Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the Child (Meridian) by Miller, Alice - 1986

Plume, 1986. Paperback. Good. Originally published in 1984, Thou Shalt Not Be Aware explodes Freud's noti ons of "infantile sexuality" and helps to bring to the world's attention th e brutal reality of child abuse, changing forever our thoughts of "traditio nal" methods of child-rearing. Dr. Miller exposes the harsh truths behind c hildren's "fantasies" by examining case histories, works of literature, dre ams, and the lives of such people as Franz Kafka, Virginia Woolf, Gustave F laubert, and Samuel Beckett. Now with a new preface by Lloyd de Mause and a new introduction by the author, Thou Shalt Not Be Aware continues to bring an essential understanding to the confrontation and treatment of the devas tating effects of child abuse. Editorial Reviews Review Miller parts company with Freud on the origins of children's fantasies in t his progressive study of repressed memory. Forget the Oedipus complex. Mill er reasons that when children suffer abuse, their feelings of pain and rage have nowhere to go in a society that esteems parental power over them as a natural right. Children have no choice but to internalize the anguish, cre ating a wellspring of fantasy material. This book offers a fresh take on ho w the unconscious retains memories of childhood and, without appropriate in tervention, generates emotional ills and destructive behavior. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review "A provactive critique of traditional therapy's view of childhood . . . This is explosive stuff. I can't imagine anyone coming away from this book without several newfound discoveries about herself and her relation to her parents."--N.