How Common Are Repressed Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse?

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.F. Loftus ◽  
◽  
S. Polonsky ◽  
M.T. Fullilove
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Repressed Memories

Can memories of childhood sexual abuse be repressed?

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harrison G. Pope ◽  
James I. Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Clinical Evidence ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Repressed Memories

SynopsisWe sought studies which have attempted to test whether memories of childhood sexual abuse can be repressed. Despite our broad search criteria, which excluded only unsystematic anecdotal reports, we found only four applicable studies. We then examined these studies to assess whether the investigators: (1) presented confirmatory evidence that abuse had actually occurred; and (2) demonstrated that their subjects had actually developed amnesia for the abuse. None of the four studies provided both clear confirmation of trauma and adequate documentation of amnesia in their subjects. Thus, present clinical evidence is insufficient to permit the conclusion that individuals can repress memories of childhood sexual abuse. This finding is surprising, since many writers have implied that hundreds of thousands, or even millions of persons harbour such repressed memories. In view of the widespread recent public and scientific interest in the areas of trauma and memory, it is important to investigate further whether memories of sexual abuse can be repressed.

Repressed Memory or Dissociative Amnesia: What the Science Says

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan W. Scheflin ◽  
Daniel Brown
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
Repressed Memory ◽  
Repressed Memories ◽  
Dissociative Amnesia ◽  
Accepted Standard

Legal actions of alleged abuse victims based on recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) have been challenged arguing that the concept of repressed memories does not meet a generally accepted standard of science. A recent review of the scientific literature on amnesia for CSA concluded that the evidence was insufficient. The issues revolve around: (1) the existence of amnesia for CSA, and (2) the accuracy of recovered memories. A total of 25 studies on amnesia for CSA now exist, all of which demonstrate amnesia in a subpopulation; no study failed to find it, including recent studies with design improvements such as random sampling and prospective designs that address weaknesses in earlier studies. A reasonable conclusion is that amnesia for CSA is a robust finding across studies using very different samples and methods of assessment. Studies addressing the accuracy of recovered abuse memories show that recovered memories are no more or no less accurate than continuous memories for abuse.

False memory syndrome vs. total repression

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Abrams
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
False Memory ◽  
Mental Health Field ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
Repressed Memories ◽  
False Memory Syndrome ◽  
Health Field

A major debate exists within the mental health field regarding the authenticity of recovered repressed memories involving childhood sexual abuse. Since it is difficult to document events that occurred years ago, a study was conducted in which polygraphy was utilized to test alleged child abusers accused on the basis of recovered memories versus those abusers whose purported victims experienced no repression. The former group was found to be deceptive in only 4% of the cases, in contrast to 78% for the latter subjects. These findings strongly argue against the validity of the concept of repression for acts that might have persisted for years.

Belief and Suggestion in the Recovery of Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 1027-1053 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Brooks Brenneis
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
False Memories ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Holding Environment ◽  
Repressed Memories ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Anxious Patient ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
The One

The increasingly frequent clinical reports of the recovery of repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse have drawn both skepticism and support in the analytic community. Two contrasting paradigms are offered to account for the processes by which fully repressed memories are recovered. On the one hand, the analyst's belief that one can reconstruct early traumatic experience creates fertile ground for overt and covert suggestion, which, in conjunction with an anxious patient seeking affiliation, may lead to the production of false memories. On the other hand, the analyst's belief in the likelihood of repressed abuse and that it can be reconstructed may constitute a necessary precondition for the emergence of valid memories. With these beliefs providing an essential holding environment, the recovery of repressed memories of sexual trauma may be an instance of the retrieval of state-dependent memory. Although the preponderance of evidence favors the suggestion hypothesis, the evidence is not conclusive. Which paradigm the analyst adopts, however, carries enormous clinical implications.

Suspected Repressed Childhood Sexual Abuse

1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-418
Author(s):  
Carolyn D. Sullins
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Treatment Goals ◽  
Repressed Memories ◽  
Treatment Plans

This article explores therapists' responses to clients' suspicions that they have repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Each participant was randomly assigned one of two vignettes, varied for gender, each concerning a client who suspects that he/she is a victim of CSA. Following the vignette, a series of questions regarding the client assesses the participants' ratings of diagnoses, treatment goals, treatment plans, appropriate responses, and validity of suspicions. Participants were significantly more likely to endorse a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and endorse treatments focusing on present symptoms over treatments focusing on the client's past. Participants were unlikely to endorse controversial treatments, suggestive statements, or strong opinions regarding the client's suspicions of CSA. The client's gender had a significant effect on diagnoses only. These results do not support reports that many therapists neglect clients' current symptoms and instead focus on memories, use controversial techniques, make suggestive statements regarding abuse, or immediately assume that their clients have repressed memories.

Teaching about Repressed Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Eyewitness Testimony

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 250-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie A. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Practical Interest ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
Eyewitness Testimony ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Course Evaluations ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Repressed Memories ◽  
Student Thought

Victims and witnesses to crimes frequently must remember information about what they saw. What they remember can dramatically affect the outcome of cases and the lives of the victims, the accused, and family members. This article describes an under-graduate course that examines human memory and its role in two applied legal issues: repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse and eyewitness testimony. Because these issues involve applying memory to real-world situations, and because they directly and indirectly affect many people, courses dealing with these topics hold intrinsic and practical interest for students. Student thought pieces, class discussions, and course evaluations indicate that students enjoyed and benefited from a course on these applied and polemic issues.

The illusion of repressed memory

2006 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 515-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
George A. Bonanno
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Clinical Evidence ◽  
Unified Theory ◽  
Nonverbal Behaviors ◽  
Repressed Memory ◽  
Repressed Memories ◽  
Traumatic Memories

Erdelyi's unified theory includes the idea that traumatic memories can be unconsciously repressed so that they are enduringly inaccessible to deliberate recall. I argue here that clinical evidence for repressed memory is illusory, and illustrate this claim by examining previous studies of putative repressed memories and also recent research on nonverbal behaviors among survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

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