The
Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and
Allegations of Sexual Abuse
by Elizabeth Loftus, Katherine
Ketcham
There are some people who have been abused
sexually and physically as children, and who have partially or totally
blocked the memories from view. The problem is that these are far fewer
than the modern psycho-babblers would have us believe. Until lately, it was politically
correct to believe the abused, never the accused. The "technology" of modern psychology is so varied and flawed that whatever results are obtained are highly questionable. Basing
personal and family decisions, and legal actions upon the findings of psychotherapists
doing "repressed-memory" work is ludicrous considering the horrendous state
of the field's methodology.
Synopsis
The nation's leading expert on memory reveals
how the current spate of sex abuse charges linked to ""repressed memories""
have little factual basis in scientific research and are often unwitting
fabrications based on the ideological agendas of therapists. Exposes the
recent wave of sex abuse charges based on "repressed memories" as akin
to a 20th-century version of the Salem witch trials. Drawing on many famous
cases in which Loftus has been directly involved, the authors attack the
ideological agenda of recovered memory proponents.
Booknews, Inc., April 1, 1995
Presents several in-depth case studies of
how families have been torn apart by child sexual abuse cases based on
what Loftus (psychology, U. of Washington) considers the scientifically
suspect concept of repressed memory. Drawing on her long experimental research
into the nature of memory, she says it is not like video tape, storing
images until they are replayed, but is a creative process related to dreams,
creative writing, imagination, and wishful thinking. She accuses overzealous
and ideological therapists of manipulating the memory of vulnerable women
and creating a hysteria similar to the witch hunts. Annotation copyright
Book News, Inc. Portland, Or. --This text refers to an out of print
or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist, September 15, 1994
As a cognitive psychologist, Loftus has
acquired extensive insight into the malleability of memory. For example,
her research has shown that false traumatic childhood "memories" can be
readily induced in adults, who then enrich the implanted memory with detail
and emotion. The results of such studies and a total lack of evidence of
memory repression lead Loftus and other eminent psychologists to attribute
the wide prevalence of recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse and
satanic ritual abuse to therapist bias. Coauthor Ketcham and Loftus describe
the anguish of the accused and of the families shattered by disastrous
combinations of ill-trained, overzealous therapists, suggestibility of
vulnerable patients, and group-therapy pressure to exhume and share monstrous
memories. They neither dispute the reality of childhood sexual abuse nor
the existence of traumatic memories, but they reject the true believers'
assertions that "incest is epidemic, repression is rampant" and that "skeptics"
are "in denial." Highly recommended. Brenda Grazis - Copyright©
1994, American Library Association. All rights reserved
Important book. A must-read, wmwilso@ilstu.edu,
October 5, 1997
This book is a much-needed cry for sanity,
much like Sagan's "The
Demon-Haunted World". The author, Elizabeth Loftus, is a well-known
and well-respected psychologist who specializes in eyewitness memory; anybody
who has taken a Gen Psych course should recognize her name.
As a budding psychologist, I found Loftus's
comments on the therapeutic community both insightful and well-directed.
Her arguments are powerful and difficult to deny; she convinced me shortly
after the first few chapters.
Sexual abuse is a problem. A big one. But
attempting to root out totally unconfirmed instances of sexual abuse is,
as well. Loftus tries to walk a line between compassion for people who
have truly been abused and those who believe they have, and scientific
accuracy.
Her sharpest knives are reserved for the
therapists. The tools of therapy used to "recover" abuse memories which
have no corroborating evidence are the same as those used to "uncover"
reports of alien abduction, past lives, infant memories, and ritual
cult torture. All the above are truly unlikely, so why would memories
recovered using this method about abuse be any more accurate than memories
about big-eyed aliens?
All in all, this book does a marvelous job
in presenting its points and should be a must-read for any serious student
of psychology. It shows what a fragile thing memory really is; a lesson
we all need to learn.
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