Child Abuse Implications Research Paper

RUNNINGHEAD: THE LIFELONG IMPLICATIONSOFCHILDHOOD VICTIMIZATION
The Lifelong Implications of Childhood Traumatization
Case Study: Examining the Life of Norma Jean Baker
Jaclyn M. Padalino
Governor’s State University
SOCW 4102: Child Welfare Practice
Spring 2016

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THE LIFELONGIMPLICATIONSOFCHILDHOOD VICTIMIZATION
ABSTRACT
CHILDHOOD VICTIMIZATION RESULTS IN SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM
EFFECTS: EVIDENCED BY EXAMINING THE LIFE OF NORMA JEAN BAKER
This paper seeks to analyze the various powerful short-term and long-term implications
of childhood traumatization, as it pertains to a survivor’s life-long behaviors and thought
processes after experiencing a major traumatic event during childhood. Theoretical
concepts, explaining the various treatment modalities, and critical analysis of the real-life
case example of Norma Jean Baker, who created the persona of Marilyn Monroe, will be
analyzed in order to understand the significance of Norma Jean adopting the persona of
Marilyn Monroe. Through analysis of the various traumatic events that occurred
throughout Norma Jean’s childhood, the reader can gain a better understanding of why
Norma Jean adopted the persona, ultimately as an attempt to hide her inner pain and bury
the secrets of her troubled past. The chain of events that constructed Norma Jean’s
childhood resulted in the birth of Marilyn Monroe are devastating and heartbreaking. A
deeper understanding of Norma Jean’s life, specifically her childhood, helps to explain
the actions and behaviors of Marilyn Monroe. Thorough analysis of the events and their
subsequent effects will help the reader to better understand the serious implications of
childhood victimization.
Keywords: Childhood Traumatization, Child Sexualization, Child Objectification, Grooming,
Social-learning and Mirroring, Sexual Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Short-Term
Implications, Long-Term Implications

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The Lifelong Implications of Childhood Victimization
Children who have been the victims of neglect, abuse, and exposure to violence, have
short-term and long-term effects that may carry into adulthood (Basham & Miehls, 2004).
According to an Executive Report presented to Congress in 2012, “In 2011, there were
approximately 742,000 instances of confirmed child maltreatment” This computes to “9.9 child
victims per 1,000 children in the population” (US Department of Health and Human Services,
2012). This devastatingly large statistic may carry disastrous implications for 742,000 children
too many. Childhood traumatization can result in short-term and long-term implications. Such
effects can manifest in a number of various ways throughout childhood and into adulthood of the
traumatized person.
Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
When a person (of any age) is exposed to a traumatic event, or a series of several
repeated traumatic events, the accumulation of side effects has been identified in the DSM-V as
an affliction named Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, for short. According to the DSM-
V manual, PTSD is defined as “A disturbance, regardless of its trigger, causes clinically
significant distress or impairment in the individual’s social interactions, capacity to work or other
important areas of functioning. It is not the physiological result of another medical condition,
medication, drugs or alcohol” (Sharfstein, M.D., Kupfer, M.D., Regier, M.D., 2014). Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder, in comparison to other theories pertaining to mental health, is a
relatively new development in the field of psychology and social work. Regardless of its’ status

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as “newer” diagnosis, due to the drastic, life-changing nature of the effects of PTSD, the
subsequent implications of traumatization have already been studied in great detail. Statistics
linking behavioral, psychological, social, physiological, and emotional effects to childhood
traumatization are staggering. Effects of PTSD are present in adults in many various aspects of
one’s life, from personal relationships, to intergenerational transmission of trauma, and even
correlation with drug use and violence (Bifulco & Moran, 1998).
Interventional Methods for Treatment of PTSD
There are many methods of therapy that are currently used on patients who have suffered
from childhood trauma. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy are the
most commonly used treatment models for clients with PTSD diagnoses. In the population of
traumatized children, art therapy is the most common and effective method of therapeutic
intervention (Ringel & Brandell, 2012).
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used to teach clients “cognitive-reframing
strategies. Such techniques help clients identify and restructure trauma related, irrational beliefs
that engender unhealthy negative emotions and lead to dysfunctional behaviors, typically in
response to memories of, or situations associated with the trauma” (Hembree & Foa, 2004, pp.
231-257). Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is based off of the conflict that arises from the
relationship that may potentially exist between perceptions the victim had prior to a traumatic
event, and the new perception of themselves that they may now have derived from the trauma.
This conflict arises from the ideas the victim may have once held regarding a victim, which,
post-trauma, equates to the way they perceive themselves. Treatment “typically takes place
during 12 sessions of group therapy consisting of 1.5 hours per session. A written assignment

