cleland (2007) demonstrate a correlation between stigmatization and delinquency. In their study "According to the labeling perspective, stigmatization can engender a deviant identity that reinforces eviant behavior consistent with this self-view.
