--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Indeed, my conclusion from a lifetime of…" description: "\"Indeed, my conclusion from a lifetime of psychohistorical study of childhood and society is that the history of humanity is founded upon the abuse of c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/lloyd-demause-33641_abuse_indeed-my-conclusion-from-a-lifetime-of_1049667.png" --- # Indeed, my conclusion from a lifetime of psychohistorical… ![“Indeed, my conclusion from a lifetime of psychohistorical study of childhood and society is that the history of humanity is founded upon the abuse of children. Just as family therapists today find that child abuse often functions to hold families together as a way of solving their emotional…” quote by Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/lloyd-demause-33641_abuse_indeed-my-conclusion-from-a-lifetime-of_1049667.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/lloyd-demause-33641_abuse_indeed-my-conclusion-from-a-lifetime-of_1049667.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f9/lloyd-demause-33641_abuse_indeed-my-conclusion-from-a-lifetime-of_1049667.png) > “Indeed, my conclusion from a lifetime of psychohistorical study of childhood and society is that the history of humanity is founded upon the abuse of children. Just as family therapists today find that child abuse often functions to hold families together as a way of solving their emotional problems, so, too, the routine assault of children has been society's most effective way of maintaining its collective emotional homeostasis.” [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Argues that child abuse has been historically used to stabilize societies by channeling collective emotional tensions. **In simple terms:** Child abuse is seen as a tool for societal emotional balance. Key Takeaway Address systemic abuse to heal collective trauma. Themes childhood society abuse Mood somber critical Type analytical historical When to use this quote - family therapy - policy reform - educational curricula - community outreach Key Concepts psychology history social control Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives exist for emotional regulation? - How can societies protect children while maintaining cohesion? A Different Perspective Risk of generalizing complex causes of abuse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) [Assault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assault/) [Child abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child-abuse/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Emotional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional/) [Emotional problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional-problems/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Routine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/routine/) [Therapists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapists/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) ## Related quotes > [Whenever I hear anything described as a heartless assault on our children, I tend to think it’s a good idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kristol/whenever-i-hear-anything-described-as-a-heartless-assault-on-our/) [William Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kristol/) > [“The psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson devoted a chapter in his Pulitzer Prize—winning book, Childhood and Society, to his reflections on the American identity. “This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-psychoanalyst-erik-h-erikson-devoted-a-chapter-in-his-pulitzer/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Some abusers organise themselves in groups to abuse children and other adults in a more formally ritualised way. Men and women in these groups…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-matthew/some-abusers-organise-themselves-in-groups-to-abuse-children-and/) [Laurie Matthew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-matthew/) > [“I call the violent kind of "upbringing" abuse, not only because children are thus refused the right to dignity and respect as human beings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller-the-drama-of-the-gifted-child/i-call-the-violent-kind-of-upbringing-abuse-not-only-because-children/) [Alice MIller, The Drama of the gifted child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller-the-drama-of-the-gifted-child/) > [“As a child I had been taken to see Dr Bradshaw on countless occasions; it was in his surgery that Billy had first discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-jamieson/as-a-child-i-had-been-taken-to-see-dr-bradshaw-on-countless-occasions/) [Alice Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-jamieson/) > [The abuse of children is the worst offence that anybody can commit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-widdecombe/the-abuse-of-children-is-the-worst-offence-that-anybody-can-commit/) [Ann Widdecombe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-widdecombe/) > [“There is unmistakable proof that abusers do get together in order to share children, abuse more children, and even learn from each other. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-matthew/there-is-unmistakable-proof-that-abusers-do-get-together-in-order-to/) [Laurie Matthew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-matthew/) > [If you were the boss of a company and some of the employees of your company were known to sexually abuse children, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinead-o-connor/if-you-were-the-boss-of-a-company-and-some-of-the-employees-of-your/) [Sinead O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinead-o-connor/) > [Research on child abuse suggests that religious beliefs can foster, encourage, and justify the abuse of children. When contempt for sex underlies teachings, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-garden/research-on-child-abuse-suggests-that-religious-beliefs-can-foster/) [Mary Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-garden/) > [Is letting our children watch TV a form of child abuse? If our children grow up knowing everything about Britney Spears and nothing about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patch-adams/is-letting-our-children-watch-tv-a-form-of-child-abuse-if-our/) [Patch Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patch-adams/) > [Some people think it's demeaning to victims if you ever say anything out-loud about sexual abuse of children. I don't know if that's true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-c-k/some-people-think-it-s-demeaning-to-victims-if-you-ever-say-anything/) [Louis C. K](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-c-k/) > [“There are many differing viewpoints on nature versus nurture, and there are those who believe that bad behavior can be excused and understood if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-altea/there-are-many-differing-viewpoints-on-nature-versus-nurture-and/) [Rosemary Altea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-altea/) > [Regarding the accusations of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, deplorable and disgusting as those abuses are, they are not so harmful to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/regarding-the-accusations-of-sexual-abuse-of-children-by-catholic/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“As these abuse children grow, they oppose the lies (that they still trust and believe to be true) to the verity that they pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-dsouza/as-these-abuse-children-grow-they-oppose-the-lies-that-they-still/) [Patricia Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-dsouza/) > [“Sometimes I hesitate to use the term sexual abuse. It conjures up worst-case scenarios in our minds, and we think, "That will never happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-byers-ruch/sometimes-i-hesitate-to-use-the-term-sexual-abuse-it-conjures-up/) [Carolyn Byers Ruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-byers-ruch/) ## More by Lloyd deMause > [I have been accused of being ignorant of economics (although I am the founder and Chairman of the Board of a