FYM From the Clinic to the Courts A brief history of Rape Trauma Syndrome

Overview: 

In the early 1970s, before Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) entered the DSM-III, psychiatric nurse Ann Burgess and feminist sociologist Lynda Holmstrom published an article in the American Journal of Psychiatry in which they described Rape Trauma Syndrome. Based on their clinical interviews with rape victims who sought treatment at a Boston-area hospital, Burgess and Holmstrom outlined a two-phase constellation of symptoms that frequently occurred after forced, non-consensual sexual activity. From its inception in the clinic, RTS quickly moved into the judicial system. Expert testimony about RTS on behalf of sexual assault victims, it was hoped, could help educate juries about the effects of rape and help bolster victims’ credibility when the matter of consent was disputed. In this talk, I provide a brief (feminist) history of RTS as it moved from the clinic to the courts. In presenting this history, my aim is to highlight some critical questions about trauma’s mobilization given that it has become the dominant cultural idiom through which psychological suffering is now expressed. 

Bio:

Alexandra Rutherford is a professor in the Historical, Theoretical, & Critical Studies of Psychology graduate area in the Dept. of Psychology at York University in Toronto. She uses historical and qualitative methods to study the relationships among feminism, psychology, and their sociopolitical contexts. She is the founder and director of the Psychology's Feminist Voices Oral History and Digital Archive project, engaging an international team of collaborators who create, preserve, curate, and mobilize the history of feminist psychology. She is a fellow of four divisions of the American Psychological Association, the recipient of the 2023 Career Achievement Award from the Society for the History of Psychology, the 2023 Carolyn Wood Sherif Award - the highest honor of the Society for the Psychology of Women - for her contributions to feminist psychology, and the 2011 Distinguished Member Award from the Section on Women and Psychology of the Canadian Psychological Association, among other honors. Her work has been highlighted in The Atlantic, Toronto Star, Washington Post, and Smithsonian Magazine. A long time ago, she was also a practicing clinical psychologist. 

This session is only available to active OPA members.  

This webinar has been accredited by the Ontario Psychological Association for 1 CE credit.

Registrants will receive a copy of the recording, 1 week post-webinar.