Jimmy Savile

Whoops! Have I done it again?!

I'm really sick of all this murky stuff now. My head is going under a virtual duvet till it all goes away.

I know victims need closure, but they can do it without me reading about it.

Neither the time nor the place, methinks j05

tell us more phoenix.

Good grief, if I brought charges against every chap that put his hand up my skirt during the 70's & 80's...........

Seems to me that the police are just going for the easy targets!
I just hope they are working on the paedophiles too.

The DT headline said "as part of the J S sex probe" but in the actual article it said that paedophilia was not involved - he is accused of putting a hand up a 17 yr olds skirt in the 70s or 80s and something similar with another young woman. He says he is "genuinely surprised that allegations of this nature have been made" and he "totally refutes any impropriety"

Not directly connected with JS but he is being investigated as one of several others named.

Apparently is is not in connection with the Jimmy Savile enquiry.

Oh good grief. Dave Lee Travis has been arrested next.

There were some people for whom Cyril could do no wrong - I was not one of them. Some of his opinions were far from liberal (with or without a capital letter).

The Cyril Smith murmurings were rife in Rochdale. Police did question him, but no action was taken againsst him. He admitted smacking boys on the bare bottoms when he had a hostel, claiming it was to make them get in the bath. I can't think of a single circumstance in which that would be necessary, and if boys only needed motivating to get in the bath themselves, why would he even need to be present when they were undressing?

Sigmund Freud chose not to believe his patients when they told him of sexual abuse. He constructed a complicated theory about childhood sexuality so that he could assert that it was all in the fevered imaginations of girls with an "oedipus complex". He influenced psychiatry immensely.

I wondered when the rumours about Cyril Smith would surface. There have been murmurings for many years. But who knows...

I am reading Alfie Boe's autobiography which was published before all this came to light.
In one chapter he writes of the naming ceremony of the Queen Victoria in Southampton dock. He and his wife were staying overnight on the boat and met Jimmy Savile sitting in an armchair on his own.
Savile said to Alfie's wife, "You're a pretty girl, aren't you. Come and sit on my knee," right in front of Alfie Boe.
He wrote it was cool to meet him, but weird when he started flirting with his wife. The next morning at breakfast Savile just scowled at them when Alfie said it was nice to meet him.
I wonder what Alfie Boe thinks now. It made me squirm to read it.

Cyril Smith has been named on the lunchtime news.

For someone who has been abused breaking the silence of abuse is a vital step toward healing, having the courage to tell what has happened allows you to break free from your abuser. So for anyone to say they have been abused falsely as a reason for their behaviour is disgraceful.

Abuse was not confined to catholic priests - now a C of E Bishop has been arrested and it appears he is not alone.

Just caught up! What a mess!
Thanks for the link MiceElf, it made interesting, if depressing reading. My parents would have been horrified to think that someone like 'Uncle Mac', whom they thought was wonderful, could have been so devious. They were duped!
I suppose, as the article implies, the cult of personality protected such men, as did knowing one's place.
My parents, living well away from any large town, viewed such people as being from a different, and far superior world, than theirs. They were of the generation who 'doffed their hats' to them, even idolised them, certainly would have considered them totally incapable of any wrong.
Part of me is glad that their (my parents') illusions were never shattered, by the recent revelations, but mostly I am angry that such men were able to follow their base instincts with impunity.
Like other posters, I wonder how we will get out of this mess.
Above all, though, I want justice for the victims. and

Yes, nightowl and in the last few years I worked with women in prison and probation hostels, so got to know their stories in depth. So many reports calling them personality-disordered. Over 90% had been sexually abused and 100% had mental health problems. Most were substance abusers, most separated from their children and deserted by partners. Most willing to engage in prostitution because they couldn't see what else they might be able to do. Sadly, so many researchers wanting to study and quiz them, which added to their problems, so I put a block on researchers unless we were going to benefit directly from their research. We never did!

Did you find it was prevalent amongst offenders when? That is to say a history of sexual abuse and a diagnosis of personality disorder (I should imagine that was very common). Either one or both together. Obviously I was working with a different group of people and I am interested to know about your experience.

That's been my experience, too nightowl. Much violence, too, but it's the insidious nature of sexual abuse that messes personalities up.

From my own experience working in mental health, I would say that almost everyone I come across who has been diagnosed with a personality disorder has been sexually abused in childhood. I can't claim to be able to prove the link statistically but it does appear to me to be a very strong one. Raises all kinds of questions about what a personality disorder really is. Other than overdiagnosed and a not terribly helpful but very stigmatising label (in my view anyway).

Some anonymous research has been done in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Nederlands, some Scandinavian countries, and some smaller countries over the course of the last 40 or so years, to try to gauge the incidence of child sexual abuse. Simple questionnaires asked for responses about the amount of sexual abuse experienced. The results tend to be consistent over time. It is generally accepted that 1 in 6 people have been sexually abused as children, and that ranges from hands-off offences like being exposed to, to rape and attempted murder with a sexual element. Given the trauma that is experienced, and the way many people try to cope with depression, and other conditions arising from substance abuse and self-harm, it's no wonder that many of these people need additional public health services, and will show up seeking help from the authorities.

It's not just the disadvantaged jeni. It seems that every time someone gets in a bit of bother or thinks their profile needs a bit of a boost they blame it on their abusive mother/father/uncle/next door neighbour. Even Nigella Lawson is now saying that her mother hated and beat her.

It must be very hard to sort out the genuine cases.

jeni, it's strange you should say that - just today I was thinking that the number of DD's friends and acquaintances who make such claims is increasing by the day.