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"If you have been sexually abused, you are not alone.
One out of three girls, and one out of seven boys,
are sexually abused by the time they reach the age of
eighteen." (Bass and Davis, 1988, p.20)
The traditional definition of incest is sexual
intercourse between blood relatives: it is illegal
to marry because of such a close relationship.
There is now an evolving definition of incest
that takes into consideration the betrayal of trust
and the power imbalance in these one-sided
relationships. One such definition is: "the
imposition of sexually inappropriate acts, or acts
with sexual overtones ... by one or more persons who
persons who derive authority through ongoing
emotional bonding with that child. (Blume,1990,p.4)
This definition expands the traditional definition
of incest to include sexual abuse by anyone who has
authority or power over the child. This definition
of incest includes as perpetrators: immediate/
extended family members, babysitters, school
teachers, scout masters, priests/ministers,etc.
"Incest between an adult and a related child or
adolescent is now recognized as the most prevalent
form of child sexual abuse and as one with great
potential for damage to the child".(Courtois, 1988, p.12)
According to Diane Russel (The Secret Trauma) and David
Finkelhor (Child Sexual Abuse) 95% of the perpetrators
of girls are men and 80% of teh perpetrators of boys are
men. (Bass and Davis, 1988, p.96) This may be the major
reason why talking about incest is a bigger taboo than
incest itself! Who hold the power in our society? Men.
The majority of judges, police, prosecutors and others
responsible for protection and enforcement are men.
"Approximately 40% of all victims/survivors suffer
aftereffects serious enough to require theraphy in
adulthood. (Browne and Finklehor, 1986)."
Some of the aftereffects can include: inability to
trust (which effects the therapeutic relationship),
fear of intimacy, depression, suicidal ideation and
other self-destructive behaviors, and low self-esteem,
guilt, anger,isolation and alienation from others,
drug and alcohol dependency, and eating disorders.
"Briere questions the use of psychiatric labels (for
victims of sexual abuse). He suggests instead that the
psychological disturbances experienced by survivors of
sexual abuse be considered post-sexual-abuse-trauma.
This term refers to symptomatic behaviors that were
initially adaptive, but that over time have become
contextually inappropriate components of victim's adult
personality." (Gil, 1988, p.28) This view gets away
from stigmatizing and blaming the victim. The person
responsible for inflicting the trauma is to blame - the
perpetrator. Children are never responsible for their
sexual abuse, adults are the ones responsible. At the
turn of the century, Freud labeled victims of sexual
abuse (predominantly women) "Hysteric". For the next
70 to 80 years society has labeled these victims as
"mentally ill". It is now understood that survivors
of sexual abuse are actually suffering from the
aftereffects of the trauma.
Traditionally, sexual abuse of children was considered
either incest or pedophilia. Now, it is viewed as being
on a continuum. While some incestuous men have sex with
only their own children, according to one study (Abel,
1983), "at least 44%, abuse children outside the home
during the time they are having sexual contact with
their own children," and other men have sex with
children they aren't related to. Characteristics that
offenders have in common are: "dependent, inadequate
individuals with early family histories characterized
by conflict, disruption, abandonment, abuse and
exploitation." (Encyclopedia of Social Work, 1987, p.256)
Not all offenders are men. While some offenders were
sexually abused as children, they still need to be held
accountable for their abuse of children and receive sex
offender treatment. Unfortunately, court action may be
the only way to assure offenders' participation in
treatment programs.
She (he) must face the reality that she (he) holds
information whose witholding keeps others at risk.
No perpetrator stops on his (her) own. In breaking
the secret, she (he) has finally, the power to break
the chain." (Blume, 1990, p. 72-73)
Amnesia for childhood sexual abuse is a condition.
Repression is merely one mechanism that may be
At least 10% of people sexually abused in childhood
Research evidence showing that it is NOT RARE for people
who were sexually abused in childhood to experience
amnesia and delayed recall for the abuse. This body of
work shows that claims to the contrary are contradicted
by scientific evidence.
It is not rare for people to say they don't remember an
abuse experience that actually happened.
When people say these things, we try to describe and
explain what they are reporting with psychological
constructs:
Two crucial points: "Amnesia" is a purely descriptive
construct. It directs our attention to the condition
of being unable to remember experiences like
childhood sexual abuse. "Repression" and "dissociation"
are explanatory contructs. They point to
hypothesized psychological mechanisms that may be
responsible for the condition of amnesia.
It is not rare for people to say that at
some point they came to remember a past abuse
experience which they had not previously remembered.
Linda Meyer Williams found that the closer the
relationship to the perpetrator and the younger the
child at the time, the greater the likelihood an
incident was (apparently) not remembered.
