Freud and Seduction Theory

Freud's case is pretty wild, a great source for it is Jeffery Masson's Freud and Seduction Theory. Basically, before he ever came up with the "Oedipal Complex" he had a much simple idea he called "Seduction Theory", which was the claim that the women he was treating had in fact been raped by someone in their family when they were young and the traumatic memories were mostly repressed, only coming out in the talk therapy sessions he had with them. Freud got frozen out by his colleagues when he presented this theory. He stuck with his guns for a few years, but eventually retracted his claims and replaced them with the Oedipal Complex, claiming that his patients reports of childhood rape were just their own sexual fantasies, which actually all kids have of their parents. Masson presents a very compelling case that Freud's retraction of Seduction Theory was not because he legitimately changed his mind, but because he caved to the pressure from his colleagues to cover-up the abuse that was prevalent in upper-crust Viennese society.