Hostname: page-component-5f56664f6-287w5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-07T13:20:41.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse

Implications for clinical practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Sydney Brandon ,
Janet Boakes ,
Danya Glaser  and
Richard Green
Sydney Brandon*
Affiliation:
University of Leicester, Post Graduate Deans Office, Royal Infirmary, Leicester
Janet Boakes
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital, London
Danya Glaser
Affiliation:
Great Ormond Street Hospital, London
Richard Green
Affiliation:
Charing Cross Hospital, London
*
Professor Sydney Brandon. University of Leicester, Post Graduate Deans Office, Royal Infirmary, PO Box 65, Leicester LE2 7LX
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

The growth in the USA of ‘recovered memory therapy’ for past sexual abuse has caused great public and professional concern. It became apparent that the polarisation of views and fierce controversy within the American psychiatric community was in danger of bringing psychotherapy into disrepute and it seemed important to examine objectively the scientific evidence before such polarisation developed in the UK.

Method

A small working group reviewed their own experience, visited meetings and centres with expertise in this field, interviewed ‘retractors' and accused parents, and then began a comprehensive review of the literature.

Results

There is a vast literature but little acceptable research. Opinions are expressed with great conviction but often unsupported by evidence.

Conclusions

The issue of false or recovered memories should not be allowed to confuse the recognition and treatment of sexually abused children. We concluded that when memories are ‘recovered’ after long periods of amnesia, particularly when extraordinary means were used to secure the recovery of memory, there is a high probability that the memories are false, i.e. of incidents that had not occurred. Some guidelines which should enable practitioners to avoid the pitfalls of memory recovery are offered.

Type
Review Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 172 , Issue 4 , April 1998 , pp. 296 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

