FMSF 2003 False Memory Syndrom

in 1993. By and large, these suits seem to be riding in the wake of the avalanche of clergy-abuse cases that have come to light in the past year. The scandal involving clergy abuse is based primarily on the inadequate response of the

made at the time, cases in which memory and the facts of abuse are not an issue. It remains to be seen how the current crop of "tagalong" repressed memory claims will be resolved. On the one hand, scientific evidence shows the need for great caution in evaluating claims based solely on recovered mem

Ph.D., 12! reviewed some of the problems with the trauma model and emphasized the many ways in which research data do not support it. For example, the model assumes the memory will be banished from awareness, but most abused people remember it. The model assumes that (a) the more

Young, Ph.D.,141 reminded the audience that only a minority of people who experience significant trauma go on to develop PTSD. He provided evidence that PTSD is actually a heterogeneous classification, not a unitary mechanism as most This issue contains a review of a paper suggesting an alternative

Gone Astray - Trauma, Memory, and Child Sexual Abuse, Boston University, Nov. I, 2002. 5. Fisher, S. "Wrongful Convictions of Child Sexual Abuse: What Can Be Done?" Talk presented at conference: Expert Testimony and Justice Gone Astray- Trauma, Memory, and Child Sexual Abuse, Boston University.

Astray- Trauma, Memory, and Child Sexual Abuse, Boston University.

safeguards and says that "a new genre of miscarriages of justice" has arisen from what it calls "the over-enthusiastic pursuit" of abuse allegations in children's homes, many relating to incidents said to have occurred 20 or 30 years ago. It also says that a large number of people who are not charge

Continuing Education? A flyer for the following continuing education workshop crossed our desk:

The author notes that even though there are now many evidence-based treatments (EBT) for specific psychiatric disorders and even though these are recommended for use by professional organizations, practitioners typically do not use them. Sanderson uses treatment for panic disorder as an example. In

In a recently published paper, Harvard psychologist Richard McNally, Ph.D., asks a question that surely perplexes us all: "What is most bizarre about this debate is that proponents

constitutional rights assured every defendant is the right to be prosecuted only by reliable evidence."[12] Apparently, some legislators have not received the facts about remembering trauma. In the legal section of this issue there is a reminder of

6. Staff, "False memories easy to foster in witnesses," Times Monitor, 7. Verrengia, J., "Researchers find it's easy to plant false memories in minds of some people," Associated Press, Feb 16, 2003. 8. Tavris, C., "Psychological warfare between therapists and scientists,"

11. McNally, R., Remembering Trauma, Harvard University Press, available March 25, 2003. (ISBN 0674 010 825). 12. Rosenthal, R., "Suggestibility, reliability, and the legal process," Developmental Review 22 (2002), 334-369.

tive studies, archival data has shown that higher intelligence protects against Claims that traumatic stress damages the brain , and, in particular,

Kaplan and Manicavasagar argued that there is sufficient scientific evidence for FMS to warrant its inclusion in the manual as a condition meriting further study. They would call the diagnosis

A review of the paper: "Self-reports of forgetting and remembering childhood sexual abuse in a nationally representative sample of U.S. women." by Sharon C. Wilsnack et al.(2002) Child

for a mid-life problem was a factor and others knew that the accuser had been reading suggestive self-help literature, most often the bestseller; The Courage to Heal. Retractors have confirmed

of abuse were grouped according to whether they reported familial (F) or extrafamilial (E) abuse. They were asked to describe their memory for the abuse with one of

(Tacoma, WA) argues that: "Some extension of the time limits to file a sexual abuse lawsuit could be warranted. Young victims of sexual abuse often repress memories of the traumatic event , or events , for decades..."

