Sometimes if you read case studies or books on DID patients they'll mention instances of multiplicity that occurred prior to any trauma. They usually gloss over this fact and go on insisting that it was the horrible abuse that "fragmented" everyone. For example, in the Minds of Billy Milligan, the author describes two people in addition to Billy who were around years before the abuse that supposedly caused him to be multiple. They didn't comment on that, of course, and still pointed to the abuse as the sole and only reason that they were multiple. You can also occasionally find people in DID support groups that are confused because they weren't abused but they usually end up being told that they're repressing it or "someone else is holding the memories".
I generally recommend reading Rewriting the Soul by Ian Hacking. It's a bit dry and I don't agree with all that he says but he does a good job of pointing out the flaws and reasons behind the current multiple theology without jumping to the conclusion that it means that multiplicity is fake. The biggest problem is that there isn't any real research into multiplicity. The entire basis of the belief is the fact that most DID patients do have a history of abuse. I explained in another post why that's not enough to constitute proof. http://www.livejournal.com/community/multiplicity/151876.html?thread=1506628#t1506628
We personally don't think any multiple system is caused by trauma or abuse. People in the system are often created (deliberately or otherwise)in response to abuse or to deal with the abuse but that's not the same thing. There is definitely a correlation between having a dysfunctional system that seeks therapy and receives a diagnosis of DID and having a history of abuse. I suspect that this is probably because of the coping mechanisms that the group as a whole develops during the abuse and the fact that you have however many people with issues trying to deal with things individually. Of course, there's no research to support this and unfortunately there will probably never be.
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I generally recommend reading Rewriting the Soul by Ian Hacking. It's a bit dry and I don't agree with all that he says but he does a good job of pointing out the flaws and reasons behind the current multiple theology without jumping to the conclusion that it means that multiplicity is fake. The biggest problem is that there isn't any real research into multiplicity. The entire basis of the belief is the fact that most DID patients do have a history of abuse. I explained in another post why that's not enough to constitute proof. http://www.livejournal.com/community/multiplicity/151876.html?thread=1506628#t1506628
We personally don't think any multiple system is caused by trauma or abuse. People in the system are often created (deliberately or otherwise)in response to abuse or to deal with the abuse but that's not the same thing. There is definitely a correlation between having a dysfunctional system that seeks therapy and receives a diagnosis of DID and having a history of abuse. I suspect that this is probably because of the coping mechanisms that the group as a whole develops during the abuse and the fact that you have however many people with issues trying to deal with things individually. Of course, there's no research to support this and unfortunately there will probably never be.