American Medical Association (1994) Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse (Report 5–A-94). Chicago, IL: AMA.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1993) Statement on Memories of Sexual Abuse. Washington, DC: APA. Reprinted in Moving Forward, 6, 8–9.Google Scholar
American Psychological Association (1994) Statement on adult memories of childhood sexual abuse. November 11.Google Scholar
Andrews, B. Morton, J. Bekerian, D. A. et al (1995) The recovery of memories in clinical practice: experiences and beliefs of British Psychological Society practitioners. Psychologist, 8, 209–214.Google Scholar
Archibald, H. D. & Tuddenham, R. D. (1965) Persistent stress reaction after combat: A twenty year follow-up. Archives of General Psychiatry, 12, 475–481.Google Scholar
Australian Psychological Society (1994) Guidelines Relating to the Reporting of Recovered Memories. Sydney: APS.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A. D. (1995) The psychology of memory. In Handbook of Memory Disorders (eds A. D. Baddeley, B. A. Wilson & F. N. Watts). Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Bartlett, F. C. (1932) Remembering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bass, E. & Davis, L. (1988) The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Beitchman, J. H. Zucker, K. J. Hood, J. E. et al (1991) A review of short term effects of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 15, 537–556.Google Scholar
Beitchman, J. H. Zucker, K. J. Hood, J. E. et al (1992) A review of the long term effects of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 16, 101–118.Google Scholar
Blackwenna, W. J. (1923) Narcosis as therapy in neuropsychiatric conditions. Journal of the American Medical Association, 95, 1168–1171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blume, S. E. (1990) Secret Survivors. New York: Ballantine.Google Scholar
Bradshaw, J. (1992) Incest: When you wonder if it happened to you. Lear's, 5, 43–44.Google Scholar
Breuer, J. & Freud, S. (1893) On the psychical mechanism of hysterical phenomenon: a preliminary communication. Standard Edition 2 (trans. Strachey, J.), 1953–74. London: Hogarth Press. (PFL vol. 3, Studies in Hysteria, Penguin Books 1974.)Google Scholar
Brewer, C. (1991) Escaping the Shadows, Seeking the Light. San Francisco, CA: Harper.Google Scholar
Briere, J. & Conte, J. (1993) Self reported amnesia for abuse in adults molested as children. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 6, 21–31.Google Scholar
British Psychological Society (1995) Recovered Memories. Leicester: BPS.Google Scholar
Browne, A. & Finkelhor, D. (1986) Impact of child sexual abuse: review of the research. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 66–77.Google Scholar
Campbell, B. A. & Spear, N. E. (1972) Ontogeny of memory. Psychological Review, 79, 215–231.Google Scholar
Campbell, B. A. Misanin, J. R. White, B. C. et al (1974) Species differences in ontogeny of memory: indirect support for neural maturation as a determinant of forgetting. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 87, 193–202.Google Scholar
Canadian Psychiatric Association (1996) Position Statement: Adult Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse. Toronto: CPA.Google Scholar
Ceci, S. J. & Brack, M. (1993) Suggestibility of the child witness: a historical review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 403–439.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (1995) A developmental psychopathology perspective on child abuse and neglect. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 541–565.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Constantine, L. L. (1981) The effects of early sexual experiences: a review and synthesis of research. In Children and Sex: New findings, New Perspectives (eds L. L. Constantine & F. M. Martinson). Boston. MA: Little Brown.Google Scholar
Coulter, X. Collier, A. C. & Campbell, B. A. (1976) Long term retention of Pavlovian conditioning in rats. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2, 48–56.Google Scholar
Crews, F. (1997) The Memory Wars. London: Granta.Google Scholar
Culpin, M. (1920) Psychoneuroses of War and Peace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Davies, M. G. & Frawley, J. M. (1994) Treating the Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Feldman-Summers, S. & Pope, K. S. (1994) The experience of ‘forgetting’ childhood sexual abuse: a national survey of psychologists. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 635–639.Google Scholar
Femina, D. D. Yeager, C. A. & Lewis, D. O. (1990) Child abuse: adolescent records vs adult recall. Child Abuse and Neglect, 14, 227–231.Google Scholar
Frederickson, R. (1992) Repressed Memories: A Journey to Recovery from Sexual Abuse. New York: Parkside Books.Google Scholar
Freud, S. (1893) The psychotherapy of hysteria. Standard Edition 2 (trans. Strachey, J.), 1953–74. London: Hogarth Press. (PFL vol. 3 Penguin Books 1974.)Google Scholar
Freud, S. (1896) The aetiology of hysteria. Standard Edition 3 (trans. J. Strachey). 1953–74. London: Hogarth Press. (PFL vol. 3 Penguin Books 1974.)Google Scholar
Freud, S. Ferenczi, S. Abraham, K. et al (1921) Psychoanalysis and War Neuroses. Vienna and New York: International Psychoanalytic Press.Google Scholar
