From rape trauma to disaffiliation: study of a clinical case of an adoptive adolescent in Algeria

Abstract

In this paper, we will try to show, through the clinical study of an Algerian adolescent adopted victim of rape, that there is a particular link between adoption (in the Kafala1 sense) in the Algerian context and the traumatic fact. In fact, we note from the outset, in this study, that the precarious relationship between the adopter and the adopted is a vulnerable element for the child, especially when we know that the child does not enjoy, socio-emotionally speaking, the same rights as a biological child. This relational fragility will ultimately result in the runaway of the adolescent from the family home, leading to her subsequent rape, which constitutes a first rupture in itself, and which in turn leads to the disaffiliation of this adolescent, since the adoptive family refuses to allow her to return to the family home. We believe that the traumatic event of rape would undermine this parent/adoptive bond, which is already fragile at the grassroots level, ultimately leading to disaffiliation and a breakdown of the bond.