False Memory Syndrome From Child Abuse Wiki
childadvocate
copied with permission
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=False_Memory_Syndrome
The term False Memory Syndrome was created in 1992 by the False Memory
Syndrome Foundation (FMSF)[1]. It has been called "a pseudoscientific
syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child
abuse."[1] The FMSF was created by parents who claimed to be falsely
accused of child sexual abuse.[1] The False Memory Syndrome was
described as "a widespread social phenomenon where misguided
therapists cause patients to invent memories of sexual abuse."[1]
Research has shown that most delayed memories of childhood abuse are
true[2]. In general, it has been shown that false allegations of
childhood sexual abuse are rare, with some studies showing rates as
low as one percent[3][4] and some studies showing slightly higher rates
[3]. It has been found that children tend to understate rather than
overstate the extent of any abuse experienced[3]. It has been stated
that misinformation on the topic of child sexual abuse is widespread
and that the media have contributed to this problem by reporting
favorably on unproven and controversial claims like the False Memory
Syndrome[5].
Contents
* 1 Research on False Memory
* 2 Critiques of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and its theories
* 3 References
* 4 Bibliography
* 5 External Links
Research on False Memory
There is a great deal of evidence showing the existence of the
phenomenon of recovered memory and the fairly high corroboration rates
of these memories[6]. The base rates for memory commission errors have
been shown to be quite low, at least in professional trauma treatment.
The base rates in adult misinformation studies run between zero and 5
percent for adults and between 3 - 5 percent for children[7]. It has
been shown that people who recover memories are a lot less suggestible
than clinicians have been led to believe by false memory advocates[8].
It has been stated that false memories are rare[9] One research study
showed the unlikelihood of being able to plant a false memory of a
traumatic event[10]. Some have stated that the False Memory Syndrome
is not a scientific syndrome[11].
Brown, Sheflin and Hammond stated "The hypothesis that false memories
can easily be implanted in psychotherapy (Lindsay & Read, 1994; Loftus
1993; Loftus & Ketcham, 1994; Ofshe and Watters, 1993, 1994; Yapko,
1994a) seriously overstates the available data. Since no studies have
been conducted on suggested effects in psychotherapy per se, the idea
of iatrogenic suggestion of false memories remains an untested
hypothesis.[12]
Elizabeth Loftus, a proponent of the theory of false memory, has been
critiqued in several studies and papers[13][14][15][16].
Critiques of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and its theories
Members of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation have been critiqued
for misrepresenting data and for their possible reasons for having
created the idea of the syndrome.
In reply to a TV documentary about FMS, William Freyd, (Pamela Freyd's
(one of the founders of the FMSF) step brother and sister-in-law)
wrote "There is no doubt in my mind that there was severe abuse in the
home of Peter and Pam. . . . The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a
fraud designed to deny a reality that Peter and Pam have spent most of
their lives trying to escape. There is no such things as a False
Memory Syndrome."[2] "In addition, Peter Freyd's own mother (who is
also Pamela's step-mother) and his only sibling, a brother, were also
estranged from Pamela and Peter. It should be noted that these family
members support Jennifer's side of the story."[1]
A co-founder of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, Ralph
Underwager, has also had several critiques written about him[17]. In
an interview in Amsterdam in June 1991 by “Paidika,” Editor-in-Chief,
Joseph Geraci, Underwager replied to the question "Is choosing
paedophilia for you a responsible choice for the individuals?" with
"Certainly it is responsible. What I have been struck by as I have
come to know more about and understand people who choose paedophilia
is that they let themselves be too much defined by other people. That
is usually an essentially negative definition. Paedophiles spend a lot
of time and energy defending their choice. I don’t think that a
paedophile needs to do that. Paedophiles can boldly and courageously
affirm what they choose. They can say that what they want is to find
the best way to love. I am also a theologian and as a theologian, I
believe it is God’s will that there be closeness and intimacy, unity
of the flesh, between people. A paedophile can say: “This closeness is
possible for me within the choices that I’ve made."[18]
In a transcription of the TV show Witness for Mr. Bubbles from
“Australia 60 Minutes,” Channel Nine Network (Aired on August 5, 1990
in Australia), researcher Anna Salter stated that Underwager "isn’t
accurate. That what he says in court does not necessarily fairly
represent the literature." That he frequently distorts facts and he
sometimes he quotes specific studies, and he’s frequently wrong about
what the studies say."[19]
It was stated in a court document that the two books that he and his
wife Hollida Wakefield, wrote "Accusations of Child Sexual
Abuse" (1988), and The Real World of Child Interrogations (1990) were
not "well received in the medical and scientific press." It was also
stated that "when they cannot use a quotation out of context from an
article, they make unsupported statements, some of which are palpably
untrue and others simply unprovable.” David L. Chadwick, Book Review,
in 261 JAMA 3035 (May 26, 1989)." In the same document it was stated
that "Both Salter and Toth came to believe that Underwager is a hired
gun who makes a living by deceiving judges about the state of medical
knowledge and thus assisting child molesters to evade punishment."[20]
Those that have examined or written about the False Memory Syndrome
theories or foundation or its members have been subjected to
harassment. This includes Anna Salter's analysis of her harassment by
Ralph Underwager[21], David Calof, the former editor of Treating Abuse
Today [22] and Jennifer Hoult [23].
Accusations have also been made about the accuracy of the False Memory
Syndromes' proponents data and research. Salter has critiqued some of
those that defend those accused of child sexual abuse. “The people who
support and defend those accused of child sexual abuse
indiscriminately, those who join organizations dedicated to defending
people who are accused of child sexual abuse with no screening
whatsoever to keep out those who are guilty as charged, are…not
necessarily people engaged in an objective search for the truth. Some
of them can and do use deceit, trickery, misstated research,
harassment, intimidation, and charges of laundering federal money to
silence their opponents.”[21]. Whitfield stated "Since at least 95
percent of child molesters initially deny their abusive behaviors, how
can untrained lay people like Pamela Freyd and her staff “document” a
real or “unreal” case of “FMS,” as appears to be the case with most of
their communications, which usually occur over the telephone or by
letter (p. 76)."[2]. Jennifer Freyd stated “Despite this documentation
for both traumatic amnesia and essentially accurate delayed recall,
memory science is often presented as if it supports the view that
traumatic amnesia is very unlikely or perhaps impossible and that a
great many, perhaps a majority, maybe even all, recovered memories of
abuse are false…Yet no research supports such an implication…and a
great deal of research supports the premise that forgetting sexual
abuse is fairly common and that recovered memories are sometimes
essentially true.” (p. 107) [24]
Proponents of false memory theories have also been accused of
manipulating the media[25][26]. The theory of false memory has been
used as a defense in court to try and negate "abusive, criminal
behavior" and this defense is fraught with disinformation, smoke
screens, and other untruths that are a distortion of what the
available science of the psychology of trauma and memory shows.[27].
References
1. Dallam, S. (2002). "Crisis or Creation: A systematic examination of
false memory claims". Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 9 (3/4): 9–36. doi:
10.1300/J070v09n03_02. PMID 17521989. "A review of the relevant
literature demonstrates that the existence of such a syndrome lacks
general acceptance in the mental health field, and that the construct
is based on a series of faulty assumptions, many of which have been
scientifically disproven. There is a similar lack of empirical
validation for claims of a "false memory" epidemic. It is concluded
that in the absence of any substantive scientific support, "False
Memory Syndrome" is best characterized as a pseudoscientific syndrome
that was developed to defend against claims of child abuse."
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/dallam/6.html
2. Whitfield M.D., Charles L. (1995). Memory and Abuse - Remembering
and Healing the Effects of Trauma Deerfield Beach, FL: Health
Communications, Inc. ISBN 1-55874-320-0.
http://books.google.com/books?id=z1LW3u1e04YC
3. Leadership Council - How often do children’s reports of abuse turn
out to be false? "Jones and McGraw examined 576 consecutive referrals
of child sexual abuse to the Denver Department of Social Services, and
categorized the reports as either reliable or fictitious. In only 1%
of the total cases were children judged to have advanced a fictitious
allegation. Jones, D. P. H., and J. M. McGraw: Reliable and Fictitious
Accounts of Sexual Abuse to Children.Journal of Interpersonal
Violence, 2, 27-45, 1987.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/csa-acc.html
4. False allegations of child sexual abuse by children are rare
http://ritualabuse.us/research/false-allegations-of-child-sexual-abuse-by-children-are-rare/
5. Whitfield, Charles L.; Joyanna L. Silberg, Paul Jay Fink (2001).
Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors.
Haworth Press. ISBN 0789019019.
6. Recovered Memories - Child Abuse Wiki http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories
7. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And
the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
8. Leavitt, F. (March 1997) False attribution of suggestibility to
explain recovered memory of childhood sexual abuse following extended
amnesia Child Abuse & Neglect - 21, 3, P. 265-272
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-3SWV6NV-7&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=bae98194eeabcbfb8a5dcaa602d5cc0b
9. Hall, J., Kondora, L. (2005) “True” and “False” Child Sexual Abuse
Memories and Casey’s Phenomenological View of Remembering American
Behavioral Scientist, 48, 10 p. 1339-1359 DOI:
10.1177/0002764205277012 "The notion of false accusation is often
raised in cases where physical evidence is not available and a period
of time has passed or when there has been a delay in recall of the
events by a survivor of child sexual abuse. This is not to imply that
false memories are not possible. This article outlines how rare they
must be, however, based on historical factors and a phenomenological
analysis of memory itself....Most scientists investigating traumatic
memory doubt that memories of abuse could be planted."
http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/48/10/1339?ijkey=ciZjJlFifgYIY&keytype=ref&siteid=spabs
10. Pezdek, Hodge, D. (1999) July-August Planting false childhood
memories: The role of event plausibility Child Development 70(4) p.
887-895 "One false event described the child lost in a mall while
shopping (the plausible false event); the other false event described
the child receiving a rectal enema (the implausible false event). The
majority of the 39 children (54%) did not remember either false event.
However, whereas 14 children recalled the plausible but not the
implausible false event, only one child recalled the implausible but
not the plausible false event; this difference was statistically
significant." http://www.jstor.org/pss/1132249
11. Friesen, J. (1995) "The Truth About False Memory Syndrome,
Huntington House Publisher ISBN: 1-56384-111-8 "The number of studies
which have subjected false memory syndrome to scientific inquiry is
zero. There is nothing scientific about it. There is nothing which
defines it. There is no list of symptoms which describes it, nor is
there anything which helps us distinguish it from other syndromes."
12. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And
the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
13. Crook, L. (1999) "Lost in a Shopping Mall"—a Breach of
Professional Ethics Ethics & Behavior, (9, 1) P. 39-50 "An analysis of
the mall study shows that beyond the external misrepresentations,
internal scientific methodological errors cast doubt on the validity
of the claims that have been attributed to the mall study within
scholarly and legal arenas. The minimal involvement or, in some cases,
negative impact of collegial consultation, academic supervision, and
peer review throughout the evolution of the mall study are reviewed."
http://users.owt.com/crook/memory/
14. Hopper, J. Elizabeth Loftus "Loftus is aware that those who study
traumatic memory have for several years, based on a great deal of
research and clinical experience, used the construct of dissociation
to account for the majority of recovered memories. However, she
continues to focus on and attack "repression" and "repressed
memories," which has the effect of confusing and misleading many
people." http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/#el
15. Pope, K. (1996) Memory, Abuse, and Science: Questioning Claims
About the False Memory Syndrome Epidemic American Psychologist 51:
957. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.51.9.957 "Does the trauma specified in the
lost-in-the-mall experiment seem comparable to the trauma forming the
basis of false memory syndrome? Loftus (1993) described the implanted
traumatic event in the shopping-mall experiment as follows: "Chris was
convinced by his older brother Jim, that he had been lost in a
shopping mall when he was five years old" (p. 532). Does this seem,
for example, a reasonable analogy for a five-year-old girl being
repeatedly raped by her father?....Is it possible that the findings
are an artifact of this particular design, for example, that the older
family member claims to have been present when the event occurred and
to have witnessed it, a claim the therapist can never make? To date,
replications and extensions of this study have tended to use a similar
methodology; that is, either the older family member makes the
suggestions in his or her role as the experimenter's confederate, or
the experimenter presents the suggestion as being the report of an
older family member, thus creating a surrogate confederate."
http://www.kspope.com/memory/memory.php
16. Hoult, J. (2005)"Remembering Dangerously" & Hoult v. Hoult: The
Myth of Repressed Memory that Elizabeth Loftus
http://www.rememberingdangerously.com/
17. Information on Ralph Underwager
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/ralph-underwager/
18. PAIDIKA INTERVIEW:HOLLIDA WAKEFIELD AND RALPH UNDERWAGER Part I
http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/Underwager2.html
19. Witness for Mr. Bubbles Transcribed from "Australia 60 Minutes,"
Channel Nine Network (Aired on August 5, 1990 in Australia) Produced
by Anthony Mcclellan; Reported by Mike Munro
http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/MrBubbles.html
20. Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v.
Anna Salter, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees. 22 F.3d 730 (7th Cir. 1994)
Federal Circuits, 7th Cir. (April 25, 1994) Docket number: 93-2422
http://vlex.com/vid/36092881
21. Salter, A. (June 1998) Confessions of a Whistle-Blower: Lessons
Learned Ethics & Behavior 8(2) p.115 - 124 DOI: 10.1207/
s15327019eb0802_2 Abstract - In 1988 I began a report on the accuracy
of expert testimony in child sexual abuse cases utilizing Ralph
Underwager and Hollida Wakefield as a case study (Wakefield &
Underwager, 1988). In response, Underwager and Wakefield began a
campaign of harassment and intimidation, which included multiple
lawsuits; an ethics charge; phony (and secretly taped) phone calls;
and ad hominem attacks, including one that I was laundering federal
grant monies. The harassment and intimidation failed as the author
refused demands to retract. In addition, the lawsuits and ethics
charges were dismissed. Lessons learned from the experience are
discussed.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/confessions-of-a-whistle-blower-lessons-learned/
22. Calof, D.L. (1998). Notes from a practice under siege: Harassment,
defamation, and intimidation in the name of science Ethics and
Behavior, 8(2) p. 161-187. "For over three years, however, a group of
proponents of the false memory syndrome (FMS) hypothesis, including
members, officials, and supporters of the False Memory Syndrome
Foundation, Inc., have waged a multi-modal campaign of harassment and
defamation directed against me, my clinical clients, my staff, my
family, and others connected to me. I have neither treated these
harassers or their families, nor had any professional or personal
dealings with any of them; I am not related in any way to the
disclosures of memories of sexual abuse in these families.