Those with a prior period of forgetting--the women
with 'recovered memories'-- were younger at the
time of abuse and were less likely to have received
support from their mothers than the women who
reported that they had always remembered their
victimization.(Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 649-673)
For this sample of women memories resurfaced in
conjunction with registering events or reminders
and an internal process of rumination and
clarification. For women with greater economic
means than those of the women who comprised this
sample, therapy may play a greater role in
recovering memories of child sexual abuse.
"While these findings cannot be used to assert
the validity of all recovered memories of child
abuse, this study does suggest that recovered
memories of child sexual abuse reported by adults
can be quite consistent with contemporaneous
documentation of the abuse and should not be
summarily dismissed by therapists,lawyers,
family members, judges, or the women themselves"
(pp.669-670)
Excerpts: "The majority of the patients (64%) did
not have full recall of the sexual abuse but
reported at least some degreeof amnesia... Just
over one quarterof teh women (28%) reported
severe memory deficits [i.e., recalled very
little from childhood, reported recent eruption
of previously inaccessible memories, or had
such recall during the course of group treatment]"(p.4).
The majority of patients (74%) were able to obtain
confirmation of the abuse from another source.
Twenty-one women (40%) obtained corroborating
evidence from the perpetrator himself, from other
family members, or fromphysical evidence such as
diaries or photographs. Another 18 women (34%)
discovered that another child, usually a sibling,
had been abused by the same perpetrator. An
additional 5 women (9%) reported statements from
other family members indicating a strong likelihood
that they had also been abused, but did not confirm
their suspicions by direct questioning. the three
following case examples illustrate corroboration of
the incest histories by, respectively, admission of
the perpetrator, testimony of other family members,
and physical evidence.
Abstract: "Clinical experience suggests that adult
survivors of childhood trauma arrive at their memories
in a number of ways, with varying degrees of associated
distress and uncertainty and, in some cases, after memory
lapses of varying duration and extent. Among those patients
who enter psychotherapy as a result of early abuse, three
general patterns of traumatic recall are identified:
These patterns are represented by three composite
clinical vignettes. Variations among them suggest that
the phenomena underlying traumatic recall are continuous
and not dichotomous. Future research into the nature of
traumatic memory should be informed by clinical
observation."
Excerpt: "On one hand, traumatized people remember too
much; on the other hand, they remember too little....
The memories intrude when they are not wanted, in the
form of nightmares, flashbacks, and behavioral
reenactments. Yet the memories may not be accessible
when they are wanted. Major parts of the story may be
missing, and sometimes an entire event or series of
events may be lost. We have by now a very large body of
data indicating that trauma simultaneously enchances and
impairs memory.
When people are in the state of terror, attention is
narrowed and perceptions are altered. Peripheral detail,
context, and time sense fall away, while the attention
is strongly focused on central detail in the immediate
present. When the focus of attention is extremely narrow,
people may experience profound perceptual distortions,
including insensivity to pain, depersonalization, time
slowing and amnesia. This is that state we call dissociation...
In my clinical work with incest survivors, again and again I
have heard how as children they taught themselves to enter a
trance state.
The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse
How can someone forget an event as traumatic as sexual abuse
in chilhood? People who don't know firsthand may wonder,
and many apparently do, or controversy wouldn't be raging
around the issue of recovered memories today. This book lays
bare the logic of forgotten abuse. Psychologist Jennifer
Freyd's breakthrough theory explaining this phenomenon
shows how psychogenic amnesia not only happens but, if
the abuse occurred at the hands of a parent or caregiver,
is often necessary for survival. What Freyd describes,
with cogent real-life examples, is "betrayal trauma," a
blockage of information that would otherwise interfere
with one's ability to function within an essential
relationship--that of parent and dependent child,
for instance.
Incest / Sexual Abuse of Children
Source: Patricia D. McClendon, Copyright, 1995.
Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse
The existence of this condition is beyond dispute.
responsible for the conddition of amnesia.
will have periods of complete amnesia for their abuse,
followed by experiences of delayed recall.
(Conservative estimate based on published research.)
It is not rare for people to report that there were times
when they didn't remember an abuse experience that they
remember now.
Harvey, M.R., & Herman, J.L.(1994).
Amnesia, partial
amnesia, and delayed recall among adult survivors of
childhood trauma. Consciousness and Cognition, 4,
295-306.
(1) relatively continuous recall of childhood abuse
experiences coupled with changing interpretations
(delayed understandings) of these experiences,
(2) partial amnesia for abuse events, accompanied by a
mixture of delayed recall and delayed understanding, and
(3) delayed recall following a period of profound and
pervasive amnesia.
Herman, J.L.(1995).
Crime and Memory. Bulletin of the
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 23,5-17.
Source : Scientific Research and Scholarly Resources by Jim Hopper.
Betrayal Trauma
Jennifer J.Freyd
is Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon.
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