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Are we all condemned to live in ‘cycles of abuse’?
It is now heresy to question the idea that child abuse damages a person for life. But such a deeply fatalistic idea must be questioned.
The diagnosis that child sexual abuse causes long-term psychological damage is influenced by today’s ‘cycle of abuse’ theories. This model, which says there is an intergenerational transmission of violence, is one of the most uncontested themes of the modern-day literature on family violence.
The abuse model is based on a belief that human action is determined and conditioned by powerful forces beyond its control. Such a fatalistic world view is conveyed through the idea that the experience of psychological trauma in early childhood directly shapes the actions and behaviour of a person for the rest of hisor her life.
We need to have a more open-minded discussion about this difficult subject.
It is now heresy to question the idea that child abuse damages a person for life. But such a deeply fatalistic idea must be questioned.
The diagnosis that child sexual abuse causes long-term psychological damage is influenced by today’s ‘cycle of abuse’ theories. This model, which says there is an intergenerational transmission of violence, is one of the most uncontested themes of the modern-day literature on family violence.
The abuse model is based on a belief that human action is determined and conditioned by powerful forces beyond its control. Such a fatalistic world view is conveyed through the idea that the experience of psychological trauma in early childhood directly shapes the actions and behaviour of a person for the rest of hisor her life.
We need to have a more open-minded discussion about this difficult subject.