Nonetheless, this group disrupts my professional and personal life and
threatens to drive me out of business. In this article, I describe
practicing psychotherapy under a state of siege and places the
campaign against me in the context of a much broader effort in the FMS
movement to denigrate, defame, and harass clinicians, lecturers,
writers, and researchers identified with the abuse and trauma
treatment communities.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/notes-from-a-practice-under-siege/
23. Hoult, J. (June 1998) The Politics of Discrediting Child Abuse
Survivors Ethics & Behavior, 8(2), p. 125 - 140 "As a victim of child
abuse who proved my claims in a landmark civil suit, there have been
many attempts to silence and discredit me. This article provides an
overview of my court case and its effects....I believe that published
documents demonstrate how some members and supporters of false memory
groups publish false statements that defame and intimidate victims of
proven violence and their supporters. Such altered accounts are used
to discredit others in court and in the press."
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402312~db
24. Freyd, J. (June 1998) Science in the Memory Debate Ethics &
Behavior, 8(2), p. 101 - 113 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402310~db
25. Stanton, M. (July/August 1997) U-Turn on Memory Lane Columbia
Journalism Review “Rarely has such a strange and little-understood
organization had such a profound effect on media coverage of such a
controversial matter. The foundation is an aggressive, well-financed
p.r. machine adept at manipulating the press, harassing its critics,
and mobilizing a diverse army of psychiatrists, outspoken academics,
expert defense witnesses, litigious lawyers, Freud bashers, critics of
psychotherapy, and devastated parents. With a budget of $750,000 a
year from members and outside supporters, the foundation’s reach far
exceeds its actual membership of about 3,000.” “As controversial
memory cases arose around the country, FMSF boosters contacted
journalists to pitch the false-memory argument, more and more
reporters picked up on the issue, and the foundation became an
overnight media darling. The story line that had dominated the press
since the 1980s — an underreported toll of sexual abuse, including
sympathetic stories of adult survivors resurrecting long-lost memories
of it — was quickly turned around. The focus shifted to new tearful
victims — respectable, elderly parents who could no longer see their
children and grandchildren because of bad therapists who implanted
memories."
http://web.archive.org/web/20071216011151/http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/97/4/memory.asp
26. Packard, N. (April, 2004) Battle Tactics of the False Memory
Syndrome Foundation New School for Social Research, N.Y. History
Matters Conference "Kondora’s and Beckett’s studies indicate that the
Foundation has been successful in many of its efforts to manage public
perception of child abuse victims, therapists and the people accused
of child abuse. Kondora and Beckett show that not only has public
perception of victimized children become skeptical, but in fact, the
press often goes beyond the Victorian custom of neutrality on all
fronts of the issue, to out-right sympathy for accused molesters."
http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/historymatters/papers/NoelPackard.pdf
27. Whitfield, C. L. (2001). The "false memory" defense: Using
disinformation and junk science in and out of court. In Whitfield, C.
L., Silberg, J. Fink, P. J. Eds. (2001). Misinformation Concerning
Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors New York: Hawthorn Press, Inc.
(pp. 53 - 78) also in Haworth Press, Special Issue on Disinformation,
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 9(3 & 4) "Attorneys for accused,
convicted or found-responsible child molesters tend to use a
superficially sophisticated argument, which can be described as the
"false memory defense." This defense is fraught with disinformation,
smoke screens, and other untruths that are a distortion of what the
available science of the psychology of trauma and memory shows. In
this article, this seemingly sophisticated, but actually mostly
contrived and often erroneous defense, is described and it is compared
in a brief review to what the science says about the effect of trauma
on memory." "Abstract: This article describes a seemingly
sophisticated, but mostly contrived and often erroneous "false memory"
defense, and compares it in a brief review to what the science says
about the effect of trauma on memory. Child sexual abuse is widespread
and dissociative/traumatic amnesia for it is common. Accused,
convicted and self-confessed child molesters and their advocates have
crafted a strategy that tries to negate their abusive, criminal
behavior, which we can call a "false memory" defense. Each of 22 of
the more commonly used components of this defense is described and
discussed with respect to what the science says about them. Armed with
this knowledge, survivors, their clinicians, and their attorneys will
be better able to refute this defense of disinformation."
http://childabuse.georgiacenter.uga.edu/both/whitfield/whitfield1.phtml
Bibliography
* Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And
the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
* Freyd, Jennifer J. (1996). Betrayal Trauma - The Logic of Forgetting
Childhood Abuse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN
0-674-06805-x.
* Knopp, Fay Honey (1996). A Primer on the Complexities of Traumatic
Memory of Childhood Sexual Abuse - A Psychobiological Approach.
Brandon, VT: Safer Society Press. ISBN 1-884444-20-2.
* Whitfield M.D., Charles L. (1995). Memory and Abuse - Remembering
and Healing the Effects of Trauma. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health
Communications, Inc. ISBN 1-55874-320-0.
* Whitfield, Charles L.; Joyanna L. Silberg, Paul Jay Fink (2001).
Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors.
Haworth Press. ISBN 0789019019.
External Links
* Memory, Abuse, and Science: Questioning Claims about the False
Memory Syndrome Epidemic http://www.kspope.com/memory/memory.php
* False Memory Syndrome A False Construct Feminista! v2, n10
http://web.archive.org/web/20030608221633/http://www.feminista.com/v1n9/false-memory.html
* False memory syndrome proponents tactics "False memory syndrome
proponents have done the following to try and ensure that only their
point of view is in the public view."
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/false-memory-syndrome-proponents-tactics/
krp
"childadvocate" <smar...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:a1a9b7c1-8668-4593...@g19g2000yql.googlegroups.com...
copied with permission
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=False_Memory_Syndrome
The term False Memory Syndrome was created in 1992 by the False Memory
Syndrome Foundation (FMSF)[1]. It has been called "a pseudoscientific
syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child
abuse
No kiddo - it was described to answer utter fantastic claims of recovered
memories that AT A MINIMUM were highly suspect. I still await some
SCIENTIFIC justification for claiming reliability of "memories" "recovered"
by the use of HYPNOSIS or MASSIVE amounts of psychotropic drugs such as
Sodium Amytal administered by memory recovery "therapists" (almost always
MSW's) in doses FAR exceeding those recommended by the drug companies or
accepted by the American Medical Association as safe. Why have so many of
these "therapists" been successfully sued? Tell us, how many of their
"PATIENTS" have DIED undergoing this "Memory Recovery THERAPY?"
childadvocate
none - the post above misrepresents the "facts" and fabricates
information
--
Recovered Memories From Child Abuse Wiki
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories
copied with permission
Recovered memories have been defined as the phenomenon of partially or
fully losing parts of memories of traumatic events, and then later
recovering part or all of the memories into conscious awareness. They
have also been defined as the recollections of memories that are
believed to have been unavailable for a certain period of time[1].
There is very strong scientific evidence that recovered memories exist.
[2] This has been shown in many scientific studies. The content of
recovered memories have fairly high corroboration rates.
Contents
* 1 Scientific evidence
* 2 Corroboration rates
* 3 References
* 4 Bibliography
* 5 External Links
Scientific evidence
There are many studies that have proven that the recovered memories of
traumatic events exist. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond found 43 studies
that showed recovered memories for traumatic events[3]. The Recovered
Memory Project has collected 101 corroborated cases of recovered
memories[4]. Hopper's research shows that amnesia for childhood sexual
abuse is "beyond dispute." He states that "at least 10% of people
sexually abused in childhood will have periods of complete amnesia for
their abuse, followed by experiences of delayed recall" [5] In one
study of women with previously documented histories of sexual abuse,
38% of the women did not remember the abuse that had happened 17 years
before.[6] Most recovered memories either precede therapy or the use
of memory recovery techniques[7]. One studied showed that five out of
19 women with histories of familial sexual abuse either forgot
specific details or had "blank periods" for these memories[8]. Another
study showed that "40% reported a period of forgetting some or all of
the abuse"[9]. Herman and Harvey's study showed that 16% of abuse
survivors had "complete amnesia followed by delayed recall"[10].
Corwin's individual case study provides evidence of the existence of
recovered memories on videotape[11].
Other researchers state:
Research has shown that traumatized individuals respond by using a
variety of psychological mechanisms. One of the most common means of
dealing with the pain is to try and push it out of awareness. Some
label the phenomenon of the process whereby the mind avoids conscious
acknowledgment of traumatic experiences as dissociative amnesia.
Others use terms such as repression, dissociative state, traumatic
amnesia, psychogenic shock, or motivated forgetting. Semantics aside,
there is near-universal scientific acceptance of the fact that the
mind is capable of avoiding conscious recall of traumatic experiences.
[12]
A body of empirical evidence indicates that it is common for abused
children to reach adulthood without conscious awareness of the trauma
[13]
Corroboration rates
Many studies show high corroboration rates for recovered memories of
traumatic events. These rates vary from 50 - 75%[14], 64%[13],
77%[15], 50%[16], 75%[17] 68%[18] 47%[9], and 70% [19]. One study
showed amnesia in 12 murderers, with "objective evidence of severe
abuse...obtained in 11 cases"[20]. There are also additional studies
showing the corroboration of recovered memories[21][22][23][24].
References
1. What about Recovered Memories? Jennifer J. Freyd, University of
Oregon http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/whatabout.html
2. Research discussing corroboration and accuracy of recovered
memories: An Annotated Bibliography by Lynn Crook
http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/suggestedrefs.html
3. Brown, Scheflin, & Whitfield. (1999). Recovered Memories: The
Current Weight of the Evidence in Science and in the Courts Journal of
Psychiatry & Law, 27, 5-156. "Brown, Scheflin and Hammond reviewed 43
studies relevant to the subject of traumatic memory and found that
every study that examined the question of dissociative amnesia in
traumatized populations demonstrated that a substantial minority
partially or completely forget the traumatic event experienced, and
later recover memories of the event. By 1999, over 68 studies had been
published that document dissociative amnesia after childhood sexual
abuse. In fact, no study that has looked for evidence of traumatic or
dissociative amnesia after child sexual abuse has failed to find it."
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/prev.html
4. The Recovered Memory Project http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Recovmem/index.html
5. Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse - Scientific Research &
Scholarly Resources by Jim Hopper “Amnesia for childhood sexual abuse
is a condition. The existence of this condition is beyond dispute.
Repression is merely one explanation - often a confusing and
misleading one - for what causes the condition of amnesia. At least
10% of people sexually abused in childhood will have periods of
complete amnesia for their abuse, followed by experiences of delayed
recall.” http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/
6. Williams LM (1994). Recall of childhood trauma: a prospective
study of women’s memories of child sexual abuse. J Consult Clin
Psychol 62: 1167–76. PMID 7860814. "One hundred twenty-nine women with
previously documented histories of sexual victimization in childhood
were interviewed and asked detailed questions about their abuse
histories to answer the question “Do people actually forget traumatic
events such as child sexual abuse, and if so, how common is such
forgetting?” A large proportion of the women (38%) did not recall the
abuse that had been reported 17 years earlier."
http://www.hss.caltech.edu/courses/2004-05/winter/psy130/Debate2Williams1.pdf
7. Andrews, B., Brewin, C., Ochera, J., Morton, J., Bekerian, D.,
Davies, G., and Mollon, P. (1999). Characteristics, context and
consequences of memory recovery among adults in therapy. Brit J
Psychiatry 175:141-146. "Of a total of 690 clients, therapists
reported that 65% recalled child sexual abuse and 35% recalled other
traumas, 32% started recovering memories before entering therapy.
According to therapists’ accounts, among the 236 detailed client
cases, very few appeared improbable and corroboration was reported in
41%. Most (78%) of the clients’ initial recovered memories either
preceded therapy or preceded the use of memory recovery techniques
used by the respondents. Techniques seemed to be used more to help the
clients to elaborate the memories than to facilitate their initial
recovery. Clients with whom techniques had been used before the first
reported memory recovery were no less likely to have found
corroborating evidence than clients with whom no techniques had been
used before memory recovery."
8. Bagley, C. (1995). The prevalence and mental health sequels of
child sexual abuse in community sample of women aged 18 to 27. Child
sexual abuse and mental health in adolescents and adults. Aldershot:
Avebury. "Study of women 18-24 years who had been removed from home 10
years previously by social services due to intrafamilial sexual abuse.
Of the 19 women for whom there was evidence of serious sexual abuse,
14 remembered events corresponding to their records. Two remembered
that abuse had taken place but could recall no specific details, and
three had no memory. Two of the last three described long blank
periods for the memory of childhood corresponding to the age when
abuse had taken place.
9. Feldman-Summers, S., & Pope, K. S. (1994). The experience of
forgetting childhood abuse: A national survey of psychologists.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 636-639. "A
national sample of psychologists were asked whether they had been
abused as children and, if so, whether they had ever forgotten some or
all of the abuse. Almost a quarter of the sample (23.9%) reported
childhood abuse, and of those, approximately 40% reported a period of
forgetting some or all of the abuse....Of those abused, 40% did not
remember at some time. 47% had corroboration. 56% said psychotherapy
aided in recall. Differences between those who first recalled abuse in
therapy and those who recalled it elsewhere were not significant.
