Repression In Psychology

Living in today’s society it is extremely hard to imagine growing up in a house that is occupied by eight other families. However, this was the case for all children living in seventeenth century Huronia. Due to the fact that the seventeenth century was so far in the past, that it is difficult to fathom what life must have been like growing up in these circumstances, as the inhabitants of this time are not around anymore. With the help of archaeology we are able to distinguish many aspects of seventeenth century Huron life. Using applied archaeology, replicas of the longhouses can be made to represent the true size of these buildings. There are evident soil burns, which show hearths within a long house, implying the amount of families that occupied the building. Although this archaeology paints a general picture of their civilization, to get a truer representation of seventeenth century life, analysis of actual Jesuit missionary accounts should be conducted.

Four hypotheses were given in this experiment. Results from each were consistent with its hypotheses. 1) The recovered memory group attained higher scores on the false recall and false recognition test than the control. These results are consistent with the only other experiment that measures memory distortion. This previous study dealt with memory distortion of victims of childhood sexual abuse (Clancy et al., 2000). People who are more prone to exhibit false recall and false recognition in the laboratory are more likely to do the same in real life. 2) Repressed memory and recovered memory participants exhibited more false recall and false recognition than the control group. 3) The recovered memory did score higher than any group in both false recall and false recognition.

Avoidant behavior among victims of sexual abuse may be understood as attempts to cope with the chronic trauma. Among the dysfunctional activities associated with avoidance of abuse-specific memories and feelings are dissociation, substance abuse and various tension-reducing activities. Unfortunately, although sometimes immediately effective in reducing distress, avoidance and self-destructive methods of coping with child abuse experiences may lead ultimately to higher levels of lower self-esteem and greater feelings of guilt and anger.

The sudden recovery of repressed memories from a traumatic event such as childhood sexual abuse can be both validating and confusing for clients that are seeking help with various problems. These new memories might be able to help client identify the cause of their feelings and issues that are affecting their life. However for others it can be a very difficult time because of the conflicting emotions about the abuser. Worst of all when dealing with the recovery of repressed memories they may be all together false. The accuracy of recovered memories in regards to sexual abuse is low and can come with significant consequences. These false memories can be very harmful to the client as

The debate over whether or not student athletes should be paid has sparked recently as student athletes feel they should be compensated for winning national championships and for their constant dedication to the team. As college sports are growing larger, players are arguing that they bring in extra money to their respective sports programs. The most revenue is brought in by the most successful football and basketball programs in the country such as Notre Dame and Alabama. Since these successful athletic programs generate so much money mainly due to the success of their players, the players argue that they should have a share in the earnings. Although students play an important part in revenue generated, the student athletes should not be paid

Memory – what it is, how it works, and how it might be manipulated – has long been a subject of curious fascination. Remembering, the mind-boggling ability in which the human brain can conjure up very specific, very lucid, long-gone episodes from any given point on the timeline of our lives, is an astounding feat. Yet, along with our brain’s ability of remembrance comes also the concept of forgetting: interruptions of memory or “an inability of consciousness to make present to itself what it wants” (Honold, 1994, p. 2). There is a very close relationship between remembering and forgetting; in fact, the two come hand-in-hand. A close reading of Joshua Foer’s essay, “The End of Remembering”, and Susan Griffin’s piece, “Our Secret”, directs us

The issue of 'false' vs. 'repressed' memories is of increasing relevance to counseling psychologists and indeed to any professional involved in therapy. The reputation of therapy is at stake, as clients begin to sue therapists for the implantation of false memories. In turn, it is essential that all clinicians conduct their therapy according to the latest guidelines of practice as to avoid suggestion and the possible implantation of false memories.

While some might argue that dictators rely on repression to help them stay in power, does it actually increase the chances the survival of a dictatorship and does repression actually work? In this journal article, the author conducts an experiment to see if there’s a relationship between survival and repression. The writer also explores what type of repression is more effective, non-violent or violent repression. The writer states that while the use of repression can sometimes backfire and lead to the demise of the leader however from his research he also finds that the use of repression is actually beneficial for the leader because it decreases the likelihood of coups and any challengers that can harm the regime. So using repression is actually

A man can possess many things wealth, power, honor and in the 11th-century woman, contrary to the belief of the times women cannot be possessed for they are the determinants of fate and this shown through lady Macbeth being the catalyst for his transformation. Over the course of the play he becomes an entirely different person than he once was, he goes from a hero figure to a deceitful murderer that has a very narrow focus on becoming king and drives himself crazy with the prediction that he will become king. Macbeth betrays his own values, those close to him, and any moral compass that once existed within him. Throughout the play Macbeth does not stray from his ways in order to satisfy himself, he goes down the reckless path to become king in order to please his wife and this eventually leads to his demise. Machiavelli states “...fortune is a woman and if she is too submissive it is necessary to beat and coerce her”(pg.81 The Prince). Due to the fact that Macbeth plays the passive role in their relationship and his own life when it comes to mobility he enables his wife to take over as a master of his fate. This occurs not only in the play Macbeth, it occurs in Madea, in Greek mythology through the story of Pandora's box and in the book of the city of ladies where it is proved that woman are drivers of fate through men, simultaneously they are able to manipulate fate on their own through virtuous actions such as invention or through divine intervention. The theme of the