Professional Negligence Charges Filed Against Well-Known Psychiatrist Tyo v. Ash et al. and Colin Ross District Court, Dallas Co., Texas, No. DV98-3843.[1]

paid $3.2 million to settle other sexabuse cases. Judge John G. Himmelberger Jr. of the Superior court in Atlantic County, NJ ruled that in this case there would be no exception to the statute of limitations and that Pfister had waited too

sies and criticisms is evident in their . . . rather brief and abrupt reference to the recovered-memory-syndrome

about the Foundation.) The background of the accusations was the same old story: hypnosis, past-life regressions and The Courage to Heal. We can't help but wonder how this can still be going on.

by Wood, S.E. et al." Canadian Psychology, Nov. 2002, p. 280-282. 5. Law and Order SVU "Repression" NBC, March 15, 2003. 6. Taylor, E., "Film- Till Human Voices Wake Us" LA Weekly, Feb 21, 7. Ruff, M., Set This House in Order, HarperCollins, 2003.

1.Clancy, S. A., Schacter, D. L, McNally, R. J., & Pitman, R. K. (2000). False recognition in women reporting recovered memories of sexual abuse. Psychological Science, 11, 2631; Winograd, E., Peluso, J. P., & Glover, T. A. (1998). Individual differences in susceptibility to memory illusions. Applie

week, subjects again filled out the LEI. The results showed that memories of skin removal were 4 times more likely to occur after imagination than after simple exposure to misinformation. "People can develop both a belief

James Ost, (2003, Feb.), British Journal of Psychology, 27 (2), 125-139. The author reviews 6 books that claim to be "defining some kind of middle ground." It was his impression that

by Stephen Ceci and Maggie Bruck and published by the American Psychological Association for the same reason. In that case, they

the Skeptical Inquirer, and the University of Washington. [1] The suit claims that Loftus and others invaded her privacy, defamed her, and caused negligent and intentional infliction of

of Child Sexual Abuse: Comparison With a Childhood Interview Videotaped 11 Years Before," Child Maltreatment, Vol 2 (2) May 1997, 91-112.

Lanning acknowledged that these cases were more suited to psychiatric intervention than to law enforcement activities. A massive study of ritualistic child abuse was completed in the fall of 1994. It was funded by the US Federal

The disconnection between what science has to say about the nature of memory and what appears in novels and movies continues to haunt us. For example, one of this summer's blockbusters, "The Hulk," is oriented around the

contact us in the past month whose children had reconnected, but only to repeat the accusations. Trying to help families by learning about the processes of reconciliation in these situations remains a top priority. Although not much has appeared in the newsletter in recent months, Drs. Lief and McHu

procedure for validating claims, Pankratz asked Karon to make the supporting evidence for the patient's After two failed requests to Karon, Pankratz provided all correspondence

to the Ethics Office of the American Psychological Association. The facts in contest were ignored by the Ethics Committee chairperson who, it turns out, had previously co-authored a book

the sidebars to the article to be particularly interesting. "Heavenly Cash" contains examples of outrageous cases, such as the two Arizona women who "have sued the Tucson diocese, alleging a priest molested their two brothers, causing the brothers to then molest

Supreme Court should have ruled on the statute of limitations in Stogner v. California, No. 01-1757. As was noted in the FMSF May/June 2003 newsletter, the Court will decide if California can prosecute a 74-year-old man on 48-yearold child molestation charges. According to Evan T. Lee, Professor at

National Association of Attorneys General, Mark Roseman, a California attorney and an outspoken supporter of the reliability of recovered memories has

__ My Child sometimes forgets my __ My Child chronically failed to clean his room to my standards.

December. While the trip was well worth while to meet again members from around the nation, to hear wonderful speakers, and to hear the progress in many personal stories, we are still aware of the slowness and lack

The Illinois-Wisconsin FMS Society will hold their annual all day conference on Saturday, October 4, 2003 in familiar quarters at the DoubleTree in Glenview, IL.