Grinker, R. R. & Spiegel, J. J. (1945) Men under Stress. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Gudjonsson, G. H. (1997a) The members of the BFMS, the accusers and their siblings. Psychologist, 10, 111–114.Google Scholar
Gudjonsson, G. H. (1997b) Accusations by adults of child sexual abuse: a survey of members of the British False Memory Society (BFMS). Applied Cognitive Psychology, 11, 3–18.Google Scholar
Gudjonsson, G. H. (1997c) The members of the British False Memory Society: the legal consequences of the accusations for the families. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 8, 348–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hacking, I. (1995) Rewriting the Soul: Multiple Personality and the Sense of Memory. Cognitive Development. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Halperin, D. S. Bouvier, P. Jaffe, P. D. et al (1996) Prevalence of child sexual abuse in Geneva: results of a cross sectional survey. British Medical Journal, 312, 1326–1329.Google Scholar
Hartmann, E. (1984) The Nightmare: The Psychology and Biology of Terrifying Dreams. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Herman, J. L. (1987) Father-Daughter Incest. Cambridge. MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Herman, J. L. (1992) Trauma and Recovery. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Herman, J. L. & Schatzow, E. (1987) Recovery and verification of memories of childhood sexual trauma. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 4, 1–14.Google Scholar
Hudson, J. & Nelson, K. (1986) Repeated encounters of a similar kind: effects of familiarity on children's autobiographical memory. Cognitive Development, 1, 253–271.Google Scholar
Janet, P. (1907) The Major Symptoms of Hysteria. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Johnson, M. K. & Suengas, A. G. (1989) Reality monitoring judgments of other peoples’ memory. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 27, 107–110.Google Scholar
Kelly, L. Regan, L. & Burton, S. (1991) An Exploratory Study of the Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in a Sample of 16–21 Year Old. London: Child Abuse Studies Unit. University of North London.Google Scholar
Kendall-Tackett, K. A. Williams, L. M. & Finkelhor, D. (1992) Impact of sexual abuse on children: A review and synthesis of recent empirical studies. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 14–18.Google Scholar
Khilstrom, J. (1998) Exhumed memory. In Truth and Memory (eds S. J. Lynn & K. M. McConkey). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Kolb, L. C. (1984) The post-traumatic stress disorder of combat: a sub-group with a conditioned emotional response. Military Medicine, 22, 191–196.Google Scholar
Kopelman, M. D. (1996) Anomalies of autobiographical memory: retrograde amnesia, delusional memory, psychogenic amnesia and false memories. In Recollections of Trauma: Scientific Research and Clinical Practice (eds J. D. Read & D. S. Lindsay). New York and London: Plenum.Google Scholar
La Fontaine, J. S. (1994) The Extent and Nature of Organised and Ritual Abuse. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
La Fontaine, J. S. (1998) Speak of the Devil. Tales of Satanic Abuse in Contemporary England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leopold, R. L. & Dillon, H. (1963) Psycho-anatomy of a disaster: a long term study of post-traumatic neuroses in survivors of a marine explosion. American Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 913–921.Google Scholar
Lindeman, E. (1923) Psychological changes in normal and abnormal individuals under the influence of sodium amytal. American Journal of Psychiatry, 88, 1083–1091.Google Scholar
Lindsay, D. S. & Read, J. D. (1994) Psychotherapy and memories of childhood sexual abuse: a cognitive perspective. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 8, 281–338.Google Scholar
Lindsay, D. S. & Briere, J. (1997) The controversy regarding recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse. Pitfalls, bridges and future directions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 12, 631–647.Google Scholar
Loftus, E. F. (1993) The reality of repressed memories. American Psychologist, 48, 517–537.Google Scholar
Loftus, E. F. (1997) Repressed memory accusations: Devastated families and devastated patients. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 11, 25–30.Google Scholar
Loftus, E. F. & Ketcham, K. (1994) The Myth of Repressed Memory. New York: St Martins Griffin.Google Scholar
McConkey, K. M. & Sheehan, P. W. (1995) Hypnosis, Memory and Behaviour in Criminal Investigation. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Mack, J. (1994) Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.Google Scholar
Maltz, W. & Holman, B. (1986) Incest and Sexuality: A Guide to Understanding and Healing. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Mallinson, W. P. (1940) Narcoanalysis in neuropsychiatry. Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service, 26, 281–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malmquist, C. P. (1986) Children who witness parental murder. Post traumatuc aspects. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25, 320–325.Google Scholar
