Recognising two pioneers of our field
Organised Abuse Blog
by Michael Salter
8M ago
This piece appeared in the June edition of the ISSTD newsletter. This month, two pioneers in the field of complex trauma and dissociation retired: Professor Jennifer Freyd and Professor Ross Cheit. They were personal heroes of mine a long time before I had the chance to meet them. While each has made a distinctive contribution, I’ve been struck by their similarities. They are not only esteemed scholars but also renowned advocates for survivors of child sexual abuse.  Jennifer’s research on the impact of betrayal on trauma responses has transformed our understanding of the relational and c ..read more
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The facts and fantasies of dissociation
Organised Abuse Blog
by Michael Salter
1y ago
This piece was published as my 2023 presidential editorial in the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, Volume 24, Issue 1 For many years, I’ve had a Google news alert set up for “dissociative identity disorder”. Google automatically sends me a daily email notifying me of global news items that mentioned DID in the last 24 hours. Ever since I subscribed, the same pattern has been evident: the majority of news items mentioning DID do not involve science, mental health or crime reporting, as you might expect, but are instead summarising the plots of television shows and movies. It seems that, in t ..read more
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Ongoing media advocacy: Responding to disinformation
Organised Abuse Blog
by Michael Salter
1y ago
On 12 April, the Australian news site Mamamia published an article about a case of organised sexual abuse in Mineola, USA, that had been prosecuted several years ago. A group of parents in a 'swingers' group were found to be drugging and abusing their children at 'parties'. Ten people were imprisoned for offences against five children, including six guilty pleas. Upon release, one of the convicted men has reunited with his now teenaged daughter, and together they are campaigning for his innocence. On this basis, the article suggested that all charges in the case were miscarriages of justice. I ..read more
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Responding to recent reporting on "false memories"
Organised Abuse Blog
by Michael Salter
1y ago
The Australian newspaper has run a series of articles over the last few months questioning the credibility of adults who allege sexual abuse in childhood. These articles have been based on misinformed beliefs about the science of trauma and memory. With two colleagues, I authored a response piece that was published in the weekend edition of the paper. Reporting Revives Bad Memories of Contentious Theories Warwick Middleton, Martin Dorahy & Michael Salter The Weekend Australian, 14-15 October 2017, p.22. Recent reporting by Richard Guilliatt has raised questions about the credibility of adu ..read more
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The continuum of control strategies in organised abuse
Organised Abuse Blog
by Michael Salter
1y ago
Control is one of the central dynamics of organised abuse. Psychologically, perpetrators are often motivated to sexually abuse children by a desire to feel powerful, and displaying control over their victim/s accomplishes this. From a practical point of view, maintaining this control is crucial to ensuring that organised abuse goes undetected.  In this sense, organised abuse is similar to (and often intersects with) other forms of gender-based violence such as domestic violence, which is also characterised by the use of physical and sexual violence to control and dominate victims.  H ..read more
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Dissociative Identity Disorder exists and it is the result of childhood trauma
Organised Abuse Blog
by Michael Salter
1y ago
In response to a resurgence of "false memory" reporting in Australia, I worked with clinical colleagues Warwick Middleton and Martin Dorahy to write this explanatory piece on Dissociative Identity Disorder for The Conversation. Once known as multiple personality disorder, dissociative identity disorder remains one of the most intriguing but poorly understood mental illnesses. Research and clinical experience indicate people diagnosed with the condition have been victims of sexual abuse or other forms of criminal mistreatment. But a vocal group of academics and health professiona ..read more
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