Truthfulness, Deception and Self-Deception in Recovering True and False Memories of Child Sexual Abuse

• NCJ Number: 194533
• Journal: International Review of Victimology Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: 2001 Pages: 1-18
• Author(s): Israel Nachson
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This article offers arguments for and against the phenomena of recovered and false memories of childhood sexual abuse.

Abstract

This debate focuses on the issue whether those memories are undistorted representations of events that took place many years prior to the victim’s recovery, or false beliefs, implanted by various suggestive techniques, regarding events that never occurred. The story begins with patients undergoing psychotherapy for a variety of reasons who sometimes exhibit symptoms that are interpreted by their therapists as indications of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). When the patients deny recollection of abuse, a variety of techniques are employed in order to recover the lost memories and begin the process of healing. Repression is evident when the person denies any knowledge of the traumatic experience. Studies have been cited as evidence for the existence of repressed memories of CSA. However, the notion that it is possible to recover old, intact memories years after they had been repressed is clearly at odds with what is known about the nature of narrative memory. All possible victim-perpetrator interactions can be conceptualized in terms of deception and self-deception. Self-deception refers to a situation where a person appears both to know and not know at the same time. Recovered and false memories may be conceptualized in terms of deception and self-deception provided that self-deception is viewed as a complex phenomenon in terms of a split between various cognitive subsystems, and that it results from multiple factors, only one of which has to do with attempts to maintain or regain self-esteem. With this, the question how deception and self-deception can be detected must be faced. Detection of deception is routinely practiced in everyday life by means of physiological and behavioral indications. Detection of self-study is extremely difficult since it entails implicit processes. Detection of self-deception still awaits further study. 1 table, 138 references