10. Herman, J. L., & Harvey, M. R. (1997). Adult memories of
childhood trauma: A naturalistic clinical study. Journal of Traumatic
Stress, 10, 557-571. "Roughly half (53%) said they had never forgotten
the traumatic events. Two smaller groups described a mixture of
continuous and delayed recall (17%) or a period of complete amnesia
followed by delayed recall (16%). Patients with and without delayed
recall did not differ significantly in the proportions reporting
corroboration of their memories from other sources."
11. Corwin, D.; Olafson E. (1997). Videotaped Discovery of a
Reportedly Unrecallable Memory of Child Sexual Abuse:Comparison with a
Childhood Interview Videotaped 11 Years Before Child Maltreatment 2
(2): 91–112. doi:10.1177/1077559597002002001 http://cmx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/2/2/91
12. The Leadership Council - Trauma and Memory
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/tm.html
13. “True” and “False” Child Sexual Abuse Memories and Casey’s
Phenomenological View of Remembering Joanne M. Hall, Lori L. Kondora -
American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 48, No. 10, 1339-1359 (2005) DOI:
10.1177/0002764205277012 "Research shows that 64% of adult women
childhood sexual abuse survivors had some degree of amnesia regarding
the trauma; but in the majority of cases, corroboration was available
to verify that abuse had occurred (Herman & Schatzow, 1987). Of 129
women with recorded histories of childhood sexual abuse, 38% did not
recall the abuse that had been clearly verified and documented decades
earlier. This lack of recall was especially likely among those abused
at younger ages and among those whose perpetrators were known by them
at the time of the abuse (L.Williams, 1994). In fact, a body of
empirical evidence indicates that it is common for abused children to
reach adulthood without conscious awareness of the trauma (Briere,
1992; Herman, 1992; Schetky, 1990; van der Kolk et al., 1996)."
http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/48/10/1339?ijkey=ciZjJlFifgYIY&keytype=ref&siteid=spabs
14. Corroboration of Child Abuse Memories "Studies vary in
frequency. Between 31 and 64 percent of abuse survivors in six major
studies reported that they forgot “some of the abuse.” Numbers
reporting severe amnesia ranged from under 12% to 59%....Studies
report 50-75% of abuse survivors corroborating the facts of their
abuse through an outside source." http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/abuse/a/cooroborate.htm
15. van der Kolk, BA & R Fisler (1995), “Dissociation and the
fragmentary nature of traumatic memories: Overview and exploratory
study”, J Traumatic Stress 8: 505–25 "a systematic exploratory study
of 46 subjects with PTSD which indicates that traumatic memories are
retrieved, at least initially, in the form of dissociated mental
imprints of sensory and affective elements of the traumatic
experience: as visual, olfactory, affective, auditory and kinesthetic
experiences. Over time, subjects reported the gradual emergence of a
personal narrative that some believe can be properly referred to as
“explicit memory”....Of the 35 subjects with childhood trauma, 15
(43%) had suffered significant, or total amnesia for their trauma at
some time of their lives. Twenty seven of the 35 subjects with
childhood trauma (77%) reported confirmation of their childhood
trauma." http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk2.php
16. “Recovered memories of abuse among therapy patients: A national
survey.” Pope, Kenneth S.; Tabachnick, Barbara G. Independent
practice, Norwalk, CT, US Ethics & Behavior 1995 Vol 5(3) 237-248
"about 50% of the patients who claimed to have recovered the memories
had found external validation, a percentage that coincides with that
obtained in the Feldman-Summers & Pope, 1994 study"
17. Herman, J L.; Schatzow E (1987). Recovery and verification of
memories of childhood sexual trauma. Psychoanalytic Psychol 4. “Three
out of four patients were able to validate their memories by obtaining
corroborating evidence from other sources” http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=ppsy.004.0001a
18. Kluft, RP (1995). The confirmation and disconfirmation of
memories of abuse in Dissociative Identity Disorder patients: A
naturalistic study. Dissociation 8: 253-8. "Nineteen, or 56%, had
instances of the confirmation of recalled abuses. Ten of the 19, or
53%, had always recalled the abuses that were confirmed. However, 13
of the 19, or 68%, obtained documentation of events that were
recovered in the course of therapy, usually with the use of hypnosis.
Three patients, or 9%, had instances in which the inaccuracy of their
recollection could be demonstrated."
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1155/Dis_8_4_9_ocr.pdf?sequence=1
19. Westerhof, Y., Woertman, L. Van der Hart, O., & Nijenhuis,
E.R.S. (2000). Forgetting child abuse: Feldman-Summers and Pope’s
(1994) study replicated among Dutch psychologists. Clinical Psychology
and Psychotherapy, 7, 220-229. "In a replication of Feldman-Summers
and Pope’s (1994) national survey of American psychologists on
‘forgetting’ childhood abuse, a Dutch sample of 500 members of the
Netherlands Institute of Psychologists (NIP) were asked if they had
been abused as children and, if so, whether they had ever forgotten
some or all of the abuse for some significant period of time. As
compared to the 23.9% in the original study, 13.3% reported childhood
abuse. Of that subgroup, 39% (as compared to 40% in the original
study) reported a period of forgetting some or all of the abuse for a
period of time. Both sexual and non-sexual physical abuse were subject
to forgetting, which in 70% of cases was reversed while being in
therapy. Almost 70% of those who reported forgetting also reported
corroboration of the abuse."
20. Lewis, D., Yeager, C., Swica, Y., Pincus, J. and Lewis, M.
(1997). Objective documentation of child abuse and dissociation in 12
murderers with dissociative identity disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 154
(12):1703-10. "Signs and symptoms of dissociative identity disorder in
childhood and adulthood were corroborated independently and from
several sources in all 12 cases; objective evidence of severe abuse
was obtained in 11 cases. The subjects had amnesia for most of the
abuse and underreported it. Marked changes in writing style and/or
signatures were documented in 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study
establishes, once and for all, the linkage between early severe abuse
and dissociative identity disorder."
21. Martinez-Taboas, A. (1996). Repressed memories: Some clinical
data contributing toward its elucidation. American Journal of
Psychotherapy, 50(2), 217-30. "the author presents two well documented
and corroborated cases of dissociated or delayed memories of child
sexual abuse in patients with a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity
Disorder (DID). The patients had absolutely no conscious memory of
their childhood abusive experiences and in both cases the author
obtained definite and clear cut independent corroboration of the
realities of the abuse. The amnesia was documented and memories were
recovered in the course of treatment."
22. Viederman M. (1995). The reconstruction of a repressed sexual
molestation fifty years later. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic
Association, 43(4): 1169-1219. Reconstruction of a previously
completely repressed memory of sexual molestation. Six years following
termination of analysis, the patient wrote a letter describing a
confirmation of the event, now sixty years past, from the sole other
survivor of the period who had knowledge of what had happened.
23. Bull, D. (1999). A verified case of recovered memories of sexual
abuse. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 53(2), 221-224. "a 40-year-
old woman with no history of mental illness and ten years of exemplary
professional work, recovers memories of childhood sexual abuse by her
father through a call from her youth pastor in whom she had confided
as an adolescent."
24. Dahlenberg, C. (1996, Summer) Accuracy, timing and circumstances
of disclosure in therapy of recovered and continuous memories of
abuse. The Journal of Psychiatry and Law. "Seventeen patients who had
recovered memories of abuse in therapy participated in a search for
evidence confirming or refuting these memories. Memories of abuse were
found to be equally accurate whether recovered or continuously
remembered."
Bibliography
1. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (D. Corydon), 1998, "Memory, Trauma
Treatment, And the Law" W. W. Norton (0-393-70254-5)
2. Knopp, F. H. & Benson, A. R. (1996) A primer on the complexities
of traumatic memory childhood sexual abuse; a psychobiological
approach. Brandon, VT : Safer Society Press
3. Leavitt, Ph.D., F. Manufactured Memory, Altered Belief and Self
Report Mirage: The Alleged False Memory of Jean Piaget. Child Abuse &
Neglect, 1999, 23, No. 12, pp. 1221-1224. [1]
4. van der Kolk, B. A. (1994). The body keeps the score: Memory and
the evolving psychobiology of post traumatic stress.
http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk4.php
5. van der Kolk, B. A. & Fisler, R. (1995) Dissociation and the
fragmentary nature of traumatic memories: Overview and exploratory
study. http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk2.php
6. Whitfield M.D.,C. Memory and Abuse - Remembering and Healing the
Effects of Trauma Health Communications, Inc 3201 SW 15th St,
Deerfield Beach, FL.33442-8190.
7. Whitfield M.D.,C. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 4, 2, 1997,
Brunner/Mazel.Inc. c 1997, Traumatic Amnesia: The Evolution of Our
Understanding From a Clinical and Legal Perspective
8. Whitfield M.D., C. Traumatic Amnesia: The Evolution of Our
Understanding From A Clinical and Legal Perspective(Sexual Addiction
and Compulsivity, 4(2), 3-34, 1997)
9. Whitfield M.D., C. Trauma and Memory: Clinical & legal
understanding of traumatic amnesia (Chapter 12) in Burgess, Ann W.
(ed): Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing. Appleton & Lange,
Stamford, Ct., 1998, pp 171-186.
10. Widom, C. and Shepard, R. (1996). Accuracy of adult
recollections of childhood victimization: Part 1. Psychological
Assessment, 8(4), 412-421. "accuracy of adult recollections of
childhood physical abuse was assessed. Two hour in-person interviews
were conducted in young adulthood with 1,196 of the original 1,575
participants. Two measures (including the Conflict Tactics Scale) were
used to assess histories of childhood physical abuse. Results indicate
good discriminant validity and predictive efficiency of the self-
report measures, despite substantial underreporting by physically
abused respondents."
11. Widom, C. and Shepard, R. (1997). Accuracy of adult
recollections of childhood victimization. Part 2. Childhood sexual
abuse. Psychological Assessment 9: 34-46. "A prospective study in
which abused and neglected children (court substantiated) [N=1,114]
were matched with non-abused and neglected children and followed into
adulthood. There was substantial underreporting of sexual abuse, when
compared to court and medical records. Victimization recall was
checked by comparing crimes disclosed in victimization surveys found
in police records."
External Links
1. Recovered Memory Data http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-data/
2. Recovered memory corroboration rates
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-corroboration-rates/
childadvocate
Ritual Abuse from the Child Abuse Wiki
copied with permission
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse
Ritual abuse exists all over the world. There have been reports,
journal articles[1][2][3], web pages[4][5][6][7][8][9] and criminal
convictions of crimes against children and adults [10][11][12].
Contents
* 1 Definition
* 2 Origins of the term
* 3 Evidence
* 4 References
* 5 Bibliography
* 6 External Links
Definition
Ritual abuse has been defined as:
a brutal form of abuse of children, adolescents, and adults,
consisting of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, and involving
the use of rituals. Ritual does not necessarily mean satanic. However,
most survivors state that they were ritually abused as part of satanic
worship for the purpose of indoctrinating them into satanic beliefs
and practices. Ritual abuse rarely consists of a single episode. It
usually involves repeated abuse over an extended period of time. The
physical abuse is severe, sometimes including torture and killing. The
sexual abuse is usually painful, sadistic, and humiliating, intended
as means of gaining dominance over the victim. The psychological abuse
is devastating and involves the use of ritual/indoctrination, which
includes mind control techniques and mind altering drugs, and ritual/
intimidation which conveys to the victim a profound terror of the cult
members and of the evil spirits they believe cult members can command.
Both during and after the abuse, most victims are in a state of
terror, mind control, and dissociation in which disclosure is
exceedingly difficult.[13]
and as
WHAT IS RITUAL ABUSE? (BROAD DEFINITION) Ritual abuse is the abuse
of a child, weaker adult, or animal in a ritual setting or manner. In
a broad sense, many of our overtly or covertly socially sanctioned
actions can be seen as ritual abuse, such as military basic training,
hazing, racism, spanking children, and partner-battering. Some abuse
is private...some public. Public ritual abuse may be either open or
secret. WHAT IS RITUAL ABUSE? (NARROW DEFINITION) The term ritual
abuse is generally used to mean prolonged, extreme, sadistic abuse,
especially of children, within a group setting. The group's ideology
is used to justify the abuse, and abuse is used to teach the group's
ideology. The activities are kept secret from society at large, as
they violate norms and laws.[14]
Origins of the term
Pazder introduced the term "ritualized abuse" in 1980, describing the
experiences of an adult survivor that was disclosing satanic abuse
memories. He defined the phenomenon as "repeated physical, emotional,
mental, and spiritual assaults combined with a systematic use of
symbols, ceremonies, and machinations designed and orchestrated to
attain malevolent effects." Later definitions came mostly from
professionals addressing ritual abuse in child care settings.
Finkelhor, Williams, Burns, and Kalinowski elaborated on Pazder's
definition, defining ritual abuse as "abuse that occurs in a context
linked to some symbols or group activity that have a religious,
magical or supernatural connotation, and where the invocation of these
symbols or activities are repeated over time and used to frighten and
intimidate the children." Kelley referred to ritual abuse as the
"repetitive and systematic sexual, physical, and psychological abuse
of children by adults as part of cult or satanic worship"[15].
Evidence
There is a great deal of evidence supporting the existence of ritual
abuse crimes as a worldwide phenomenon. Bottoms, Shaver and Goodman
found in their 1993 study evaluating ritual abuse claims that in 2,292
alleged ritual abuse cases, 15% of the perpetrators in adult cases and
30% of the perpetrators in child cases confessed to the abuse[16]. "In
a survey of 2,709 members of the American Psychological Association,
it was found that 30 percent of these professionals had seen cases of
ritual or religion-related abuse (Bottoms, Shaver & Goodman, 1991). Of
those psychologists who have seen cases of ritual abuse, 93 percent
believed that the reported harm took place and 93 percent believed
that the alleged ritualism occurred....The similar research of Nancy
Perry (1992) which further supports (the previous findings)…Perry also
conducted a national survey of therapists who work with clients with
dissociative disorders and she found that 88 percent of the 1,185
respondents indicated ”belief in ritual abuse, involving mind control
and programming”[17].
