Recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse: Searching for the middle ground in clinical practice (original) (raw)
Related papers
Recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse: Current findings and their legal implications
Legal and Criminological Psychology, 2008
Recent research on recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse has shown that there are at least two types of recovered memory experiences: those that are gradually recovered within the context of suggestive therapy and those that are spontaneously recovered, without extensive prompting or explicit attempts to reconstruct the past. By focusing on well-known imperfections of human memory, we were able to find differing origins for these recovered memory experiences, with people recovering memories through suggestive therapy being more prone to forming false memories, and with people reporting spontaneously recovered memories being more prone to forgetting prior incidences of remembering. Moreover, the two types of recovered memory reports are associated with differences in corroborative evidence, suggesting that memories recovered spontaneously, outside of suggestive therapy, are more likely to correspond to genuine abuse events. In this paper, we summarize recent research on recovered memories and we argue that these scientific findings should be applied in the justice system, but also in clinical practice.
Patterns of recall of childhood sexual abuse as described by adult survivors
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 1994
Issues concerning the phenomenon of delayed recall of childhood trauma have arisen in forensic settings. For example, the courts have had to address the issue of delayed recall because of legislation extending the statute of limitations for bringing lawsuits related to childhood sexual abuse. Many states now allow victims to bring suit for up to three years after their memory returns. This paper describes patterns of recall of childhood sexual abuse as recounted by 30 adult women survivors in a nonforensic setting. Eleven of the women described remembering their childhood sexual abuse after a period of amnesia. Examples are given of the types of circumstances that were associated with the delayed recall of the abuse. Implications for assessment in clinical and forensic settings are discussed.
Factors influencing recall of childhood sexual abuse
Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1995
Selective literatures providing perspective on recall of childhood sexual abuse memories are reviewed. These include known patterns of autobiographical memories in adulthood, metacognitive mechanisms, interpersonal influences, and automatic cognitive processing which can influence judgments and reports of memory recall in children and adults. Some factors in adult experience such as mood state, presence of emotional disorders, past and current relationships, and participation in psychotherapy which can influence autobiographical memory and recall of childhood events are delineated. Available studies direc@ exploring recovered memories of childhood abuse are considered in light of these studies. Finally, some applications to clinical work and suggestions for future research are outlined.
Recovered memories of abuse in women with documented child sexual victimization histories
Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1995
This study provides evidence that some adults who claim to have recovered memories of sexual abuse recall actunl events that occurred in childhood. One hundred twenty-nine women with documented histories of s m l victimization in childhood were interviewed and asked about abuse hktory. Seventeen years following the initial report of the abuse, 80 of the women recalled the victimization. One in 10 women (16% of those who recalled the abuse) reported that at some time in the past they had forgotten about the abuse. Those with a prior period of forgetting-the women with "recovered memories"-were younger at the time of abuse and were less likely to have received support from their mothers than the women who reported that they had always remembered their victimization. The women who had recovered memories and those who had always remembered had the same number of discrepancies when their accounts of the abuse were compared to the reports from the early 1970s. KEY WORDS child sexual abuse; memory; trauma recall. In the past several years there has been much controversy among both professionals and the general public about adults' memories of childhood trauma, especially delayed or recently recovered memories of child sexual abuse. The scientific debate has focused on the reality of repressed memories of childhood trauma (Berliner
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 2006
In this article, the authors argue that a variety of psychological factors stand in the way of providing expert advice to the courts in terms of assessing the credibility of a complainant's account of sexual abuse when there is a significant delay in reporting. These include difficulties in assessing (a) the complainant's account of how he or she claims to have remembered or forgotten the abuse, (b) whether (and how) the claim of abuse originated within a therapeutic setting, and (c) the difficulty of generalizing from empirical evidence. It is argued that all of these issues can be more easily avoided if experts maintain a case-specific focus. In this article, the authors review both the psychological and legal controversies surrounding the false-recovered memory debate, discuss how courts approach the admissibility and use of recovered memory testimony, and conclude that expert witnesses should carefully consider the above points before drawing general conclusions from the literature and applying them to individual cases.
Memories of childhood sexual abuse: a survey of young adults
Child Abuse & Neglect, 1998
Objective: To explore the prevalence of, characteristics of, and factors associated with forgetting of childhood sexual abuse memories in a large non-clinical sample (N ϭ 1712). Method: Using an anonymous survey, we asked respondents about (a) the nature and severity of their childhood abuse; (b) the continuity of their abuse memories; and (c) their experiences with others suggesting to them that they might have been abused. Results: A substantial minority of victims in our sample reported having temporarily forgotten their childhood sexual abuse. Forgetting was largely unassociated with victim or abuse characteristics. Compared to individuals who always remembered their abuse, however, individuals who temporarily forgot were more likely to report that someone had suggested to them that they might have experienced abuse. Those who received such suggestions were particularly likely to suspect that they may have experienced childhood sexual abuse that they do not yet remember. Conclusion: Forgetting may be less common than implied by earlier estimates from clinical samples, yet it is not uncommon. Also, a sizable minority of the population is wondering whether they have experienced unremembered abuse, and these suspicions are linked to having encountered suggestions from others. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the phenomenon sometimes labeled repression.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1995
British psychologists sampled from the Register of Chartered Clinical Psychologists (Survey 2, n = 57; British Psychological Society, 1993) were surveyed regarding clients' memories of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). The 3 samples were highly similar on the vast majority of measures. Respondents listed a wide variety of behavioral symptoms as potential indicators of CSA, and 71% indicated that they had used various techniques (e.g., hypnosis, interpretation of dreams) to help clients recover suspected memories of CSA. Across samples, 25% of the respondents reported a constellation of beliefs and practices suggestive of a focus on memory recovery, and these psychologists reported relatively high rates of memory recovery in their clients.
Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1994
Women involved in out-patient treatment for substance abuse were interviewed to examine their recollections of childhood sexual abuse. Overall, 54% of the 105 women reported a history of childhood sexual abuse. Of these, the majority (81%) remembered all or part of the abuse their whole lives; 19% reported they forgot the abuse for a period of time, and later the memory returned. Women who remembered the abuse their whole lives reported a clearer memory, with a more detailed picture. They also reported greater intensity of feelings at the time the abuse happened. Women who remembered the abuse their whole lives did not differ from others in terms of the violence of the abuse or whether the violence was incestuous. These data bear on current discussions concerning the extent to which repression is a common way of coping with childhood sexual abuse trauma, and also bear on some widely held beliefs about the correlates of repression.
False Memories in Minors as Alleged Victims of Sexual Abuse
Journal of Psychological Science and Research, 2022
When referring to the issue of child sexual abuse, we are facing a situation of vulnerability for minors, who immediately require an interdisciplinary intervention that guarantees their emotional, physical, and social stability. However, it turns out to be a challenge for professionals in psychology, to be able to discern between a real argument of the alleged victim and a false memory established by external factors in the minor. It should be clarified that this article never tries to question, revictimize or not consider as real the minimum manifestation of sexual abuse by any person. This article highlights the importance of professional expertise when assessing a minor who has revealed alleged abuse. Multiple studies and publications have been carried out that refer to the implantation of false memories or recollections in people. Therefore, a conceptual, methodological, technical, and ethical review of the discrimination of memories by professionals in psychology is necessary.