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helps clients explore the personal meaning the ascribe to the traumatic event. Clients are taught
to differentiate feelings from thoughts” (Resick & Schnicke, 1992, pp. 748-756). Exposure
therapies, such as PE and VRE are popular methods used to revisit a traumatic event in an
attempt to activate the victim’s triggers in a safe setting. Once the victim is triggered, the process
then “allows for corrective emotional engagement with the trauma memory while at the same
time providing opportunities to modify and reframe dysfunctional and irrational cognitions”
(Hembree & Foa, 2004).
Art Therapy as a method of intervention for traumatized children.
Art therapy is one of the most common and effective interventional methods of treating
the traumatized child. Art therapy has a number of latent benefits in addition to its therapeutic
effects. One of the unique functions of art therapy, is its’ ability to aid a victim in event recall. A
second beneficial latent function of art therapy is that it can help a non-verbal child express their
perception of the traumatic event. Using techniques such as role play, doll play, puppetry,
drawing, and painting will help the victim narrate their version of their story when they are not
capable of verbally expressing their emotions (Ringel & Brandell, 2012).
Sand tray therapy, clay play therapy, relaxation recordings, mask painting, and paper-
tearing are examples of therapeutic methods of art therapy that allow the practitioner to utilize
sensory-based interventions. Ringel & Brandell (2012) state that:
These methods of intervention utilize tactile, kinesthetic, and often olfactory and
auditory sensations. It is a physical process involving motion, pressure, and rhythm to
stimulate or to calm. With cases involving bodily trauma, such as physical abuse, the
kinesthetic-sensorial aspect of working with art materials is particularly potent. During
creative activity, the artist is continually responding not only to internal images and

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feelings but also the impact of embodied imagery as it develops in the artwork in
progress…The visual aspect of art therapy is powerful and evocative. Images have
emotional impact and re-create experiences. They operate on both symbolic and abstract
levels. (p. 101-103).
Understanding the Correlation of Childhood Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and
Delinquent Behaviors
Child abuse victims often use maladaptive behaviors as a strategy to avoid certain
situations and triggers, which results in them engaging in behaviors which deviate from social
norms. The defensive behaviors are the survivor’s means to protect themselves both physically
and emotionally. According to a report from the National Institute of Justice, “NSA results
indicate clear relationships between the experience of youth victimization and mental health
problems (i.e., substance abuse delinquent behavior)” (Kilpatrick, Saunders, & Smith, 2003).
The delinquent behaviors may carry over into the victim’s adulthood if the victim’s PTSD goes
untreated.
In children, maladaptive behaviors subsequent to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder may
include hyperactivity, fighting and bullying, poor academic performance, antisocial behaviors,
regression of lifespan achievements, sleeping at inappropriate times, substance use, sexual
promiscuity, and problems within the legal system (Jaycox, Morse, Tanielian, & Stein, 2006).
Adult survivors of childhood violence often exhibit behaviors that can be explained by a
diagnosis of PTSD, as well as social learning theories. Adult maladaptive behaviors may include
“increased aggression and drug and alcohol abuse, which could lead to anxiety, depression,
insomnia, plus memory and cognitive impairments or mental disorders” (Nalah & Ishaya, 2013,
p. 1).

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Victimization of Children Results in Short-Term Effects
Abuse and maltreatment can cause disturbances in children, resulting in possible
implications that may be somatic. Effects may also lead to negative outcomes in the aspect of a
child’s social-emotional, and cognitive well-being, as well as academic underperformance,
(Kilpatrick, Saunders, & Smith, 2003). Somatic manifestations of PTSD can range from
symptoms such as hypertension and migraines, to obesity and asthma. (Williamson, MS, PhD,
1998). Social-emotional effects of child abuse include early intercourse, promiscuity, bullying
other children, and impaired socialization skills (Williamson, MS, PhD, 1998). A student’s
academic underperformance may be subsequent to the behavioral and emotional effects of
PTSD. “Classroom performance can decline because of an inability to concentrate, flashbacks or
preoccupation with the trauma” (Jaycox, Morse, Tanielian, & Stein, 2006, p. 8). Additionally,
co-occurring issues, such as substance abuse and depression, may also be to blame for a
student’s poor academia.
Untreated short-term effects are detrimental to a child as they grow into an adult. These
effects can carry over into adulthood, manifesting behaviorally, emotionally, and mentally.
These effects may result in attachment disorders, which affect intimate partnerships, parenting
skills, intergenerational transmission of trauma, and in some cases, issues with addiction,
prostitution, and homelessness.
Child Victimization May Affect Survivors Well into Adulthood
When left untreated, childhood PTSD has serious implications on the child throughout
their entire life. The long-term effects of the disorder can spill over into every aspect of the
survivor’s adult-life. Co-occurring conditions are common and similar in nature to the conditions
present in children living with PTSD. Commonly observed effects include a higher risk of