Recently an online survey[18] of over one thousand people answered
questions about ritual abuse and extreme abuse crimes. In a summary of
the survey [19], it was found that ritual abuse/mind control is a
global phenomenon. Fifty-five percent stated they were abuse in a
Satanic cult. Seventy-seven percent of the adult survivors that
responded "had been threatened with death if they ever talked about
the abuse." Also, "257 respondents reported that secret mind control
experiments were used on them as children." Eighty-two percent
reported being sexually abused by multiple perpetrators.
Anne Johnson Davis in her book Hell Minus One reported that her
parents confessed to her abuse in writing and verbally to clergymen,
and to the detectives from the Utah Attorney General’s Office. Her
suppressed memories started when she was in her mid-30s, which were
fully substantiated by her mother and stepfather[20][21].
Many scientific journals articles have discussed the reality of ritual
abuse and its effect on its victims. Some of these articles have
discussed the extreme nature of these crimes[22], proof of the reality
of the ritual abuse phenomenon and victims' symptoms[23], the
connection between ritual abuse, multiple personality disorder and
mind control[24] and the connections between ritual abuse reports and
the higher levels of symptoms of childhood sexual and physical abuse
[25]. Several additional studies and organizations have compiled
research on the reality of ritual abuse crimes[26][27][28].
Ritual abuse and mind control crimes have also been confirmed in other
books[29][30].
A study which identified 270 cases of sexual abuse in day care
settings found that allegations of ritual abuse occurred in thirteen
percent of the cases[31]. Additional evidence of ritual abuse in day
care and child abuse cases has been found in news reports, journal
articles and legal transcripts[32][33][34][35][36][37].
Ritual abuse occurrences have also been found in the Netherlands[38]
and England[39]. Reports of ritual abuse have also been found in
multiple personality disorder sufferers[15]. Kent believes that
intergenerational satanic accounts are possible and that rituals
related to them may come from a deviant interpretation of religious
texts[40][41].
References
1. Satanic Ritual Abuse evidence
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/studies/satanic-ritual-abuse-evidence-with-information-on-the-mcmartin-preschool-case/
2. 2008 Publications on Ritual Abuse and Mind Control
http://www.endritualabuse.org/citation%202.htm
3. Lacter, E (2008-02-11). “Brief Synopsis of the Literature on
the Existence of Ritualistic Abuse”. http://endritualabuse.org/Brief%20Synopsis.htm
4. http://ritualabuse.us
5. http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/
6. http://www.ra-info.org
7. http://www.survivorship.org
8. http://theawarenesscenter.org/ritualabuse.html
9. http://www.endritualabuse.org/
10. Believe the children (1997). “Conviction List: Ritual Child
Abuse”. http://www.ra-info.org/resources/ra_cases.shtml
11. The Satanism and Ritual Abuse Archive http://www.endritualabuse.org/ritualabusearchive.htm
12. Noblitt, PhD, J. R. - An Empirical Look at the Ritual Abuse
Controversy (2007)
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/an-empirical-look-at-the-ritual-abuse-controversy-randy-noblitt-phd/
13. Report of the Ritual Abuse Task Force - Los Angeles County
Commission for Women http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/ra.htm
14. Survivorship - Frequently Asked Questions http://www.survivorship.org/faq.html
15. a b Van Benschoten, Susan C. (1990). Multiple Personality
Disorder and Satanic Ritual Abuse: the Issue Of Credibility
Dissociation Vol. III, No. 1 "A large number of adult MPD patients in
psychotherapy are reporting memories of explicitly satanic ritual
abuse beginning in childhood. The authors of two limited surveys,
conducted with a select group of MPD therapists, suggest the
percentage of reported satanic ritual abuse in the MPD population to
be 20% (Braun & Gray, 1986) and 28% (Braun & Gray, 1987). A survey by
Kaye and Klein (1987) reveals that 20 of the 42 MPD patients in
treatment with seven Ohio therapists describe a history of satanic
ritual abuse. Ilopponen (1987) states that 38 of the more than 70 MPD
patients she has treated report memories of "satanic-type ritualized
abuse " (p. 11). Two inpatient facilities specializing in the
treatment of MPD report that approximately 50% of their patients
disclose memories of satanic ritual abuse (Braun, 1989a; Ganaway,
1989). Similar accounts of satanic ritual abuse are being reported by
personally unrelated MPD patients from across the United States
(Braun, 1989b; Braun & Sachs, 1988; Kahaner, 1988; Sachs & Braun,
1987). In addition, according to Braun (1989b), the reports of
patients in this country are similar to data collected from adult
survivors in England, Holland, Germany, France, Canada, and
Mexico...Brown (1986), noting many similar allegations in child and
adult satanic ritual abuse accounts, suggests that reports are not
only comparable across geographical and personal boundaries, but
across generations as well."
http://www.empty-memories.nl/dis_90/vanbenschoten_sra.pdf
16. Data from Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma
Treatment, And the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5 (p.62)
Bottoms, B. Shaver, P. & Goodman, G. (1993) Profile of ritual abuse
and religion related abuse allegations in the United States. Updated
findings provided via personal communication from B. Bottoms. Cited in
K.C. Faller (1994), Ritual Abuse; A Review of the research. The
American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children Advisor , 7, 1,
19-27
17. Noblitt, J.R.; Perskin, P. (2000). Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its
History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America p.
269, Greenwood Publishing Group. http://books.google.com/books?id=zJkTTpfyJ-8C
18. Extreme Abuse Survey http://extreme-abuse-survey.net/
19. Understanding ritual trauma: A comparison of findings from
three online surveys
http://ritualabuse.us/mindcontrol/eas-studies/understanding-ritual-trauma-a-comparison-of-findings-from-three-online-surveys/
20. Johnson Davis, Anne Hell Minus One: My Story of Deliverance
From Satanic Ritual Abuse and My Journey to Freedom Transcript
Bulletin Publishing - ISBN 978-0-9788348-0-7 - 2008 http://www.hellminusone.com/
21. Hell Minus One - signed verified confessions of satanic ritual
abuse
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/survivor-stories/hell-minus-one-signed-verified-confessions-of-satanic-ritual-abuse/
‘
22. Cozolino, L.J. (1990). “Ritual child abuse, psychopathology, and
evil”. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 18(3):218-227 "Ritualistic
abuse is an extreme form of psychological, physical, and sexual
maltreatment of children in the context of "religious" ceremony. The
clinical presentation of the victims of such abuse is complex and
raises many issues related in the diagnosis and treatment of
psychopathology as well as the importance of spiritual counseling"
https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt
23. Cozolino, L.J.; Shaffer, R.E (Fall 1992) "Adults who report
childhood ritualistic abuse." Special Issue: Satanic ritual abuse: The
current state of knowledge. Journal of Psychology and Theology 20(3)
"Skeptics question the legitimacy of these reports, but many factors
point to the reality of the phenomenon of ritualistic abuse. First of
all, the degree of consistency between reports of individuals from
different parts of the country is very high. The fact that children as
young as 2 and 3 report ritualistic abuse experiences that mirror
those reported by adult victims is especially striking in light of the
fact that young children do not have access to the kind of printed
information that might conceivably allow an older person to fabricate
such experiences (Gould, 1987). Second, experiences of ritualistic
abuse reported by victims of all ages are virtually identical to
written historical accounts of Satan worship and the like (Hill &
Goodwin, 1989; Russell, 1972), findings that substantiate our present-
day understanding of Satanism and ritualistic abuse as
intragenerational phenomenon. Third, the symptoms from which
individuals reporting histories of ritualistic abuse tend to suffer
are consistent with our current understanding of post-traumatic stress
disorder and the dissociative disorders. The progression in which
ritualistic abuse survivors respond to psychotherapy places these
victims squarely within the category of individual who have suffered
real-not imagined-trauma." https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt
24. Gould, C., & Cozolino, L. (1992) “Ritual abuse, multiplicity,
and mind-control.” Special Issue: Satanic ritual abuse: The current
state of knowledge. Journal of Psychology and Theology 20(3):194-6 "As
a result of the psychologically intolerable nature of their early
childhood experiences, victims of ritual abuse frequently develop
multiple personality disorder (MPD)....Ritual abuse is conducted on
behalf of a cult whose purpose is to establish mind control over the
victims. Thus, these perpetrators have a conscious motive for the
abuse beyond compulsively repeating their own childhood abuse in an
effort to gain mastery over the original trauma. Most victims state
that they were ritually abused as part of satanic worship, for the
purpose of indoctrinating them into satanic beliefs (Los Angeles
County Commission for Women, 1989). Mind control is originally
established when the victim is a child under 6 years old."
https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt
25. Lawrence, K.J.; Cozolino, L.; Foy, D.W. (1995). Psychological
sequelae in adult females reporting childhood ritualistic abuse. Child
Abuse & Neglect 19 (8): 975-984. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(95)00059-H.
"Women reporting ritualistic features scored significantly higher on
measures of childhood sexual and physical abuse. Neither PTSD
diagnostic status nor severity for PTSD nor dissociative experiences
were significantly different between the groups."
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-3YB56DX-1X&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b9a75a7e349d4efe5a11ed205f736cf5
26. Gould, C. (1995). Denying ritual abuse of children. Journal of
Psychohistory, 22(3), 329-339. "The evidence is rapidly accumulating
that the problem of ritual abuse is considerable in scope and
extremely grave in its consequences Among 2,709 members of the
American Psychological Association who responded to a poll, 2,292
cases of ritual abuse were reported (Bottoms, Shaver, & Goodman,
1993). In 1992 alone, Childhelp USA logged 1,741 calls pertaining to
ritual abuse, Monarch Resources of Los Angeles logged approximately
5,000, Real Active Survivors tallied nearly 3,600, Justus Unlimited of
Colorado received almost 7,000, and Looking Up of Maine handled around
6,000. Even allowing for some of these calls to have been made by
people who assist survivors but arc not themselves survivors, and for
some survivors to have called more that one helpline or made multiple
calls to the same helpline, these numbers suggest that at a minimum
there must be tens of thousands of survivors of ritual abuse in the
United States. Evidence also continues to accumulate that the ritual
abuse of children constitutes a child abuse problem of significant
scope. In 1988, Finkelhor, Williams and Burns published the results of
a nationwide study of substantiated reports of sexual abuse in day
care involving 1,639 young child victims. Thirteen percent of these
cases were found to involve ritual abuse. Other studies of ritually
abused children have been relatively small. Kelly (1988; 1989; 1992a;
1992b; 1993) reported on 35 day care victims of ritual abuse, Waterman
et al. (1993) reported on 82 children complaining of ritual abuse in
preschool, Faller (1988; 1990) studied 18 children who had disclosed
ritual abuse in their preschool, and Bybee and Mowbray (1993) from the
Michigan State Department of Mental Health identified 62 children
alleging ritual abuse in their preschool and 53 children who reported
seeing others be ritually abused. Snow and Sorenson (1990) studied 39
children reporting ritual abuse in five neighborhoods in Utah, and
Jonker and Jonker-Bakker (1991) reported on a total group of 98
children, at least 48 of whom were believed to be victims of ritual
abuse. The latter case is the only one cited here which was conducted
outside of the United States." http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/denyra.htm
27. Paley, K. (June 1992). Dream wars: a case study of a woman with
multiple personality disorder(PDF). Dissociation 5 (2): 111-116.
"Apologists believe that reports of satanic cult abuse either must or
could be true. There is some evidence to support the apologists. In
1986, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in Commonwealth v.
Drew (397 Mass. 65) upheld the conviction of Carl H. Drew for the
murder of Karen Marsden. There was evidence that Drew conducted
satanic ritual meetings and that he had killed Marsden "because she
wanted to leave the cult " (Commonworth v. Drew, 1986, p. 66). Marsden
had gone to the police and reported a human sacrifice. Scott
Waterhouse was convicted of the murder of a twelve year-old girl, and
the conviction was upheld in the State of Maine v. Scott Waterhouse
(513 A. 2d 862, Me. 1986). It was ruled that the trial court's
introduction of the defendant's satanic beliefs was relevant in
establishing motive and intent. In a study of hundreds of day care
centers, Finkelhor and Williams found that "... [c] lear-cut
corroboration of ritualistic practices was available in a few cases,
such as Country Walk [in Miami], where ritual objects were found by
police and where the female perpetrators did admit to some of the
sadistic practices alleged in the children's stories" (1988, pp.
59-60). Greaves (1992) describes a video made by the Chicago Police
Department of two sites allegedly used for satanic ceremonies. He was
struck by the similarity of the material to descriptions he had heard
from many of his clients.
