| Summary: | "Multiple Identities and False Memories" presents a ... critique of the assumed connection between multiple personality disorder (MPD), now classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV) as dissociative identity disorder, and the recovery of repressed memories of childhood physical and sexual abuse. Spanos argues that MPD is not a naturally occurring mental disorder but rather a social construct that exists in a particular cultural and historical framework. /// Spanos contends in this volume that current concepts of MPD are tied to inaccurate "altered state" theories of hypnosis. He provides a critical exploration of the nature of memory and defines the relationships among MPD, hypnosis, and childhood memory repression and recovery. This book examines the complex issues surrounding the reported recovery of memories of abuse during therapy, as well as the role of the therapist in the generation and maintenance of MPD. Spanos also posits that parallels can be drawn between MPD and a number of historical and sociocultural phenomena such as demonic possession, witchcraft, glossolalia, and hysteria. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).
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