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mental health disorders, somatic disturbances, severe obesity, substance abuse, sexual
dysfunctions, perpetrating intimate partner violence, difficulty controlling anger, and attachment
disorders. (Williamson, MS, PhD, 1998).
Adults who have suffered from untreated PTSD for an extended period of time often
show physiological changes in their brain. “Studies with people who suffer chronic PTSD have
shown that the structure of the brain changes as a consequence of traumatic experience. The
hippocampus decreases in volume, which suggests problems in the absorption and processing of
information. This may signify an ongoing dissociation and misrepresentation of information,
resulting in aggressive reactions, withdrawal, and perceptions of events as threats-which are
common symptoms of PTSD” (Ringel & Brandell, 2012).
Childhood trauma, unsurprisingly, has profound effects on adult survivors’ relationships
with their own children and significant others, according to Basham and Miehls.
The resultant consequences of developmental deficits will often have a major impact on
interpersonal functioning…the difficulty in affect regulations will wield enormous
influence on the management of anger and aggression, in the ability to be emotionally
and sexually intimate with a partner, and in problem-solving abilities (2004, pp. 19-20).
Another implication of unresolved childhood trauma is that the adult survivor may (albeit,
unintentionally) traumatize their own children. Intergenerational transmission of trauma does not
necessarily mean that the victim became a perpetrator of violence, in fact, studies have shown
evidence of the exact opposite in some cases. Adult survivors of child abuse have a tendency to
become extremely overprotective, apprehensive, and paranoid in matters concerning their
children. This can be just as damaging to a child, because they may perceive these behaviors as

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being their own fault. This self-blame may result in a myriad of mental health disorders for the
child.
Intergenerational transmission of trauma is sometimes the result of the adult survivor’s
inability to form a secure attachment to their children. The lack of a mutual and secure
attachment between parent and child results in a child’s disorganized attachment. “Children’s
disorganized attachment is also linked to caregivers’ own unresolved loss and trauma,
communicated to the child via verbal or nonverbal signals and thereby transmitted from one
generation to the next” (Ringel & Brandell, 2012, p. 77). An insecure attachment in infancy has
lifelong consequences, and thus begins the vicious cycle of traumatization.
A Historic Case Study on the Implications of the Traumatized Child: Norma Jean
Mortenson, a.k.a. Marilyn Monroe
By the age of fifteen, Norma Jean Mortenson had endured more traumatic events than
most people are faced with in their entire lives. When she was just eight years old, Norma Jean
was raped for the first time, by a man called Mr. Kimmel, who lived with her mother as a
boarder. After the incident, Mr. Kimmel would toss nickels at Norma Jean, as if to bribe her into
keeping his secret. When she spoke up about the abuse, her legal caretaker, her mother’s best
friend, Grace Goddard, slapped her in her face. She was soon thereafter dumped at an orphanage.
Talk about adding insult to injury! At nine years old Grace, began conditioning Norma Jean to
believe that her sexuality and beauty were the only traits she possessed that would bring her
power, as if women have nothing else to offer the world. Grace always made sure Norma Jean
was “coiffed and made-up as though she were an adult, wearing lipstick and rouge. She took her
to the movies-less for entertainment than for instruction”, because she wanted Norma Jean to be

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a movie star one day (Leaming, 2000). Grace was literally grooming Norma Jean. She was
objectifying her, sexualizing a child who had already been raped once, and was now grooming
her through having her wear make-up and teaching her that her beauty was her only asset.
At twelve years old, Norma Jean had been sexually assaulted at least twice in her various
foster homes, in addition to her first rape by Mr. Kimmel. One of her abusers was Grace
Goddard’s fourth husband, Erwin “Doc” Goddard. Immediately after Doc’s advances, Grace
shipped Norma Jean off to another orphanage, for the sixth time in her life. The abandonment
and betrayal left Norma Jean with the perception that “it was the victim, not the victimizer, who
was expelled. This sent a powerful message to Norma Jean, and she believed that she had
somehow brought it upon herself” (Leaming, 2000). The repeated abandonment at various
shelters tragically became something Norma Jean was accustomed to. Betrayal seemed to be
Norma Jean’s only constant in her life. At fifteen years old, Norma Jean dropped out of school,
on Grace’s advice, to enter into a marriage with her 21year-old neighbor. This was the only
option Grace gave Norma Jean in order to keep her out of another orphanage. More
objectification. More conditioning Norma Jean to believe that her beauty would earn her a man
who would give her the world, that she was incapable of earning it herself. At the young and
impressionable age of fifteen, Norma Jean was now completely conditioned to believe that the
only attribute she possessed to achieve her goals (in this case, emancipation from the system),
lied between her legs.
Norma Jean always wanted to be famous, because that was what Grace had taught her to
be. She grew up in movie theaters. Hollywood ran through her veins. Grace had worked
tirelessly throughout Norma Jean’s childhood to instill in her the idea that she was going to be a
famous actress one day. That dream was the only thing that kept her going. When her husband

