Betrayal Trauma: The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse - Hardcover

Freyd, Jennifer J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067406805X ISBN 13: 9780674068056

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1996

Synopsis

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. Freyd's book will give embattled professionals, beleaguered abuse survivors, and the confused public a new, clear understanding of the lifelong effects and treatment of child abuse.

About this title

Review

Jennifer J. Freyd understands the operation of memory in both professional and personal terms. As an academic psychologist, Professor Freyd has researched the psychological processes of memory and the physiological operation of the mind. In Betrayal Trauma, she uses the generally accepted findings of cognitive science to formulate a psychological theory of recovered memory. But Jennifer J. Freyd's interests and involvement in the study of recovered memories is not strictly academic. During her research, Freyd "uncovered" her own memories of childhood abuse. Her parents, who vehemently denied her allegations, have helped found an organization to support others "falsely accused" by individuals with "recovered memories" of abuse. Freyd's personal stake in the subject matter ironically causes her to go the extra mile in maintaining professional objectivity. While partisan detractors of other stripes will likely disagree, most of Freyd's well-written study sticks to the scientific processes that could supply an explanatory basis for forgetting and remembering traumatic experiences. Freyd mostly eschews victimology. She even considers how artificial memories could be the result of bad psychotherapy. Betrayal Trauma outlines a compelling thesis of how memory operates that addresses a controversial topic with great aplomb.

From the Publisher

Jennifer Freyd rises above the tawdry shoot-outs of polemic theorists by discarding the arguments that recollections of trauma must be true or false (they can be either and even both). Instead, she explores the logical mechanisms for not knowing: the many faces of knowledge isolation. No wonder, then, that sexual misuse by a trusted caregiver emerges as the most profound yet least remembered of all the possible hardships of childhood. This is a groundbreaking book that reflects clear thinking, cogent research, and profound scholarship.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 067406805X
• ISBN 13: 9780674068056
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240