Battered and sexually abused children: connections with the Freudian theory of seduction and its rejection

Abstract

It refers to what Masson says about Freud's abandonment of the theory of seduction. Then two different versions of Freud's dream about "closing one's eyes" are analyzed, as well as recent criticism of Freud by Miller, Krüll and Bowlby, and past criticism by Ferenczi. Finally, the importance given to real traumatic events in recent literature is highlighted.

Keywords

• Trauma
• sexual abuse
• seduction theory
• abused children
• hysteria
• patriarchy