For many years troubled adults were ignored or punished for their
             mental state. Adults who had been raped as children were expected to
             just "get over it" or "move past it". Society did not connect the fact
             that the adult had been raped as a child with the problems occurring
             in adulthood. These adults would display instability in many ways when
             it came to conducting their lives. In recent history therapists have
             begun to understand the very real long lasting effect that childhood
             rape has on the lives of the adult victims. In the story Prince of
             Tides by Pat Connery the issue of rape effects are explored and
             explained in the plot. While the book itself is fiction it is a
             truthful and honest account of the negative impact childhood rape has
             on the victim when the victim enters and lives in adulthood.
             This book tells the story of a man who reveals a horrible family
             tragedy to his sister's therapist(Conroy, 1987). Tom Wingo is one of
             the adult children in this saga that involves a large cast of
             characters. This alone is an illustration of the way abuse affects
             those who are involved. The ripple effect impacts many family members
             as well as friends of those family members(Conroy, 1987). The book
             presents the theme that adults are severely and negatively impacted by
             childhood rape and years later that impact plays an important role in
             their life choices and mistakes(Conroy, 1987). The story covers a
             four decade stretch of time thereby illustrating and underscoring the
             horrors that rape can leave. Other family members are also affected in
             serious ways and the story discusses the entire family and its
             dysfunction for the four decades before the story is told.
             The book dovetails with what the field of mental health has discovered
             abo...