Merskey, H. (1995) Multiple personality disorder and false memory syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 281–283.Google Scholar
Mullen, P. G. Martin, J. L. Anderson, J. L. et al (1994) The effect of child sex abuse on social, interpersonal and sexual function in adult life. British Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 35–47.Google Scholar
Neisser, U. & Harsch, N. (1992) Phantom flashbulbs: False recollections of bearing the news about challenger. In Affect and Accuracy in Recall: Studies of ‘Flashback’ Memories (eds E. Windgrad & U. Nasser). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, K. (1993) The psychological and social origins of autobiographical memory. Psychological Science, 4, 7–14.Google Scholar
Ofshe, R. J. & Watters, E. M. (1994) Making Monsters: False Memories. Psychotherapy and Sexual Hysteria. New York: Scribner's Sons.Google Scholar
Pendergrast, M. (1996) Victims of Memory: Incest Accusations and Shattered Lives. London: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Pillemer, D. B. & White, S. H. (1989) Childhood events recalled by children and adults. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 21, 287–340.Google Scholar
Piper, A. (1994) Multiple personality disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 600–612.Google Scholar
Pope, H. G. (1997) Psychology Astray: Fallacies in Studies of ‘Repressed Memories’ and Childhood Trauma. Boca Raton, FL: Upton Books.Google Scholar
Pope, H. G. & Hudson, J. I. (1992) Is childhood sexual abuse a risk factor for bulimia nervosa? American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 455–463.Google Scholar
Pope, H. G. & Hudson, J. I. (1995) Can memories of childhood sexual abuse be repressed? Psychological Medicine, 25, 121–126.Google Scholar
Putnam, F. G. W. (1989) The Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Pynoos, R. S. & Nader, K. (1989) Children's memories and proximity to violence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 236–241.Google Scholar
Romans, S. H. Martin, J. L. Anderson, J. C. et al (1995) Factors that mediate between child sexual abuse and adult psychological outcome. Psychological Medicine, 25, 127–142.Google Scholar
Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Working Group on Reported Recovered Memories of Child Sexual Abuse (1997) Recommendations for good practice and implications for training, continuing professional development and research. Psychiatric Bulletin, 21, 663–665.Google Scholar
Russell, D. (1983) The incidence and prevalence of intrafamilial sexual abuse of female children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 7, 133–176.Google Scholar
Sargant, W. & Slater, E. (1940) Acute war neuroses. Lancet, ii, 1–2.Google Scholar
Sargant, W. & Slater, E. (1944) Physical Methods of Treatment in Psychiatry. Edinburgh: E. & S. Livingstone Google Scholar
Sinason, V. (1994) Treating Survivors of Satanic Abuse. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Slater, E. & Roth, M. (1969) Mayer Gross, Slater and Roth. Clinical Psychiatry (3rd edn). Baillière. Tindall and Cassell.Google Scholar
Smith, S. E. (1995) Survivor Psychology. The Dark Side of a Mental Health Mission. Boca Raton, FL: Upton Books.Google Scholar
Spence, D. (1982) Narrative Truth and Historical Truth. New York: Newton.Google Scholar
Summit, R. C. (1983) The child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome. Child Abuse and Neglect, 7, 177–193.Google Scholar
Terr, L. C. (1983) Chowchilla revisited. The effects of psychic trauma four years after the school bus kidnapping. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 1543–1550.Google Scholar
Terr, L. C. (1991) Childhood traumas: an outline and overview. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 10–20.Google Scholar
van der Kolk, B. A. & van der Hart, O. (1989) Pierre Janet and the breakdown of adaptation in psychological trauma. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 1530–1540.Google Scholar
van der Kolk, B. A. (1994) The body keeps the score: memory and the evolving psychobiology of post traumatic stress. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 1, 253–265.Google Scholar
van der Kolk, B. A. & Fisler, R. (1995) Dissociation and the fragmentary nature of traumatic memories: overview and exploratory study. Journal of Traumatic Stress. Reprinted 1996. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 12, 352–366.Google Scholar
Vize, C. M. & Cooper, P. J. (1995) Sexual abuse in patients with eating disorder, patients with depression and normal controls. British Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 80–85.Google Scholar
Weiskrantz, L. (1995) Comments on the report of the working party of the BPS on ‘recovered memories’. Therapist, Journal of the European Therapy Studies Institute, 2, 5–8.Google Scholar
Williams, L. M. (1994) Recall of childhood trauma: a prospective study of women's memories of child sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 1167–1176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wonderlich, S. A. Wilsnack, R. W. Wilsnack, S. C. et al (1996) Childhood sexual abuse and bulimic behavior in a nationally representative sample. American Journal of Public Health, 8, 1082–1086.Google Scholar
Yapko, M. D. (1994) Suggestions of Abuse. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.