First Impressions: The Trauma Myth

I have always been interesting in the science of human psychology, but I also have a personal stake in the field of child abuse. Without getting into details it is why I picked up The Trauma Myth by Susan. Since it is a relatively new book I had heard nothing about it and expected more of the same, but I was surprised by the content thus far of what I have read of it.

First I have to address the appearance of the cover. It has a gradient gray background that starts off at the top corner lighter then gets much darker by the bottom. Within the  there is a line of little paper doll cutouts of little girls and boys all holding hands standing at the edge of the darkness. Now in the darkness the bold white lettering of the title catches your eye like a beacon in the night. Up in the top corner the subtitle reads "The Truth About the Sexual Abuse of Children -- and Its Aftermath".

This is a cover designed to be sensational and to move books. Starting with the title like I said it is the light within the shadows (more on that in a bit).  It takes about more than half of the space on the cover with the word "myth" taking up even half of that space.  Even before reading this you  know it is trying to tell you that you have been lied to by the world and it is trying to light your way to the truth. Now a book on child abuse having images of those chains of little paper cutout children is pretty standard affair, however the fact that they are standing in a line between light and shadow means something. One could look at this and see many things, like children looking toward a bright optimistic future with a dark past lurking just behind their eyes. Maybe the dark history of this children are represented by the shadows and this book (the title actually) is meant to cast a light on that dark history; to expose the truth of it to the world. Either way I don't know, but I do know that this looks like a book you would see featured on the Oprah Show, Dr. Phil, or The View. It's simplistic and provocative all at the same time.

Before I get into what I have read so far I should mention that my mood was a dark as the thunderclouds rolling in the sky. I thought the flashes of lightning and roars of thunder would be an appropriate backdrop to the start of this book. Now after only reading the preface, introduction, and the note to the reader my mood has changed dramatically. That is a sign of how moving this book's contents are.

[Insert Spoilers Here]

With the preface you are introduced to Frank. Frank is basically every representation of a normal guy. One day Frank is on a train reading the newspaper and comes upon an ad looking for people how have experience child abuse in their childhoods to participate in a study. Frank has had a secret he has kept within since the age of nine that is tearing his average everyday life apart. Frank detours his life at this moment because it is finally time to let this secret out. Frank was abused by a man when he was a boy. Frank meets with Doctor Clancy (graduate student at the time) and shares his story. Frank explains to her that there was a beloved friend of the family that would conduct sexual behavior with frank in exchange for baseball cards. Frank goes on to say that he loved this man, and enjoyed the attention he received from him. Sometimes he said that it felt good. When the man Frank knew moved away Frank was sadden by this and missed him dearly. While Dr. Clancy listened to his story she could understand his shame and guilty for what had happened to him. How he felt "aberrant".  So while wrapping up the session with the doctor he posed a question to her that had stalked him for years. Was his case unusual? We all hear about how traumatic and scary sexual child abuse is. Heck one of the few television shows I still watch on occasion is Law & Order: Special Victims Unit which is based on how terrible these events are believed to be.  She bent the truth here and she said she regretted it. She told him that child abuse cases were very common, but she was interrupted by Frank. He looked her in the eye and clarified "No, not the sexual abuse part". . . "if other kids react to it like I did… you know, do what I did?" She just equivocated.

The introduction spends the next 22 pages talking about sexual child abuse. It is quite informative and interesting. She approaches using proper psychological terminology, but then she goes back and explains things she just said in more simpler and easier to understand terms that most anyone can understand. She goes into a lot of the history of the subject and shows how its evolved into what is in the mainstream consciousness. She also give a good detailed understand of the views she is trying to oppose with this book.

Personally for sometime now I felt like it was time that the truth finally came out about sexual abuse. That the media should stop telling these (she preempted what I was planning to say here) monster hiding the closet sensationalized stories and start getting the truth out there. Not all abuse is frightening, aggressive, and painful.  These views for what sexual abuse is like for children have permeated the zeitgeist (You have no idea how much I hate this word). Stories like Frank's are just overlooked or worse altered by experts and figures of the media to scare people about child abuse. Chances are that if you child is abused its not going to be done by some sick freak stalking them over the internet and fucks them with razorblades but by someone you know and trust with experiences a child won't feel are terrifying. If you think I am wrong think about it. How maybe straight guys you know right now would consider it abuse that the hot 19 year old college coed that would baby sit them when they were seven would ask "hey wanna touch my boob?" Now think about how many of those same guys who would brag about that sorta thing after a few beers who can't seem to keep a stable relationship to save their lives.

I'll continue to review this book as I continue reading this book, but by no means are my postings on this a substitute for reading this. So go and get a copy of this for yourselves.