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THE CHILD ANALYST RARELY HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ANALYZE small children who at a very early age experienced a rape of oral, anal, or genital kind committed by an adult. Only very few such cases have been reported in the literature.
Erna Furman (1956) published the case of Carol, a case very notable because the oral sexual trauma inflicted upon the child by an adult occurred when the little girl was only 18 months old. Robert Furman analyzed another child at our nursery school, a boy who was seduced by a young uncle at the age of 4. After their analyses, both children developed satisfactorily.
These cases have been followed up to the present time. Carol, who is now 24 years old, became pregnant by the first boy with whom she was involved. There was no doubt that this had to do with the early trauma. On the advice of a psychiatrist, an abortion was performed. Since then she has functioned well both in her work and her relationships. She is now getting married.
The case of the boy was never published. He is entering law school and doing well academically. He has sought help in psychotherapy because of a sadomasochistic relationship with a girl, doubtless a repetition of an old relationship he had with his mother.
It seems that the early analytic intervention in these cases has mitigated the impact of the unsettling trauma.
Such cases have stimulated in me a particular interest: what happens to children who have suffered the same kind of trauma