The Trauma Myth The Truth About the Sexual Abuse of Children--and Its Aftermath

by Clancy, Susan A

• ISBN13: 9780465022113
• ISBN10: 0465022111
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-05
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

Drawing on the latest research on memory and traumatic experience, Susan Clancy, an expert in experimental psychopathology, demonstrates that children describe abuse and molestation encounters in ways that don't fit the conventional trauma model. In fact, the most common feeling reported is not fear but confusion. Clancy calls for an honest look at sexual abuse and its aftermath, and argues that the reactions of society and the healing professions--however well meaning--actually shackle the victims of abuse in chains of guilt, secrecy, and shame. Pathbreaking and controversial, The Trauma Mythradically reshapes our understanding of sexual abuse and its consequences.

Author Biography

Susan Clancy is Research Director of the Center for Women's Advancement, Development and Leadership at INCAE, the Central American Institute for Business Administration in Nicaragua. She is the author of Abducted. She has been featured in Scientific American, Psychology Today, and the New York Times. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Managua, Nicaragua.

Table of Contents

A Note to the Reader	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. i
What Was It Like When It Happened?	p. 23
The Truth About Sexual Abuse	p. 47
The Politics of Sexual Abuse	p. 77
Why the Trauma Myth Damages Victims	p. 111
How the Trauma Myth Silences Victims	p. 149
Conclusion	p. 179
Acknowledgments	p. 205
Notes	p. 207
Index	p. 231
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