This stance on repressed memory supports that sexual abuse taken place during childhood can’t be recalled at a later time. “During therapy, some psychotherapists may repeatedly suggest to clients that they might have been sexually abused during childhood. This suggestion could be blended with reality to create a false memory” (Matlin, 183). Thus, as we are socially pressured to create these scenarios, we will tie certain situations in our life with the suggested event to create our own perspective of this memory. As Geraerts and Smeets state “A number of psychologists have questioned the existence of repressed and recovered memories of trauma because of the lack of solid evidence for such memories” (1130). Furthermore, as these memories are created in our mind, we do not have witnesses or physical proof to support that this type of sexual abuse has actually happened to the child in

In contrast with repression theory, which asserts a special nature to traumatic memories, false-memory theory argues that trauma encoding and recall is no different from other emotional memories. Given that traumatic events such as CSA are highly memorable, people who claim to be unaware of it for so long must be mistaken. In particular, false-memory theorists are skeptical of memories that emerged through hypnosis, guided imagery, or suggestive interview questioning – all of which are methods used by repression theorists in order to recover the “repressed memories.” Instead of attributing the lack of recall to repression due to trauma, it is possible that these memory problems are due to typical forgetfulness, failure to encode an experience, or deliberate avoidance and reluctance to recall the event, all of which could be easily confused with an inability to remember the trauma. (McNally et al)

The employment of torture to an individual not only leaves a physical and psychological mark, but creates an altered reality that the victim must now adjust to. The authors of Victims of Fear: The Social Psychology of Repression, argue that “Like all experiences of trauma, the torture experience needs to be worked through in the context in which it occurred by reconstructing and reliving it in all its horror and thereby coming to terms with its personal and social meaning” (Salimovich,80). Alternatively, in The Illness of Exile, author Caroline Moorehead, notes that “what they needed was not medical help, which perpetuated their sense of being victims, but practical assistance in putting their lives onto a tolerable footing” (Moorehead,

An adult who functions inappropriately in society victimizes a childhood sexual abuse victim. When the victim spirals into shame and guilt related to PTSD, as a child or an adult, their emotions and actions will affect the society they come into contact with. What is hoped to be understood is that childhood sexual abuse does not only effect the short term. Those that do not have a healthy relationship to turn to in order to disclose the abuse will come to an end where their daily life is consumed by guilt and shame.

Repression theorists believe so. The school of thought began in the late 19th century with French psychologist Pierre Janet, who wrote that traumatic stress disrupts the assimilation of the trauma with the “ongoing experience, thought, and action.” Repression (or dissociation) results in amnesia from a traumatic event such as CSA. It is an inhibition of the memory that occurs unconsciously and affects only conscious recall / explicit memory, while leaving a complete account of the event available in storage that is expressed implicitly through dreams and other behaviors (Shobe et al). According to Dr. Bessel van der Kolk of the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute, the emotions from CSA can interfere with the conscious through bizarre and annoying sensations, feelings, or motor activities, such that “the body keeps the score” through physiological signs of trauma.

Since the social worker wants to promote disclosure, the benefits and consequences of disclosures for rape victims must be discussed. According to Rickert, Wiemann, and Vaughan (2005), disclosure is an important step for recovery. Victims who disclose trauma show improvement in physical and mental functioning (Ahren, Stansell, & Jennings, 2010). However, not every victim benefits from disclosing. Victims may encounter negative reactions by their friends, family, police, and community that can be harmful to the survivors of rape (Ahrens, 2006). In addition, survivors who disclose assault or seek services may experience “second rape” and be revictimized due to exposure to victim blaming and insensitive staff and family (Ahrens, 2006). Page (2008) explains that society holds a certain image of what is classified as rape, which in most cases involves a stranger and a violent assault. Page (2008) further explains the rape myths, or rape stereotypes, affect how the victim feels about the rape and about disclosure. Rape myths lead to the belief that the victim had some control or part in the assault and by doing so society has transferred the reasonability to the victim rather than to the perpetrator (Page 2008). Furthermore, victims are more likely to be accused of lying if the rapist is an acquaintance rather than a stranger (Page, 2008). The attitudes Rose displays, such as self-blame, may be an