Kathleen 907-333-5248

"Memories fade, and witnesses can die or disappear. Such problems can plague child abuse cases, where recollection after so many years may be uncertain, and 'recovered' memories faulty, but may nonetheless lead to prosecutions that

still be found, but they seem more self-validating gatherings than scholarly meetings. In August, for example, the "Sixth Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference" sponsored by S.M.A.R.T. (Survivors of Masonic and Ritual Torture) was held near Hartford,

of Masonic and Ritual Torture) was held near Hartford, Connecticut. Most of the speakers were described as survivors of this kind of abuse. In September, the group "There can be few allegations that have caused greater controversy, and greater suffering, in America and Britain in recent years than t

(Review of Ellis, B. (2000). Raising the devil: Satanism, new religion, and the media. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.) "Survivorship" will hold a "West Coast Conference on

Diego, California in September.[4] We wrote extensively about last year's conference because the inclusion of two sessions on SRA in a meeting generally concerned with real issues of family violence gave credence to nonsense. (See FMSF Newsletter, 11(5)) Unfortunately, almost identical

SRA presentations are offered again this year. But there is a difference. The names found on the conference "Platinum" co-sponsors list last year included the California Department of Social Services and the California Department of Health Services. This year, most of the government co-sponsors are

Wylie, M.S. You can go home again. p. 36-43. Miller, D. The end of innocence. p. 24-33. 2. Meehan, C. (2003, July 13). Book details satanic ritual abuse. StarLedger. (Review of Clark, J. (2003). The healing of satanically ritually

Young Researcher Creates Grierson, B. (2003, July 27). A bad trip down memory lane. New York Times

Cognitive processing of trauma cues in adults reporting repressed, recovered, or continuous memories of childhood sexual abuse; Vol. 10(3) Directed forgetting of trauma cues in adults reporting repressed or recovered memories of

Highly Recommended Book Distinguishes Scientifically Supported Practices from 'Junk

began to wane in the 1960s and 1970s, an avalanche of new therapies emerged (e.g., primal-scream therapy, nude therapy, encounter therapy, electric sleep therapy, body-image therapy, "art

by Justices Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, and Ginsburg. They argued that the ex post facto clause in the Constitution prevents retroactive prosecution. They wrote "long ago the Court pointed out that the clause protects liberty by preventing governments from enacting statutes with 'manifestly unjust an

The end of another year is creeping up, eager to startle us with its speed. But we are ready. For the past few months, we have been immersed once again in the the early 1990s as

from a resigned family: Although our daughter has not reconciled with us, and will not even allow her brother to tell us anything about her present situation, we deeply appreciate the psychological effect the Foundation has made on our lives. We have been able to accept the permanence of our loss, w

articles because of the pain, but even though every word is not read, the knowledge that the Foundation is there for us is worth far more than we can afford to donate. This father's letter is to all of you, the members of the

immediate phone call thanking me for the note," and saying Quinnett............................................................................3 Bartha................................................................................5 Pendergrast .......................................................

Several items in this issue of the newsletter take us back to the early 1990s when belief in satanic ritual-abuse cults ran amok. With the exception of some small groups of people who still cling to their ritual abuse victimhood, most of the media and general public now dismiss SRA , a huge change i

to the early 1990s when belief in satanic ritual-abuse cults ran amok. With the exception of some small groups of people who still cling to their ritual abuse victimhood, most of the media and general public now dismiss SRA , a huge change in opinion. Paul Quinnett's article on page 3 provides an in

In the early 1990s we had an outbreak of Multiple Personality

Several people have recently asked how to find books such as The Myth of Repressed Memories by E. Loftus that are out of print. Try Amazon.com or "Out of

about this meeting in October, 1993, when we were first approved and then denied permission to host an FMSF vendor table to distribute literature about false memories. The approved

by Sandra Boodman and Patricia Davis [1] Boodman, S. & Davis, P. (2003, Sept. 28) A broken marriage and a 'life destroyed.' Washington Post p. A21. Boodman, S. & Davis, P. (2003, Sept. 28) Va. Doctor's misconduct left trail of

Amirault (Massachusetts) On October 17, 2003, Gerald Amirault was finally granted parole and could go free in April, 2004 after serving 17 years in prison. Amirault

Warick, J. (2003, Sept. 30). Questions persist after woman asked for lawyer. Star Phoenix (Saskatoon). Warick, J. (2003, Oct. 5). Judge ponders request to drop Klassen lawsuit. Star Phoenix (Saskatoon).