28. Report of Utah State Task Force on Ritual Abuse Utah Governor’s
Commission for Women and Families (1992)
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/dspace/bitstream/1794/1646/1/Diss_5_2_9_OCR.pdf
29. Secret Weapons - Two Sisters’ Terrifying True Story of Sex,
Spies and Sabotage by Cheryl and Lynn Hersha with Dale Griffis, Ph D.
and Ted Schwartz. New Horizon Press, P O Box 669 Far Hills, NJ 07931 -
ISBN0-88282-196-2 "“By the time Cheryl Hersha came to the facility,
knowledge of multiple personality was so complete that doctors
understood how the mind separated into distinct ego states,each
unaware of the other. First, the person traumatized had to be both
extremely intelligent and under the age of seven, two conditions not
yet understood though remaining consistent as factors. The trauma was
almost always of a sexual nature…” p. 52 “The government
researchers,aware of the information in the professional journals,
decided to reverse the process (of healing from hysteric
dissociation). They decided to use selective trauma on healthy
children to create personalities capable of committing acts desired
for national security and defense.” p. 53 - 54
30. Rutz, Carol (2001). A Nation Betrayed. Grass Lake, MI:
Fidelity Publishing. ISBN 0-9710102-0-X. http://my.dmci.net/~casey/
31. Sexual Abuse in Day Care: A National Study - Executive Summary -
March 1988 - Finklehor, Williams, Burns, Kalinowski
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1c/82/61.pdf
"“The study identified 270 “cases” of sexual abuse in day care meaning
270 facilities where substantiated abuse had occurred involving a
total of 1639 victimized children….This yielded an estimate of 500 to
550 reported and substantiated cases and 2500 victims for the three-
year period. Although this is a large number, it must be put in the
context of 229,000 day care facilities nationwide service seven
million children…allegations of ritual abuse (”the invocation of
religious, magical or supernatural symbols of activities”) occurred in
13% of the cases.”
32. Day Care and Child Abuse Cases Information on the McMartin
Preschool Case, Michelle Remembers, the Fells Acres - Amirault Case,
the Wenatchee, Washington Case, the Dale Akiki Case, the Glendale
Montessori - Toward case, the Little Rascals Day Care Center case,
Fran’s Day Care case, the Baran case and the Halsey case
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/
33. McMartin Preschool Case - What Really Happened and the Coverup
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/mcmartin-preschool-case-what-really-happened-and-the-coverup/
34. Archaeological Investigations of the McMartin Preschool Site
http://www.scribd.com/doc/10252626/Archaeological-Investigations-of-the-McMartin-Preschool-Site-by-E-Gary-Stickel-PhD
35. deMause, Lloyd, Why Cults Terrorize and Kill Children The
Journal of Psychohistory 21 (4) 1994 [4]" http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/whycult.htm
36. Summit, R.C. (1994). The Dark Tunnels of McMartin Journal of
Psychohistory 21 (4): 397-416. http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/mcmartin.htm
37. Tamarkin, C. (1994a). Investigative Issues in Ritual Abuse
Cases, Part I. Treating Abuse Today, 4 (4): 14-23. Tamarkin, C.
(1994b). Investigative Issues in Ritual Abuse Cases, Part II. Treating
Abuse Today, 4 (5): 5-9.
http://abusearticles.wordpress.com/2007/12/02/investigative-issues-in-ritual-abuse-cases-part-1-and-2-1994/
38. Jonker, F.; Jonker-bakker, P. (1991). “Experiences with
ritualist child sexual abuse: a case study from the Netherlands”.
Child Abuse and Neglect 15: 191-196. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(91)90064-K.
PMID 2043971 "The case of apparent ritual sexual abuse of children in
a community in the Netherlands is described in terms of the children's
stories, behaviors, and physical symptoms and the community's reaction
to reactions of police and other professionals."
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ429991&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ429991
39. Sinason, V (1994). Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse. New
York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-10543-9. Major publications by Valerie
Sinason http://www.valeriesinason.com/PublicationsVSinason.htm
40. Kent, Stephen. (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual
Satanic Abuse Part One: Possible Judeo-Christian Influences”. Religion
23(23):229-241.
41. Kent, Stephen. (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual
Satanic Abuse. II: Possible Masonic, Mormon, Magick, and Pagan
influences”. Religion 23(4):355-367
Bibliography
* Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment,
And the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
* Cook, C. (1991). Understanding ritual abuse: A study of thirty-
three ritual abuse survivors. Treating Abuse Today, 1(4), 14-19.
* Gould, Catherine. (1992) “Ritual abuse, multiplicity, and mind-
control.” Special Issue: Satanic ritual abuse: The current state of
knowledge. Journal of Psychology and Theology 20(3):194-6
* Hersha, C.; Hersha, L.; Griffis, D.; Schwarz, T (2001). Secret
Weapons. Far Hills, NJ: New Horizon Press. ISBN 0-88282-196-2.
* Johnston, Jerry (1989). The Edge of Evil - The Rise of Satanism
in North America. Dallas: Word Publishing. ISBN 0-8499-0668-7.
* Jonker, F and Jonker-Bakker, I. (1997). “Effects of Ritual
Abuse: The results of three surveys in the Netherlands.” Child Abuse &
Neglect 21(6):541-556
* Kent, Stephen. (1994). “Diabolic Debates: A Reply to David
Frankfurter and J. S. La Fontaine,” Religion 24: 135-188.
* Kent, Stephen. (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual Satanic
Abuse Part One: Possible Judeo-Christian Influences”. Religion 23(23):
229-241.
* Kent, Stephen. (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual Satanic
Abuse. II: Possible Masonic, Mormon, Magick, and Pagan influences”.
Religion 23(4):355-367
* Leavitt, Frank. Measuring the impact of media exposure and
hospital treatment on patients alleging satanic ritual abuse. Treating
Abuse Today 8(4) 1998 pp. 7-13 "This study provides evidence that
clients who report SRA exhibit a set of associations to SRA-related
words that cannot be explained by exposure to the popular media or
from inpatient treatment." http://web.archive.org/web/20000306224228/http://idealist.com/tat/leavitt.shtml
* Neswald, D., Gould, C., & Graham-Costain, V. (1991). Common
programs observed in survivors of Satanic ritual abuse. The California
Therapist, 3 (5), 47 50. http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/sracp.htm
* Noblitt, J.R.; Perskin, P. (2000). Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its
History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America p.
269, Greenwood Publishing Group. http://books.google.com/books?id=zJkTTpfyJ-8C
* Noblitt, R.; Perskin, P. (2008). Ritual abuse in the 21st
century p. 552, Bandon, OR: Reed Publishers.
http://www.rdrpublishers.com/catalog/item/6339393/5820690.htm
* Sachs, A. & Galton, G. (Eds) (2008). Forensic Aspects of
Dissociative Identity Disorder London: Karnac. Chapters include
discussions on ritual abuse, dissociative identity disorder, mind
control, extreme abuse, survivor accounts and criminal convictions
http://www.karnacbooks.com/product.php?PID=25876
http://books.google.com/books?id=upHtL9lual0C&dq=Forensic+aspects+of+dissociative+identity+disorder+|&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=caNy__6-zt&sig=VwIOryBkcSN0nh24CJR3aJkS_gs&hl=en&ei=702fSbmpOo_ftgfe5eSVDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA142,M1
* Scott, S. (2001). The politics and experience of ritual abuse:
beyond disbelief. Open University Press. ISBN 0335204198.
http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Experience-Ritual-Abuse/dp/0335204198
* Smith, Margaret. (1993). Ritual Abuse: What it Is, why it
Happens, and how to Help by Margaret - HarperCollins
* Waterman, Jill; Kelly, Robert J.;Oliveri, M. K.;and McCord, Jane
(1993). Behind the Playground Walls - Sexual Abuse in Preschools. New
York, London: The Guilford Press, 284-8. ISBN 0-89862-523-8.
* Young, Walter C., Sachs, Roberta G., Braun, Bennett G., and
Watkins, R. T. (1993) “Patients reporting ritual abuse in childhood: A
clinical syndrome. Report of 37 cases.” Child Abuse and Neglect 15(3):
181-9
External Links
* An Empirical Look at the Ritual Abuse Controversy
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/an-empirical-look-at-the-ritual-abuse-controversy-randy-noblitt-phd/
* Ritual Abuse articles
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/studies/satanic-ritual-abuse-evidence-with-information-on-the-mcmartin-preschool-case/
* Ritual Abuse Cases http://www.ra-info.org/resources/ra_cases.shtml
* Extreme Abuse Survey http://extreme-abuse-survey.net/
* http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/
* http://www.ra-info.org
* http://www.survivorship.org
* http://theawarenesscenter.org/ritualabuse.html
* Ritual Abuse Statistics & Research
http://web.archive.org/web/20071210161357/http://home.mchsi.com/~ftio/ra-stats.htm
Michael Snyder
Stop nym shifting and STAY IN MY KILLFILE,
you recovered-memories kook!
krp
> Tell us, how many of their "PATIENTS" have DIED undergoing this "Memory
> Recovery THERAPY?"
none - the post above misrepresents the "facts" and fabricates
information
Oh Girl SUCH BULLSHIT..
http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Amytal
" Sodium amobarbital has a reputation for having activity as a truth serum,
where the person under the influence of the drug will submit to almost any
request given by another person. It has been used to convict murderers such
as Andres English-Howard, who strangled his girlfriend to death but claimed
innocence. He was surreptitiously administered the drug, by his attorney,
and under the influence of it he revealed why he strangled her and under
which circumstances. A year later he confessed, on the stand, and was
convicted on the basis of these statements; he later committed suicide in
his cell.[6] The use of amobarbital as a truth serum has lost credibility
due to the discovery that the subject can be coerced into having a 'false
memory' of the event. In controlled doses, it is used in the Narco Analysis
test to trace crime and criminals in modern forensics"
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/e1950/mkultra/Hearing04.htm
"The notion of drugs capable of illuminating hidden recesses of the mind,
helping to heal the mentally ill and preventing or reversing the miscarriage
of justice, has provided an exceedingly durable theme for the press and
popular literature. While acknowledging that "truth serum" is a misnomer
twice over -- the drugs are not sera and they do not necessarily bring forth
probative truth -- journalistic accounts continue to exploit the appeal of
the term. "
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0813335876/roberttoddcarrolA/
From HARVARD
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/collateral/article7.html
"The topic of memory for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is currently one of
great controversy within and between the mental health field and academic
psychology. One recently expressed concern is that some clinicians are
engaging in therapeutic practices, designed to help clients recover
memories, which may inadvertently lead to the creation of false memories of
CSA. Two recent studies (Polusny & Follette, 1996; Poole, Lindsay, Memon, &
Bull, 1995) provide the first published empirical data regarding how common
such practices actually are. "
http://whatstheharm.net/repressedmemories.html
http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.memory.html
"Hypnosis and sodium amytal administration ("truth serum") are unacceptable
procedures for memory recovery. Courts reject hypnosis as a memory aid.
Subjects receiving hypnosis or amytal as general memory aids (even in
instances where there is no question of sexual abuse) will often generate
false memories. Upon returning to their normal state of consciousness,
subjects assume all their refreshed "memories" are equally true. "
It is NOT that repression of memory doesn't happen. It does. BUT just
because you don't remember being molested does NOT mean that you WERE!
childadvocate
rarely if ever used in therapy
there is NO evidence that anyone has ever been hurt in trauma recovery
treatment
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-corroboration-rates/
There are many studies that show fairly high corroboration rates for
recovered memories.
van der Kolk, BA & R Fisler (1995), “Dissociation and the fragmentary
nature of traumatic memories: Overview and exploratory study”, J
Traumatic Stress 8: 505–25 “a systematic exploratory study of 46
subjects with PTSD which indicates that traumatic memories are
retrieved, at least initially, in the form of dissociated mental
imprints of sensory and affective elements of the traumatic
experience: as visual, olfactory, affective, auditory and kinesthetic
experiences. Over time, subjects reported the gradual emergence of a
personal narrative that some believe can be properly referred to as
“explicit memory”....Of the 35 subjects with childhood trauma, 15
(43%) had suffered significant, or total amnesia for their trauma at
some time of their lives. Twenty seven of the 35 subjects with
childhood trauma (77%) reported confirmation of their childhood
trauma.”
http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk2.php
“The Validity of Recovered Memory: Decision of a US District Court”
Judge Edward F. Harrington, Presentation by Jim Hopper, Ph.D. The
legal documentation citation is: 923 Federal Supplement 286 (D. Mass.
1996), United States District Court - District of Massachusetts Ann
Shahzade, plaintiff Civil Action No.: V. 92-12139-EFH George Gregory,
Defendant. http://www.jimhopper.com/memory-decision/
“Recovered memories of abuse among therapy patients: A national
survey.” Pope, Kenneth S.; Tabachnick, Barbara G. Independent
practice, Norwalk, CT, US Ethics & Behavior 1995 Vol 5(3) 237-248,
“According to the therapists, about 50% of the patients who claimed to
have recovered the memories had found external validation, a
percentage that coincides with that obtained in the Feldman-Summers &
Pope, 1994 study”
Corroboration of Child Abuse Memories “Studies vary in frequency.
Between 31 and 64 percent of abuse survivors in six major studies
reported that they forgot “some of the abuse.” Numbers reporting
severe amnesia ranged from under 12% to 59%….Studies report 50-75% of
abuse survivors corroborating the facts of their abuse through an
outside source. Reference: Bowman, Elizabeth. Delayed Memories of
Child Abuse: Part I: An Overview of Research Findings on Forgetting,
Remembering, and Corroborating Trauma. Dissociation, IX (4) pp.
221-231 http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/abuse/a/cooroborate.htm
Chu, JA; et al. (1999). Memories of childhood abuse: Dissociation,
amnesia and corroboration.. Am J Psychiatry 156: 749-55. “Childhood
abuse, particularly chronic abuse beginning at early ages, is related
to the development of high levels of dissociative symptoms including
amnesia for abuse memories. This study suggests that psychotherapy
usually is not associated with memory recovery and that independent
corroboration of recovered memories of abuse is often present.”
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/156/5/749
Williams LM (1994). Recall of childhood trauma: a prospective study of
women’s memories of child sexual abuse. J Consult Clin Psychol 62:
1167–76. PMID 7860814.
One hundred twenty-nine women with previously documented histories of
sexual victimization in childhood were interviewed and asked detailed
questions about their abuse histories to answer the question “Do
people actually forget traumatic events such as child sexual abuse,
and if so, how common is such forgetting?” A large proportion of the
women (38%) did not recall the abuse that had been reported 17 years
earlier. Women who were younger at the time of the abuse and those who
were molested by someone they knew were more likely to have no recall
of the abuse. The implications for research and practice are
discussed. Long periods with no memory of abuse should not be regarded
as evidence that the abuse did not occur.
http://www.hss.caltech.edu/courses/2004-05/winter/psy130/Debate2Williams1.pdf
How often do children’s reports of abuse turn out to be false?
