Psychiatrists have identified a condition they have termed the Medea Complex, deriving the name from the ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, just as Sigmund Freud derived his term "Oedipus Complex" from the ancient Greek play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. This theory postulates that some divorced, separated, or unwed mothers experience the "Medea Complex" to a greater or lesser degree when they are abandoned by their husbands or lovers. Since they cannot vent their anger on the absent man, they may take it out on their children. According to the theory, sons will suffer more than daughters because the women are more likely to see their husbands in their sons. A Child Called "It" is a shocking memoir of horrific child abuse suffered by the...

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