Article Keyword: physical cruelty

The Child Is Innocent: Releasing The Effects Of Child Abuse – Alice M. Givens (Is.7)

by Alice M. Givens, Ph.D.

Even with the spotlight of publicity on child abuse today, confusion and misunderstanding reign regarding its occurrence. Hostility and even hatred of children exist in our culture and in other cultures as well, but the prevalence of abuse and the enormity of its effects are still not recognized. A large segment of the population still believes that child abuse is insignificant and are convinced that children lie about and exaggerate such abuse.

When Freud first wrote about sexual abuse in 1896, his theory that neurosis was caused by sexual abuse in childhood drew a horrified reaction from medical and lay communities. Thus, he was forced to rescind his theory and shift the source of … Read the rest