New Ideas in Psychology

[ Reversal of Values ] [ Immoral Compulsions ] [ Morality & Ethics ]

[ Sexual Abuse of Children ] [ Suggestion ] [ Examples ]

Catharsis produces a reversal of values.

The real strangeness of this fact can be illustrated by the issue of the sexual abuse of children.

If a child is sexually abused by an adult friend, it will generate guilt in him / her. When eventually he / she has become an adult and abreacts that guilt, the original situation will transpose from being fearful to being exciting. In the catharsis the sexual values are reversed. It will now become exciting to relive in phantasy that abuse, even to desire such abuse. Exhilarating phantasies of sexual abuse will compulsively dominate the mind. The desire to abuse other children may also arise. When the phantasy ends, the tail-end stage of resentment makes the person disgusted with themself. Eventually the person acquires detachment over the issue and ceases to blame their childhood friend.

The problem for the child (when it has become an adult) is that if he / she cannot restrain their emotions to phantasy then he / she may enact them in a real social situation by seeking to abuse young children.

Note :
If the child is abused by someone who is not a friend then the child can react by generating hatred of that person instead of feeling guilty about himself. Then when the child has become an adult there will be no compulsion to abuse other children. It is the creation of guilt in the child that causes the problem for him / her when he / she becomes an adult.

Compulsiveness is always a product of, or a reaction to, the conjunction of anxiety with underlying guilt.

However, sexual abuse of children may not be a product of compulsion. It may happen through the attraction of power, or because it is socially acceptable (as in the homosexual mores of ancient Greece).

Compulsiveness denotes confusion. The confusion within the subconscious mind has to be treated by psychological methods and not moral ones, if the aim is to heal the person. Confronting and resolving issues like sexual abuse cannot be accomplished if moral judgements are made the framework of therapy.

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Copyright © 2002 Ian Heath
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