Research has consistently shown that false allegations of child sexual
abuse by children are rare. Jones and McGraw examined 576 consecutive
referrals of child sexual abuse to the Denver Department of Social
Services, and categorized the reports as either reliable or
fictitious. In only 1% of the total cases were children judged to have
advanced a fictitious allegation. Jones, D. P. H., and J. M. McGraw:
Reliable and Fictitious Accounts of Sexual Abuse to Children.Journal
of Interpersonal Violence, 2, 27-45, 1987. In a more recent study,
investigators reviewed case notes of all child sexual abuse reports to
the Denver Department of Social Services over 12 months. Of the 551
cases reviewed, there were only 14 (2.5%) instances of erroneous
concerns about abuse emanating from children. These consisted of three
cases of allegations made in collusion with a parent, three cases
where an innocent event was misinterpreted as sexual abuse and eight
cases (1.5%) of false allegations of sexual abuse. Oates, R. K., D.P.
Jones, D. Denson, A. Sirotnak, N. Gary, and R.D. Krugman: Erroneous
Concerns about Child Sexual Abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect 24:149-57,
2000….Children Tend to Understate Rather than Overstate the Extent of
Any Abuse Experienced - Research with children whose sexual abuse has
been proven has shown that children tend to minimize and deny abuse,
not exaggerate or over-report such incidents.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/csa-acc.html
Duggal, S., & Sroufe, L. A. (1998). Recovered memory of childhood
sexual trauma: A documented case from a longitudinal study. Journal of
Traumatic Stress, 11(2), 301-321. A case of recovered memory of
childhood trauma is reported with documented sexual trauma in early
childhood, chronicled evidence of the absence of memory for traumatic
experience over a period of time, and substantial evidence of
spontaneous recovery of memory.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/110491838/abstract
“Child Maltreatment, Vol. 2, No. 2, 91-112 (1997) DOI:
10.1177/1077559597002002001 Videotaped Discovery of a Reportedly
Unrecallable Memory of Child Sexual Abuse: Comparison with a Childhood
Interview Videotaped 11 Years Before David L. Corwin, Erna
Olafson….This article presents the history, verbatim transcripts, and
behavioral observations of a child’s disclosure of sexual abuse to Dr.
David Corwin in 1984 and the spontaneous return of that reportedly
unrecallable memory during an interview between the same individual,
now a young adult, and Dr. Corwin 11 years later. Both interviews were
videotape recorded.” http://cmx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/2/2/91
Herman, J L.; Schatzow E (1987). Recovery and verification of memories
of childhood sexual trauma.. Psychoanalytic Psychol 4. “Three out of
four patients were able to validate their memories by obtaining
corroborating evidence from other sources” http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=ppsy.004.0001a
Kluft, RP (1995). The confirmation and disconfirmation of memories of
abuse in Dissociative Identity Disorder patients: A naturalistic
study. Dissociation 8: 253-8. “The charts of 34 dissociative identity
disorder (DID) patients in treatment with the author were reviewed for
instances of the confirmation or disconfirmation of recalled episodes
of abuse occurring naturalistically in the course of their
psychotherapies. Nineteen, or 56%, had instances of the confirmation
of recalled abuses. Ten of the 19, or 53%, had always recalled the
abuses that were confirmed. However, 13 of the 19, or 68%, obtained
documentation of events that were recovered in the course of therapy,
usually with the use of hypnosis. Three patients, or 9%, had instances
in which the inaccuracy of their recollection could be demonstrated.”
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1155/Dis_8_4_9_ocr.pdf?sequence=1
–
From Research discussing corroboration and accuracy of recovered
memories An Annotated Bibliography by Lynn Crook
http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/suggestedrefs.html
(see this bibliography for more detailed information)
Andrews, B., Brewin, C., Ochera, J., Morton, J., Bekerian, D., Davies,
G., and Mollon, P. (1999). Characteristics, context and consequences
of memory recovery among adults in therapy. Brit J Psychiatry
175:141-146.
Abstract: One-hundred and eight therapists provided information on all
clients with recovered memories seen in the past three years, and were
interviewed in detail on up to three such clients. Of a total of 690
clients, therapists reported that 65% recalled child sexual abuse and
35% recalled other traumas, 32% started recovering memories before
entering therapy. According to therapists’ accounts, among the 236
detailed client cases, very few appeared improbable and corroboration
was reported in 41%. Most (78%) of the clients’ initial recovered
memories either preceded therapy or preceded the use of memory
recovery techniques used by the respondents. Techniques seemed to be
used more to help the clients to elaborate the memories than to
facilitate their initial recovery. Clients with whom techniques had
been used before the first reported memory recovery were no less
likely to have found corroborating evidence than clients with whom no
techniques had been used before memory recovery. Some of the data are
consistent with memories being of iatrogenic origin, but other data
clearly point to the need for additional explanations.
Bagley, C. (1995). The prevalence and mental health sequels of child
sexual abuse in community sample of women aged 18 to 27. Child sexual
abuse and mental health in adolescents and adults. Aldershot: Avebury.
Abstract: Study of women 18-24 years who had been removed from home 10
years previously by social services due to intrafamilial sexual abuse.
Of the 19 women for whom there was evidence of serious sexual abuse,
14 remembered events corresponding to their records. Two remembered
that abuse had taken place but could recall no specific details, and
three had no memory. Two of the last three described long blank
periods for the memory of childhood corresponding to the age when
abuse had taken place.
Bull, D. (1999). A verified case of recovered memories of sexual
abuse. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 53(2), 221-224.
Abstract: A case is presented that shows verifiable evidence of
repression at work. Rachel, a 40-year-old woman with no history of
mental illness and ten years of exemplary professional work, recovers
memories of childhood sexual abuse by her father through a call from
her youth pastor in whom she had confided as an adolescent.
.
Dahlenberg, C. (1996, Summer) Accuracy, timing and circumstances of
disclosure in therapy of recovered and continuous memories of abuse.
The Journal of Psychiatry and Law.
Abstract: Seventeen patients who had recovered memories of abuse in
therapy participated in a search for evidence confirming or refuting
these memories. Memories of abuse were found to be equally accurate
whether recovered or continuously remembered. Predictors of number of
memory units for which evidence was uncovered included several
measures of memory and perceptual accuracy. Recovered memories that
were later supported arose in psychotherapy more typically during
periods of positive rather than negative feelings toward the
therapist, and they were more likely to be held with confidence by the
abuse victim.
Feldman-Summers, S., & Pope, K. S. (1994). The experience of
forgetting childhood abuse: A national survey of psychologists.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 636-639.
Abstract: A national sample of psychologists were asked whether they
had been abused as children and, if so, whether they had ever
forgotten some or all of the abuse. Almost a quarter of the sample
(23.9%) reported childhood abuse, and of those, approximately 40%
reported a period of forgetting some or all of the abuse. The major
findings were that (a) both sexual and nonsexual abuse were subject to
periods of forgetting; (b) the most frequently reported factor related
to recall was being in therapy; (c) approximately one half of those
who reported forgetting also reported corroboration of the abuse; and
(d) reported forgetting was not related to gender or age of the
respondent but was related to severity of the abuse.
Summary: 330 psychologists. 24% physical and 22% sexual abuse. Of
those abused, 40% did not remember at some time. 47% had
corroboration. 56% said psychotherapy aided in recall. Differences
between those who first recalled abuse in therapy and those who
recalled it elsewhere were not significant.
Herman, J. L., & Harvey, M. R. (1997). Adult memories of childhood
trauma: A naturalistic clinical study. Journal of Traumatic Stress,
10, 557-571.
The clinical evaluations of 77 adult outpatients reporting memories of
childhood trauma were reviewed. A majority of patients reported some
degree of continuous recall. Roughly half (53%) said they had never
forgotten the traumatic events. Two smaller groups described a mixture
of continuous and delayed recall (17%) or a period of complete amnesia
followed by delayed recall (16%). Patients with and without delayed
recall did not differ significantly in the proportions reporting
corroboration of their memories from other sources. Idiosyncratic,
trauma-specific reminders and recent life crises were most commonly
cited as precipitants to delayed recall. A previous psychotherapy was
cited as a factor in a minority (28%) of cases. By contrast, intrusion
of memories after a period of amnesia was frequently cited as a factor
leading to the decision to seek psychotherapy. The implications of
these findings are discussed with respect to the role of psychotherapy
in the process of recovering traumatic memories.
Lewis, D., Yeager, C., Swica, Y., Pincus, J. and Lewis, M. (1997).
Objective documentation of child abuse and dissociation in 12
murderers with dissociative identity disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 154
(12):1703-10.
OBJECTIVE: The skepticism regarding the existence of dissociative
identity disorder as well as the abuse that engenders it persists for
lack of objective documentation. This is doubly so for the disorder in
murderers because of issues of suspected malingering. This article
presents objective verification of both dissociative symptoms and
severe abuse during childhood in a series of adult murderers with
dissociative identity disorder. METHOD: This study consisted of a
review of the clinical records of 11 men and one woman with DSM-IV-
defined dissociative identity disorder who had committed murder. Data
were gathered from medical, psychiatric, social service, school,
military, and prison records and from records of interviews with
subjects’ family members and others. Handwriting samples were also
examined. Data were analyzed qualitatively. RESULTS: Signs and
symptoms of dissociative identity disorder in childhood and adulthood
were corroborated independently and from several sources in all 12
cases; objective evidence of severe abuse was obtained in 11 cases.
The subjects had amnesia for most of the abuse and underreported it.
Marked changes in writing style and/or signatures were documented in
10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study establishes, once and for all, the
linkage between early severe abuse and dissociative identity disorder.
Further, the data demonstrate that the disorder can be distinguished
from malingering and from other disorders. The study shows that it is
possible, with great effort, to obtain objective evidence of both the
symptoms of dissociative identity disorder and the abuse that
engenders it.
Martinez-Taboas, A. (1996). Repressed memories: Some clinical data
contributing toward its elucidation. American Journal of
Psychotherapy, 50(2), 217-30.
Abstract: Recently there has been considerable controversy about the
validity of memories recovered during psychotherapy. In the last two
decades, a plethora of studies have been published that leave no
reasonable doubt that many children are victimized and abused.
Proponents of false memory syndrome have taken the position that
“memories” that surface in the course of psychotherapy are not the
product of real traumas, but are instead,”pseudomemories” implanted by
therapists through techniques such as hypnosis and abreactions. In
response to these claims, the author presents two well documented and
corroborated cases of dissociated or delayed memories of child sexual
abuse in patients with a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder
(DID). The patients had absolutely no conscious memory of their
childhood abusive experiences and in both cases the author obtained
definite and clear cut independent corroboration of the realities of
the abuse. The amnesia was documented and memories were recovered in
the course of treatment. Only through the publication of clear cut
cases can the debate about repressed memories be settled in an
empirical way.
Viederman M. (1995). The reconstruction of a repressed sexual
molestation fifty years later. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic
Association, 43(4): 1169-1219.
Summary: Reconstruction of a previously completely repressed memory of
sexual molestation. Six years following termination of analysis, the
patient wrote a letter describing a confirmation of the event, now
sixty years past, from the sole other survivor of the period who had
knowledge of what had happened.
Westerhof, Y., Woertman, L. Van der Hart, O., & Nijenhuis, E.R.S.
(2000). Forgetting child abuse: Feldman-Summers and Pope’s (1994)
study replicated among Dutch psychologists. Clinical Psychology and
Psychotherapy, 7, 220-229.
Abstract: In a replication of Feldman-Summers and Pope’s (1994)
national survey of American psychologists on ‘forgetting’ childhood
abuse, a Dutch sample of 500 members of the Netherlands Institute of
Psychologists (NIP) were asked if they had been abused as children
and, if so, whether they had ever forgotten some or all of the abuse
for soem significant period of time. As compared to the 23.9% in the
original study, 13.3% reported childhood abuse. Of that subgroup, 39%
(as compared to 40% in the original study) reported a period of
forgetting some or all of the abuse for a period of time. Both sexual
and non-sexual physical abuse were subject to forgetting, which in 70%
of cases was reversed while being in therapy. Almost 70% of those who
reported forgetting also reported corroboration of the abuse. The
forgetting was not related to gender or age, but was associated with
the reported early abuse onset. These results were remarkably similar
to the results of the Feldman-Summers and Pope’s original study.
Widom, C. and Shepard, R. (1996). Accuracy of adult recollections of
childhood victimization: Part 1. Psychological Assessment, 8(4),
412-421.
Abstract: Using data from a study with prospective-cohorts design in
which children who were physically abused, sexually abused, or
neglected about 20 years ago were followed up along with a matched
control group, accuracy of adult recollections of childhood physical
abuse was assessed. Two hour in-person interviews were conducted in
young adulthood with 1,196 of the original 1,575 participants. Two
measures (including the Conflict Tactics Scale) were used to assess
histories of childhood physical abuse. Results indicate good
discriminant validity and predictive efficiency of the self-report
measures, despite substantial underreporting by physically abused
respondents. Tests of construct validity reveal shared method
variance, with self-report measures predicting self-reported violence
and official reports of physical abuse predicting arrests for
violence. Findings are discussed in the context of other research on
the accuracy of adult recollections of childhood experiences.
Widom, C. and Shepard, R. (1997). Accuracy of adult recollections of
childhood victimization. Part 2. Childhood sexual abuse. Psychological
Assessment 9: 34-46.
