ABSTRACT
This chapter explores family secrets or institutional secrets in a way that fosters healing. Our culture asks a lot of questions about secrets, privacy, and families. Secrets and privacy are commonly defined, respectively, as information concealed from those whose lives are directly affected by it and information that belongs to a particular person. The Secret Life of Families by Evan Imber-Black gives us a number of insights into understanding the effects secrets have upon family life. Secrets can grow like weeds through the generations, sending unexpected tendrils into the corners of family life. Often there is a stigma attached to unmarried parents who bring a child into the world, and some of the secrecy is to protect the child from the “shameful” circumstances of his or her birth. Secrets can also come up as a way of dealing with unfinished business. Women’s lives have been one of the best kept secrets.
