When Violence Is No Stranger: Pastoral Counseling with Survivors of Acquaintance Rape

It is not my enemies who taunt me-I could bear that.... It is you my equal my companion my familiar friend.... Ps. 55:12-13 The paucity of resources for pastoral care of acquaintance-rape survivors highlights the invisibility of this growing crime and its largely uncharted pastoral challenges. In fact most rape is by an acquaintance. Only 16 percent of such cases are reported; and because they are difficult to prosecute only 5 percent of those reported result in guilty verdicts. Focusing on the psychospiritual effects of this sexualized violence Kristen Leslie offers the psychological and theological tools to religious professionals for understanding the deep spiritual trauma of the survivor and how best to work with her to reconstruct a personal world of meaning trust and faith. Based on extensive interviews with survivors Leslie explains the personal and theological issues they raise what they found helpful from religious professionals the images and metaphors most germane to their trauma and recovery and how they coped with or healed from the experience of rape. An exemplary and important study in practical theology Leslies volume will not only equip pastoral caregivers and counselors with specific guidelines. It will also enlighten them on the crucial role that theology can play in the re-construction of shattered lives.