Summary: A prospective study in which abused and neglected children
(court substantiated) [N=1,114] were matched with non-abused and
neglected children and followed into adulthood. There was substantial
underreporting of sexual abuse, when compared to court and medical
records. Victimization recall was checked by comparing crimes
disclosed in victimization surveys found in police records. The
question should be not whether reports of childhood sexual abuse are
valid or not, but what is the best way to ask questions to make
answers more valid.
Williams, L. M. (1995, October). Recovered memories of abuse in women
with documented child sexual victimization histories. Journal of
Traumatic Stress, 8(4).
Abstract: This study provides evidence that some adults who claim to
have recovered memories of sexual abuse recall actual events that
occurred in childhood. One hundred twenty-nine women with documented
histories of sexual victimization in childhood were interviewed and
asked about abuse history. Seventeen years following the initial
report of the abuse, 80 of the women recalled the victimization. One
in 10 women (16% of those who recalled the abuse) reported that at
some time in the past they had forgotten about the abuse. Those with a
prior period of forgetting - the women with “recovered memories” -
were younger at the time of abuse and were less likely to have
received support from their mothers than the women who reported that
they had always remembered their victimization. The women who had
recovered memories and those who had always remembered had the same
number of discrepancies when their accounts of the abuse were compared
to the reports from the early 1970’s.
REFERENCE
Brown, D., Scheflin, A., and Whitfield, C. (1999). Recovered memories:
the current weight of the evidence in science and in the courts. The
Journal of Psychiatry & Law 27/Spring 1999
–
From How People Forget: The Truth About Delayed Memory Studies of
Delayed Memory http://web.archive.org/web/20000609035705/http://ncasa.org/memory.html
That dissociation and amnesia are relatively common in child sexual
abuse survivors is well-documented. There have been several recent
studies that verify the repression of trauma and the fact of delayed
memories: In a survey of 450 adults in treatment for child sexual
abuse, 59% had periods in which they could not remember the abuse.
(Briere and Conte, in press). Briere, John. “Studying Delayed Memories
of Childhood Sexual Abuse.” The APSAC Advisor, Summer 1992.
In a study of 53 women in therapy, Judith Herman and Emily Schatzow
found that 74% were able to obtain corroborating evidence for the
abuse, through witnesses, offenders’ diaries, pornographic pictures,
offender confessions, and other sources. Nine percent found evidence
that was “strongly suggestive, but not conclusive;” 11% did not try to
confirm their memories; and only 6% found no supportive evidence. The
conclusion of the researchers was that, “delayed recall of sexual
abuse is as verifiable as any other form of disclosure.” Herman,
Judith L. And Mary R. Harvey. “The False Memory Debate: Social Science
or Social Backlash?” The Harvard Mental Health Letter, Volume 9,
Number 10, April 1993.
Interviews were conducted with 100 women who as children reported
sexual abuse in 1973, 1974 or 1975. The records of these girls were
obtained from a city hospital emergency department which had
interviewed the girls and the families and collected forensic
evidence. In 1990 and 1991 the women, aged 18-31, were interviewed for
two hours for what they were told was a study that examined the lives
and health of women who obtained care at the hospital. In the course
of the interview, the women were asked about their childhood
experiences with sex. They were asked whether they or their families
had ever reported childhood sexual abuse, or if anyone in their family
‘got in trouble’ for his or her sexual activities. Thirty-eight
percent of the women either did not remember the abuse or chose not to
report it to the interviewer. The interviewer states,”…qualitative
analysis of these reports and non-reports suggests that the vast
majority of the 38% were women who did not remember the abuse. They
responded openly to other personal matters, and over one-half of the
women who were amnestic reported other childhood victimizations.”
Williams, Linda M. “Adult Memories of Childhood Abuse: Preliminary
Findings from a Longitudinal Study.” The APSAC Advisor, Summer 1992.
Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse Scientific Research & Scholarly
Resources
At least 10% of people sexually abused in childhood will have periods
of complete amnesia for their abuse, followed by experiences of
delayed recall. http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/
101 corroborated cases of recovered memory
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Recovmem/archive.html
Summary of Research Examining the Prevalence of Full or Partial
Dissociative Amnesia for Traumatic Events
The most comprehensive review of the scientific literature on
dissociative amnesia has been conducted by Brown, Scheflin and Hammond
in their book, Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the Law . (New York:
Norton, 1998). This book is viewed as setting the standard in the
field after receiving the American Psychiatric Association’s 1999
prestigious Manfred S. Guttmacher Award for best book in law and
forensic psychiatry.
Brown, Scheflin and Hammond reviewed 43 studies relevant to the
subject of traumatic memory and found that every study that examined
the question of dissociative amnesia in traumatized populations
demonstrated that a substantial minority partially or completely
forget the traumatic event experienced, and later recover memories of
the event.
By 1999, over 68 studies had been published that document dissociative
amnesia after childhood sexual abuse. In fact, no study that has
looked for evidence of traumatic or dissociative amnesia after child
sexual abuse has failed to find it. see: Brown, Scheflin, & Whitfield.
(1999). Recovered Memories: The Current Weight of the Evidence in
Science and in the Courts, Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 27, 5-156.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/prev.html
childadvocate
False memory syndrome proponents have done the following to try and
ensure that only their point of view is in the public view.
1) Harassing debate opponents
Confessions of a Whistle-Blower: Lessons Learned Author: Anna C.
Salter DOI: 10.1207/s15327019eb0802_2 Published in: Ethics & Behavior,
Volume 8, Issue 2 June 1998 , pages 115 - 124 Abstract - In 1988 I
began a report on the accuracy of expert testimony in child sexual
abuse cases utilizing Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield as a case
study (Wakefield & Underwager, 1988). In response, Underwager and
Wakefield began a campaign of harassment and intimidation, which
included multiple lawsuits; an ethics charge; phony (and secretly
taped) phone calls; and ad hominem attacks, including one that I was
laundering federal grant monies. The harassment and intimidation
failed as the author refused demands to retract. In addition, the
lawsuits and ethics charges were dismissed.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/confessions-of-a-whistle-blower-lessons-learned/
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402311~db=all
Calof, D.L. (1998). Notes from a practice under siege: Harassment,
defamation, and intimidation in the name of science, Ethics and
Behavior, 8(2) pp. 161-187. Abstract: I have practiced psychotherapy,
family therapy, and hypnotherapy for over 25 years without a single
board complaint or lawsuit by a client. For over 3 years, however, a
group of proponents of the false memory syndrome (FMS) hypothesis,
including members, officials, and supporters of the False Memory
Syndrome Foundation, Inc., have waged a multimodal campaign of
harassment and defamation directed against me, my clinical clients, my
staff, my family, and others connected to me. I have neither treated
these harassers or their families nor had any professional or personal
dealings with any of them; I am not related in any way to the
disclosures of memories of sexual abuse in these families.
Nonetheless, this group disrupts my professional and personal life and
threatens to drive me out of business. In this article, I describe
practicing psychotherapy under a state of siege and place the campaign
against me in the context of a much broader effort in the FMS movement
to denigrate, defame, and harass clinicians, lecturers, writers, and
researchers identified with the abuse and trauma treatment
communities. http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/notes-from-a-practice-under-siege/
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402374~db=all
JENNIFER A. HOULT in 1988, filed a civil suit against her father - a
member of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation - (J. Hoult v. D.P.
Hoult), whom she alleged had sexually abused her throughout her
childhood. In 1993, this case was unanimously decided in her favor,
and she was awarded monetary damages. However, Hoult has seen the
facts of her case twisted and misreported in the media and by FMS
proponents. She writes:
“Since 1995, I have become aware of the parallel between the
intimidation and silencing in the microcosm of the abusive family and
in the macrocosm of a society that is ill at ease in dealing with the
abuse of children. During my childhood my father protected himself
from being held accountable by threatening me into silence. I believe
that published documents demonstrate how some members and supporters
of false memory groups publish false statements that defame and
intimidate victims of proven violence and their supporters. Such
altered accounts are used to discredit others in court and in the
press.” — Silencing the Victim: The Politics of Discrediting Child
Abuse Survivors, p. 125. http://www.fmsf.com/ethics.shtml
Abstract: As a victim of child abuse who proved my claims in a
landmark civil suit, there have been many attempts to silence and
discredit me. This article provides an overview of my court case and
its effects. Silencing the Victim: The Politics of Discrediting Child
Abuse Survivors - Ethics & Behavior, Volume 8, Issue 2 June 1998 ,
pages 125 - 140
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402312~db
2) Misrepresenting the data in the field
“Since at least 95 percent of child molesters initially deny their
abusive behaviors, how can untrained lay people like Pamela Freyd and
her staff “document” a real or “unreal” case of “FMS,” as appears to
be the case with most of their communications, which usually occur
over the telephone or by letter. (p. 76) (Memory and abuse:
remembering and healing the effects of trauma By Charles L. Whitfield,
Christine Courtois Published by HCI, 1995)
http://books.google.com/books?id=z1LW3u1e04YC
JENNIFER J. FREYD, PH.D., author of “Betrayal Trauma: The Logic of
Forgetting Childhood Abuse.”
“Despite this documentation for both traumatic amnesia and essentially
accurate delayed recall, memory science is often presented as if it
supports the view that traumatic amnesia is very unlikely or perhaps
impossible and that a great many, perhaps a majority, maybe even all,
recovered memories of abuse are false….Yet no research supports such
an implication…and a great deal of research supports the premise that
forgetting sexual abuse is fairly common and that recovered memories
are sometimes essentially true.” (p. 107)
Science in the Memory Debate - Ethics & Behavior, Volume 8, Issue 2
June 1998 , pages 101 - 113 http://www.fmsf.com/ethics.shtml
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402310~db
Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Anna
Salter, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees., 22 F.3d 730 (7th Cir. 1994)
Federal Circuits, 7th Cir. (April 25, 1994) Docket number: 93-2422
“Psychologists Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield have written two
books…When a given reference fails to support their viewpoint they
simply misstate the conclusion. When they cannot use a quotation out
of context from an article, they make unsupported statements, some of
which are palpably untrue and others simply unprovable. David L.
Chadwick, Book Review, in 261 JAMA 3035 (May 26, 1989)”
“Both Salter and Toth came to believe that Underwager is a hired gun
who makes a living by deceiving judges about the state of medical
knowledge and thus assisting child molesters to evade punishment.”
http://vlex.com/vid/36092881
3) Controlling the media
U-Turn on Memory Lane by Mike Stanton - Columbia Journalism Review -
July/August 1997
“Rarely has such a strange and little-understood organization had such
a profound effect on media coverage of such a controversial matter.
The foundation is an aggressive, well-financed p.r. machine adept at
manipulating the press, harassing its critics, and mobilizing a
diverse army of psychiatrists, outspoken academics, expert defense
witnesses, litigious lawyers, Freud bashers, critics of psychotherapy,
and devastated parents. With a budget of $750,000 a year from members
and outside supporters, the foundation’s reach far exceeds its actual
membership of about 3,000.”
“As controversial memory cases arose around the country, FMSF boosters
contacted journalists to pitch the false-memory argument, more and
more reporters picked up on the issue, and the foundation became an
overnight media darling. The story line that had dominated the press
since the 1980s — an underreported toll of sexual abuse, including
sympathetic stories of adult survivors resurrecting long-lost memories
of it — was quickly turned around. The focus shifted to new tearful
victims — respectable, elderly parents who could no longer see their
children and grandchildren because of bad therapists who implanted
memories…:” http://web.archive.org/web/20071216011151/http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/97/4/memory.asp
krp
more misrepresentation of facts in the above post - "serum" is
rarely if ever used in therapy
there is NO evidence that anyone has ever been hurt in trauma recovery
treatment
Is that why so MANY "THERAPISTS" have been successfully SUED?
childadvocate
truth is that children are abused and those accused of raping children
look for ways to avoid going to jail.
http://childabuse.georgiacenter.uga.edu/both/whitfield/whitfield1.phtml
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/the-search-for-satan-fourteen-years-later/
Whitfield, C. L. (2001). The "false memory" defense: Using
disinformation and junk science in and out of court. In Whitfield, C.
L., Silberg, J. Fink, P. J. Eds. (2001). Misinformation Concerning
Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors New York: Hawthorn Press, Inc.
(pp. 53 - 78)
"Attorneys for accused, convicted or found-responsible child molesters
tend to use a superficially sophisticated argument, which can be
described as the "false memory defense." This defense is fraught with
disinformation, smoke screens, and other untruths that are a
distortion of what the available science of the psychology of trauma
and memory shows. In this article, this seemingly sophisticated, but
actually mostly contrived and often erroneous defense, is described
and it is compared in a brief review to what the science says about
the effect of trauma on memory." http://childabuse.georgiacenter.uga.edu/both/whitfield/whitfield2.phtml
Also in Haworth Press, Special Issue on Disinformation, Journal of
Child Sexual Abuse 9(3 & 4)" Abstract: This article describes a
seemingly sophisticated, but mostly contrived and often erroneous
"false memory" defense, and compares it in a brief review to what the
science says about the effect of trauma on memory. Child sexual abuse
is widespread and dissociative/traumatic amnesia for it is common.
Accused, convicted and self-confessed child molesters and their
advocates have crafted a strategy that tries to negate their abusive,
criminal behavior, which we can call a "false memory" defense. Each of
22 of the more commonly used components of this defense is described
and discussed with respect to what the science says about them. Armed
with this knowledge, survivors, their clinicians, and their attorneys
will be better able to refute this defense of disinformation.
http://childabuse.georgiacenter.uga.edu/both/whitfield/whitfield1.phtml
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/the-search-for-satan-fourteen-years-later/
The Search for Satan”: Fourteen Years Later
By Lynn Crook, M.Ed.
