1. False memories of abuse are always implanted by poorly trained therapists,
usually through hypnosis
Not true. Any therapist, no matter how highly trained, may unwittingly
encourage false memory if s/he subscribes to the belief that hidden memories
of abuse are responsible for adult problems and that the memory can be
recovered.
2. Dissociated memories which are recovered are more likely to be accurate
than repressed ones
Not true. There is no more evidence for dissociation as a mechanism of
abuse memory amnesia than repression. Some theorists prefer dissociation
because it suggests that 'part of' the client always remembered the abuse
so they cannot be false memories. On inspection, this often turns out
to mean the memory was stored in a personality fragment called 'an alter'
which is supposed to represent a frozen stage of development. There is
no scientific basis for this construction and the process of mapping alters
and quizzing them for information is a process of false memory formation.
3. Recovered memories are often corroborated
Not true. While individual instances of retrieved memories of an incident
forgotten because it was not that serious are often corroborated, there
are no cases known where histories of severe abuse were corroborated after
being recovered from complete amnesia. Studies which are sometimes cited
to lend support to corroboration of recovered memories are flawed because
the evidence was either not independent of the accuser or was not checked
by the researcher.
4. Sexual abuse cases are rarely corroborated so it is not surprising
that recovered memory cases are not
Not true. There are many cases of corroborated sexual abuse. Forensic
evidence is possible in some cases. Obscene video recordings and photographs
are sometimes available, together with witnesses and admissions. None
of these cases involve recovered memories.
5. Recovered memory is more reliable if it surfaced outside therapy
Not true. Recovered memory is unreliable whatever the cues. A climate
of belief fostered by television, self-help books or talking to other
people with similar beliefs together with anxiety can predispose people
to believe that a dream of hallucinatory experience is a 'flashback' of
reality outside a therapeutic setting.
6. It is not possible for people to imagine being seriously abused if
it didn't happen
Not true. Imagination is a human trait. Some false memory victims have
imagined being abused in past lives, future lives, by aliens and satanic
cults. Research shows that people tend to imagine contexts according to
external influence. A therapist who believes in alien abduction will discover
abductee histories and so on.
7. Memory which is recovered bit by bit is a normal process of remembering
abuse
Not true. Focusing on the past may result in slight memory improvement,
but effort will result in diminishing returns. It is more likely that
continued effort will result in confabulation.
8. If the memories cause distress, they are more likely to be true
Not true. Emotion is no guide to accuracy of recall, but only a guide
to what the person may be feeling at the time. The thought of the abuse
may cause distress, and the person may project other sources of distress
onto the alleged abuse without their being any objective truth in the
memory.
9. If someone has always remembered abuse, then recovered memories
of further abuse are likely to be true
Not true. Many false memory victims can remember minor episodes of abuse
which actually happened. Treatment, which encourages them to recover forgotten
episodes, may lead them to believe in far more serious abuse by other
perpetrators.
10. If other members of a family recover memories of abuse then it is
more likely to be true
Not true. Recovered memory is unreliable no matter how many people undergo
the process. A false memory victim can persuade other family members they
might have been subject to similar memory loss and this triggers the process
of memory recovery in them.
11. If sexual abuse is indicated, it must become the focal point of
therapy
Not true. Research indicates that attempts to focus on abuse and find
meaning in it have negative therapeutic outcomes. Investigation of alleged
abuse as a criminal matter is a separate concern.
12. False memory is the standard ruse of perpetrators in denial
Not true. Most genuine sexual offenders confess. Before recovered memory
became fashionable, sexual offence suspects had the highest rate of admission
amongst crime suspects at 89.3 per cent. It is not credible that all,
or even the majority of those denying recovered memory accusations are
guilty when the facts are properly investigated.
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