A Concept Becomes a Passion

Abstract

The questions of resilience and discontinuity in the affective development of survivors of child abuse are explored from the viewpoint of Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory and current social constructivist theories. Moral tools, commitments and higher-order skills play a crucial part in the development of agency, personal empowerment and discontinuity. The recurrence of affective problems in survivors may be connected to moral confusion and insoluble moral dilemmas. This is seldom acknowledged in theoretical discourse, for example in cognitive therapeutic theories. Consequences for the treatment of survivors of abuse are discussed.