False Memories and Forensic Practice I

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#333333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03cdedc2ddualp.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D"><U><B>Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B>Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FAQs"><U><B>FAQs</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Dr. Silverman"><U><B>About Dr. Silverman</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id146.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Great links"><U><B>Great links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Mind Reader© archive"><U><B>The Mind Reader© archive</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="03d64643.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#666633" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D</B></FONT>    |     <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> False Memories and Forensic Practice I</div> <bR> <div>     In 1998, the American Psychological Association working group on the </div> <div> investigation of memories of childhood abuse published a report aimed at </div> <div> educating the field as to what is known in this controversial area. The </div> <div> committee consisted of researchers and clinicians. They agreed on five </div> <div> essential points 1) child abuse is a pervasive problem generally </div> <div> unacknowledged, 2) most people who were abused as children remember what </div> <div> happened, 3) there is a possibility that forgotten events can be remembered, </div> <div> 4) it is also possible that pseudomemories for events that never occurred can </div> <div> be "recalled", and 5) we have more to learn about how accurate and inaccurate </div> <div> memories are constructed. </div> <div>    The panel also had some major differences that split clinicians and </div> <div> researchers. These two camps have strikingly different approaches toward </div> <div> conceptualizations of false versus true memory. Researchers are critical of </div> <div> practitioners for not being sensitive to techniques that may implant </div> <div> suggestions. They also fault clinicians for not being knowledgeable about how </div> <div> memory works. On the other hand, practitioners feel that researchers are not </div> <div> educated nor do they have practical experience in techniques that clinicians </div> <div> find effective in treating trauma survivors. Inherent in these conclusions is </div> <div> that clinicians feel researchers are not sensitive enough to the true </div> <div> prevalence of childhood sexual abuse whereas researchers think clinicians </div> <div> over-estimate its occurrence. The controversy over the prevalence of false </div> <div> memory versus actual child abuse remains great. It will take more research </div> <div> before the field is confident in its conclusions. In the next issue we will </div> <div> consider what is known in terms of implications for forensic practice.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>