Considering Family Reconnection and Reunification after Child Sexual Abuse

Navigating the Road Map
of Reunification
Before beginning to step into the process of family clarification, reconnection, or
reunification, it is helpful to explore the variety of views of what is meant by “family.”
Individuals, communities, and institutions have many different ways to define
family, and the explanations of family are often deeply affected by cultural, economic, and
social influences. To ensure some cultural sensitivity, asking the family how they define
themselves may provide some insight into how to develop a process that resonates for that
child and family. A family may define themselves as related by blood, by marriage, and may
add individuals who have established strong emotional or community ties as well.
The family might be one-generational (e.g., siblings raising siblings) or intergenerational
(e.g., parents and children or grandparents raising grandchildren), and may include both
related and unrelated people living in one home. One commonality for most families is that
the people who call themselves “family” are making it clear that these people are important
in some way to each other. Asking individuals to name the people who are “family” to them
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