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was sent off to war, Norma Jean got her lucky break when she was scouted by a photographer.
Finally, her only dream seemed like it was actually within her reach. She divorced her husband
immediately after he came home from the war, in an attempt to be free and make her own
choices.
Norma Jean became a regular on the Hollywood party scene. She spent most nights being
tossed around between writers, agents, and directors. It was on the party circuit that she
experienced yet another sexual assault. This time it was by three men who violently tied her
down and attempted to rape her. The event triggered her recall of her childhood sexual assaults.
After doing some reflection, Norma Jean concluded that her multiple rapes and sexual assaults
were all her fault.
Interestingly enough, even with the combination of multiple sexual assaults,
abandonment, neglect, disorganized attachment with her mother, and the skewed ideology that
she could only be famous based on her talents in the bedroom, Norma Jean never gave up on the
notion of finding true love. She had received multiple marriage proposals from various high-
profile Hollywood elites, who would no doubt give her the acting roles and fame that she wanted
more than anything, had she accepted. In a strange plot twist, she never accepted the proposals,
and instead fell head-over-heels in love with an older man with whom she had absolutely no
sexual relationship with. This man, Arthur Miller, was a man that Norma Jean perceived as being
a man of conscience, a moral figure, who absorbed her of her past indiscretions. He was the first
person to show her that she was worthy of respect.
From a psychological standpoint, it should come as no surprise that Norma Jean had
fallen for a man with whom she had a platonic relationship. She had absolutely no interest in sex,
a common effect of childhood sexual assault and rape victims. She was incapable of enjoying

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sex, as it was something that she had been a prisoner to since she was a child. The shocking part,
however, is that her adoption of Marilyn Monroe, as an attempt to hide her true self, was a
persona that was completely based on sexuality, femininity, and flirtation. Marilyn Monroe is,
even to this day, one of the most famous sex symbols in America.
Marilyn Monroe was a powerful, sex symbol. Everyone in America knew her face and
her feminine voice (which was fake). However, nobody truly knew Norma Jean. Norma Jean
was a vulnerable, damaged, and tortured victim of lifelong abuse who had a terrible fear of
betrayal and abandonment. In an attempt to maintain any bit of sanity that remained, Norma kept
personal journals that were found and published long after her death. She was a gifted writer. Her
words act as a portal that allow the reader to gain insight into her true self. In her book,
“Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters”, which contains all of her journal entries, a poem
was published that she had written that read:
“I guess I have always been
Deeply terrified at to really be someone’s
Wife
Since I know from life
One cannot love another,
Ever, really”
-Marilyn Monroe (Monroe, 2010).
The poem, just a few lines, truly shows just how scared and tortured she felt.
Norma Jean’s closest biological family members suffered from various mental disorders.
In fact, her only memory of her maternal grandmother, Della Grainger Monroe, was when she

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tried to suffocate her around first birthday. Della was later diagnosed with Manic Depressive
Psychosis, and spent the remainder of her life institutionalized. Her mother, Gladys Pearl
Monroe, was hospitalized with Paranoid Schizophrenia in January of 1935, at which time she
was declared legally insane. Norma Jean had very obvious symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, undoubtedly a result of her tragic childhood, in combination with the myriad of genetic
mental illnesses she was predisposed to. Marilyn suffered from chronic insomnia, depression,
sexually promiscuous behaviors, impulse control problems disillusionment, and addiction, with
her drug of choice being prescription pills (Victor, 2001).
Tragically, Marilyn Monroe struggled to overcome her lifetime of hurt and tragedy since
she was a young child, but ultimately succumbed to her demons in 1962, at just 36 years old.
Marilyn Monroe intentionally overdosed on prescription pills just six days after being released
from a mental institution for a previous suicide attempt. (Victor, 2001). Her embattled life of
abuse, neglect, sexual assault, and the public persona she had to maintain was just too much for
her to handle anymore. Had PTSD been studied and understood back then, maybe Marilyn
Monroe would still be alive today.
Conclusion
Child victims who have survived neglect, abuse, and exposure to violence, often must
cope with effects of the trauma, which have short-term and long-term implications. The effects
of childhood traumatization may carry into adulthood and continue to affect the survivor’s life.
In order to better understand Post-Traumatic Stress disorder, continued research needs to be
done. With a further understanding of the disorder and better modes of assessment,
interventional models will evolve. Effective treatment (and prevention) of PTSD will have a
great impact on society. Benefits to survivors who suffer from PTSD can include ending of

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addiction, decreased rates of violent crimes (and their subsequent incarcerations), healthier
interpersonal relationships, and saving countless lives from the ugly effects of Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder.

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