company which publishes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/i-have-been-accused-of-being-ignorant-of-economics-although-i-am-the/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [There is, for instance, only one page at the beginning of Runciman's three-volume History of the Crusades describing how the participants decided to begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/there-is-for-instance-only-one-page-at-the-beginning-of-runciman-s/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [Written history may, in the course of its narrative, use some of the laws established by the various sciences, but its own task remains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/written-history-may-in-the-course-of-its-narrative-use-some-of-the/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [“Why Cults Terrorize and Kill Children – LLOYD DEMAUSE The Journal of Psychohistory 21 (4) 1994 "Extending these local figures to a national estimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/why-cults-terrorize-and-kill-children-lloyd-demause-the-journal-of/) [Lloyd Demause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [Sociologists and historians have avoided looking for the family sources of wars and social violence. Whenever a group produces murderers, the early parental relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/sociologists-and-historians-have-avoided-looking-for-the-family/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [Anthropologists have promulgated the myth of the peaceful savage so effectively that when actual deaths by war are tabulated for prestate simple societies, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/anthropologists-have-promulgated-the-myth-of-the-peaceful-savage-so/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [Psychohistory, like psychoanalysis, is a science in which the researcher's feelings are as much or even more a part of his research equipment than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/psychohistory-like-psychoanalysis-is-a-science-in-which-the/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [Whole great chunks of written history are of little value to the psychohistorian, while other vast areas which have been much neglected by historians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/whole-great-chunks-of-written-history-are-of-little-value-to-the/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [Psychohistory, as a science, will always be problem-centered, while history will always remain period-centered. They are simply two different tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/psychohistory-as-a-science-will-always-be-problem-centered-while/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [“Whenever a group produces murderers, the early parental relationship must have been abusive and neglectful. Yet this elementary truth has not even begun to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/whenever-a-group-produces-murderers-the-early-parental-relationship/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [The evolution of culture is ultimately determined by the amount of love, understanding and freedom experienced by its children... Every abandonment, every betrayal, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/the-evolution-of-culture-is-ultimately-determined-by-the-amount-of/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [The source of most human violence and suffering has been a hidden children's holocaust throughout history, whereby billions of innocent human beings have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/the-source-of-most-human-violence-and-suffering-has-been-a-hidden/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [Historians are presumed to be unable to "do psychology," which is "mystical" anyway, so they are forced to accept the most "rational" explanations... "and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/historians-are-presumed-to-be-unable-to-do-psychology-which-is/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) [Explore all 14 Lloyd deMause quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) ## More Abuse quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Amongst the financial Twitterati, the term 'muppets' has come to describe any client used and abused by some financial predator. I've adopted the term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/amongst-the-financial-twitterati-the-term-muppets-has-come-to/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [Being nice is okay,but don't allow anybody to abuse it...try to fight for your self when you know your on the right way...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-nice-is-okay-but-don-t-allow-anybody-to-abuse-it-try-to-fight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Build a bridge over shame by teaching kids about sexual abuse. Give them a chance to run to us should they encounter it. Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-byers-ruch/build-a-bridge-over-shame-by-teaching-kids-about-sexual-abuse-give/) [Carolyn Byers Ruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-byers-ruch/) > [It is sure that those are most desirous of honour or glory who cry out loudest of its abuse and the vanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/it-is-sure-that-those-are-most-desirous-of-honour-or-glory-who-cry/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [“The sole reason I stand to open it up now is that lots of people who are in pain just like I was, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-dsouza/the-sole-reason-i-stand-to-open-it-up-now-is-that-lots-of-people-who/) [Patricia Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-dsouza/) > [Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [I have a theory that all abuse, no matter what kind of abuse it is, is foremost an assault on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-westover/i-have-a-theory-that-all-abuse-no-matter-what-kind-of-abuse-it-is-is/) [Tara Westover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-westover/) > [“Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the confabulation of testimony of 'satanic ritual abuse' legitimated a programme of political and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/blaming-therapy-social-work-and-other-caring-professions-for-the/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [Finally, the scariest thing about abuse of any shape or form, is, in my opinion, not the abuse itself, but that if it continues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cumming/finally-the-scariest-thing-about-abuse-of-any-shape-or-form-is-in-my/) [Alan Cumming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cumming/) > [“Research on organised abuse emphasises the diversity of organised abuse cases, and the ways in which serious forms of child maltreatment cluster in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/research-on-organised-abuse-emphasises-the-diversity-of-organised/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [“Stand up for yourself. Never give any one permission to abuse you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/stand-up-for-yourself-never-give-any-one-permission-to-abuse-you/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [All governments should be pressured to correct their abuses of human rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stallman/all-governments-should-be-pressured-to-correct-their-abuses-of-human/) [Richard Stallman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stallman/) > [“Words are free. It does not mean you should abuse them. Be kind with them. They will mirror your actions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hadinet-tekie/words-are-free-it-does-not-mean-you-should-abuse-them-be-kind-with/) [Hadinet Tekie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hadinet-tekie/) > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) [Browse all 3,113 Abuse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Indeed, my conclusion from a lifetime of psychohistorical study of childhood and society is that the history of humanity is founded upon the abuse of children. 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