AUTHOR NOTE: In my initial review of PBS Frontline’s “The Search for
Satan” for Treating Abuse Today I reported some of the problems I had
discovered in this documentary: (1) In several clips, producer Bikel
flashed a quick shot of a document and narrowed the camera focus to
one statement. Using the pause button, I was able to read the rest of
the document. There I learned that Mary Shanley was not, as the
producers claimed, “having a normal life and doing normal things”
before her hospitalization in Houston. (2) The film contained a
surprising number of recreated scenes which were not labeled as such.
(3) A supposedly direct quote from FBI agent Ken Lanning had been
edited. (4) A call to the State of Illinois revealed that Shanley had
not been “listed with the State of Illinois as a child abuser,” nor
had her teaching certificate been listed as “restrictive.” (5) I did
some research and found the producers failed to mention that Shanley
had been hospitalized at four different hospitals and received a
diagnosis of “mixed personalities.”
I titled my review “Smoke and Mirrors,” and it appeared in the Jan/Feb
1996 issue of Treating Abuse Today.
Two years later, the women featured in the film, Shanley and Pat
Burgus, had both settled their lawsuits against their therapists.
Shanley’s case settled with a gag order in place. Malpractice carrier
AIG and two others had settled Burgus’s case for $10.6 million .The
medical license of Burgus’s psychiatrist was suspended for two years.
Five of Shanley’s mental health care providers were indicted on
federal fraud and conspiracy charges.
I flew down to Houston in September of 1998 to cover the trial in
federal court, and was in the courtroom when Shanley was on the
witness stand. During cross-examination, defense attorney Rusty Hardin
discredited virtually all of the claims Shanley had made in “Search.”
Shanley acknowledged she recalled memories of cult abuse long before
she met the defendants, and could not name any false memories that
Peterson had supposedly implanted. The government rested its case
after five months. All charges against the five defendants were then
dismissed.
My follow-up review “The Search for Satan: Three Years Later” was
published in the September/October 1998 issue of Treating Abuse Today.
In 2001, I reviewed the lengthy deposition of Pat Burgus, the second
woman featured in “The Search for Satan.” I found that on January 17,
1997, Burgus had acknowledged that her psychiatrist had not implanted
any false memories. Instead, he had only passed on to her what other
patients at the hospital had reported about her (Deposition, pp.
912-913). Based upon Burgus’s deposition, her mental health had
improved significantly during her hospitalization.
The following article has been slightly revised from the version that
appeared in Treating Abuse Today in 1998.
“The Search for Satan”: Three Years Later
“Two troubled women. Both sought help from some of the top doctors in
the country. The diagnosis? Satanic ritual abuse!..After millions of
dollars in treatment, the women now say, ‘The doctors were wrong!’”
So begins Frontline’s 1995 film, “The Search for Satan.” The media
hailed the film as an “indictment against therapists” and the film was
re-broadcast by public television stations around the world.
The “two troubled women” were Mary Shanley and Pat Burgus. “Some of
the top doctors” were Bennett Braun, Roberta Sachs in Chicago and
Judith Peterson in Houston. “The diagnosis” was not “satanic ritual
abuse,” but multiple personality disorder.
“The Search for Satan” on Frontline
“The Search for Satan” was produced and written by Ofra Bikel and
Rachel Dreitzen for PBS Frontline. “Search” aired on October 24, 1995.
At its website, Frontline describes its commitment to viewers.
From its inception, FRONTLINE has never shied away from tough,
controversial issues or stories others avoided because they seemed too
gray and complex for the black and white spectrum of conventional
broadcast journalism. For there is an aesthetic goal as well: the
fusion of credible, thoughtful reportage with compelling narrative,
the story well told. In the end, that is the core of Frontline’s
commitment to its viewers.
The following excerpts compare the Frontline producers’ “credible,
thoughtful reportage” in 1995 to what their interviewees said under
oath during US v. Peterson et al. in 1998.
MEREDITH SHRINER - MARY SHANLEY’S BEST FRIEND
Search - Shriner said the Shanleys were the typical loving family.
Mary was a model wife and mother, her husband’s lover and best friend,
a woman filled with patience, the perfect feminine presence in a
typical, loving family. She had a wonderful relationship with her son,
Ryan. Mary was a great mom, she had tons of patience.
vs.
Testimony: Shriner testified that Mary experienced panic attacks. Mary
was increasingly disturbed by her angry outbursts against Ryan and
Joe, and the Shanleys were experiencing marital problems.
MARY SHANLEY – FORMER HOSPITAL PATIENT AND GOVERNMENT’S STAR WITNESS
Search - “I was in very poor health [when I left SSG].”
vs.
Trial: Shanley, a slender woman, testified during direct examination
that she had gained 25 pounds since her Spring Shadows Glen (SSG)
release. During cross, Shanley appeared confused when shown hospital
records indicating that she weighed 108 pounds when she entered SSG,
her weight dropped to 105 pounds during her stay, and she weighed 108
when she left SSG. Shanley testified during direct that she was
prevented from seeing a dentist despite her complaints of pain from an
abscessed tooth. However, hospital records showed that she refused
dental care for 2 months prior to November 3rd because she felt that
dental care prior to that date would be “triggering.” She was
prescribed antibiotics to contain the dental infection. She complained
of back pain due to abreactive sessions and was prescribed additional
voluntary restraints to support her back.
Search - NARRATOR: In 1988, Mary fell into a deep depression… MARY:
Because I was suffering from seizures and blackouts, the counselor
thought I might be suffering from a dissociative disorder. So I went
for an evaluation at the best hospital in Chicago [Rush Presbyterian-
St. Lukes’ Medical Center].
vs.
Trial - Two years prior to entering the dissociative disorders unit at
Rush, Shanley was evaluated and hospitalized for memory blackouts and
self-harming episodes at the following facilities: Alexian Brothers in
May 1989, Forrest Hospital in January 1990, Old Orchard in March 1990
and Rush Memorial in 1990. She was hospitalized at SSG in Houston in
May 1991, and discharged in June 1993. Under cross, it was shown that
insurance claims reviewers determined that Shanley was “chronically
suicidal,” hence, “untreatable,” and advised that she should be placed
in a nursing home. Shanley refused this option, and SSG staff assisted
her in finding housing and employment.
SALLY MCDONALD: UNIT NURSING SUPERVISOR AT SPRING SHADOWS GLEN
Search – ‘‘These kids [Pat Burgus two sons] came into the hospital as
really stable, well-functioning kids.”
vs
Trial: Contrary to hospital records indicating the boys were very
troubled, McDonald testified that the boys were stable because, in her
judgment, they appeared stable. She further testified that she decided
that a patient whose hospital records stated that she had been
sexually abused could not have been sexually abused if a gynecological
report showed that the patient’s hymen was intact
“Search – “It became very clear to the nurses that if we objected that
there would be a reprisal, and that reprisal would be a transfer off
the unit, a demotion and in some cases an actual termination’
vs.
Trial: Under cross, McDonald could name no instances in which nurses
were transferred, demoted or terminated. McDonald was eventually
demoted for below-standard nursing practices.
Frontline’s “Guidelines on Journalistic Standards and Practices”
Frontline’s Guideline #7 states that “where it may be appropriate to
re-enact or stage an event, it must be labeled clearly and
unmistakably as such.”
Readers may recall a powerful scene from “The Search for Satan” which
showed Shanley seated in a large, crowded church sanctuary as the
pastor supposedly told his congregation: “In April of 1989, satanism
came out of the closet for all of us to see it in all of its ugliness.
The satan worshippers that pose the greatest threat to our society are
the secret splinter groups, scores of clandestine groups are meeting
right here in our neighborhood and the amount of activity is on the
rapid increase…”
Under cross-examination, Shanley testified that she had never attended
this church. The scene was not labeled as a re-enactment.
The Guidelines say that producers “will exercise extreme care in
checking the accuracy and credibility of all information they receive,
especially as it may relate to accusations of wrongdoing.”
During her final day on the witness stand, Shanley testified that she
now views her hospital treatment as “worse than it was” and that, at
some future time, and she might “testify differently” regarding her
hospitalization experiences.
In response, the defense stood to object, “But Ms. Shanley, these
defendants are facing prison terms.”
For reasons that remain unexplained, PBS pulled “The Search for Satan”
from its mail order list.
The ISSD Responds to “The Search for Satan”
The International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD) issued
a statement in December 1995 in response to the film’s
characterization of the diagnosis and treatment of MPD (now referred
to as Dissociative Identity Disorder [DID]).
“The majority of people who suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder
are not diagnosed impulsively or capriciously, as was implied by this
Frontline segment . . . Research has documented that, on average,
people with Dissociative Identity Disorder have spent seven years in
the mental health system before the diagnosis is recognized and
maximally effective treatment can be provided . . . Although some
persons with Dissociative Identity Disorder allege that they
experienced ritual abuse during childhood, most do not make
allegations of this kind, as was implied by this segment of
Frontline . . . The ISSD strongly discourages therapists and members
of the media from sensationalizing the diagnosis of Dissociative
Identity Disorder and from publicly appearing with, portraying, or
otherwise exploiting individuals who suffer from this painful
disorder. We urge the media to educate the public by presenting
scientific information on this and all mental illnesses in a balanced
and responsible manner.”
Co-producer Ofra Bikel Responds
Producer Bikel posted her response on the WITCHHNT listserve on
January 3, 1996.
“I have made a point not to get involved in the arcane arguments among
the various therapists, or schools of therapy, regarding my programs
“Divided Memories” and “The Search for Satan.” But now that the ISSD
official ‘response’ to my last program has appeared on the Internet,
looking as if it sprang right out of Alice in Wonderland, I would like
to say a few words about it . . . The program “In Search of
Satan” [sic] was about two specific cases: two women, their children,
and their therapists. The three therapists [Braun, Sachs, Peterson]
were named repeatedly, as were their hospitals. . . . If I understand
what I read correctly, it is supposedly a response to what the program
‘misleadingly implied’. But the program did not imply anything other
than what it reported, and any answer to it must deal with the facts
it exposed, before launching into their perceived implications . . .
But a lofty declaration of principles and aspirations, cloaked as a
damning response to myself and Frontline, while avoiding every single
fact the program brought up, seems to me self-serving and cowardly.”
CONCLUSION
Dramatics accounts of satanic ritual abuse and years of “bad therapy”
have caught the attention of the media. However, presenting
uncorroborated claims as fact and failing to check an interviewee’s
credibility cannot be excused on any grounds.
REFERENCES
Crook, L. (1996). Smoke and mirrors. Treating Abuse Today, 5(6) & (6)
1, 87-93.
Guidelines on journalistic standards and practices. (1996, February).
Frontline. Boston: WGBH.
Smith, M. (1998, October 9). Former patient can’t attribute false
memories to therapy. Houston Chronicle. Online at:
http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1998_3088693
Lars Eighner
<29c5c7cd-3ef2-4440...@v38g2000vbb.googlegroups.com>, the
lovely and talented childadvocate broadcast on alt.true-crime:
> The media propaganda claims that therapists "implant" memories. The
> truth is that children are abused
Yes, it is true that many people with "recovered memories" were abused by
someone.
> and those accused of raping children look for ways to avoid going to jail.
No doubt. But when the facts are obscured by false memories the innocent
are often accused and the guilty often escape detection.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> September 5772, 1993
151 days since Rick Warren prayed over Bush's third term.
Obama: No hope, no change, more of the same. Yes, he can, but no, he won't.
krp
CA> The media propaganda claims that therapists "implant" memories. The
CA> truth is that children are abused and those accused of raping children
CA> look for ways to avoid going to jail.
Yeah sure, it is the MEDIA, it is Law Enforcement, it is the legal
profession, it is the courts,it is the scientists, it is the University
professors, it is MEN, it is the FMSF it is EVERYONE but you NUT CAKES! Only
you LOONEY TUNES whackos are right and EVERYONE ELSE is wrong! YOU are
right. YOU hold the ONLY truth in the Universe. JUST YOU!
Greegor
> "childadvocate" <smartn...@aol.com> wrote in message
And whoever is projecting their brain waves to
Direct Diana's thoughts! LOL
krp
"Greegor" <Gree...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9ae36969-08a8-471b...@n30g2000vba.googlegroups.com...
Maybe she isn't getting the whole message and should stick her head in a
microwave oven to improve the reception?
childadvocate
"skeptics."
The majority of legitimate sources recognize that :
1) Recovered memories do exist.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-data/
2) They have fairly high corroboration rates.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-corroboration-rates/
3) False allegations of child sexual abuse by children are rare.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/false-allegations-of-child-sexual-abuse-by-children-are-rare/
4) False memory syndrome proponents have done the following to try and
ensure that only their point of view is in the public view including
harassing debate opponents, misrepresenting the data in the field and
controlling the media.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/false-memory-syndrome-proponents-tactics/
Good examples of harassment, using personal insults and name calling
also appears in some of the posts above.
like these:
"it is EVERYONE but you NUT CAKES! Only you LOONEY TUNES whackos are
right and EVERYONE ELSE is wrong!"
"And whoever is projecting their brain waves to Direct Diana's
thoughts! LOL"
"Maybe she isn't getting the whole message and should stick her head
in a microwave oven to improve the reception?"
--
A person with a strong argument doesn't need to use these tactics.
childadvocate
Using Disinformation and Junk Science in and out of Court
Charles L. Whitfield, M.D., F.A.S.A.M.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reproduction here by permission of the editor from Haworth Press,
Special Issue on Disinformation, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 9(3 &
4):
(in press for 2001/2) (to order full issue:1-800-429-6784)
"They have taken a criminal act and major betrayal of children,
families and society and cleverly framed it as a "memory problem."
Charles L. Whitfield, M.D., F.A.S.A.M. is in Private Practice in
Atlanta, Georgia. He is a member of the Leadership Council on Mental
Health, Justice and the Media, and on the faculty of Rutgers Institute
on Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
Correspondence to: Charles L. Whitfield, Box 420487, Atlanta, GA 30342
404-843-4300
Abstract
This article describes a seemingly sophisticated, but mostly contrived
and often erroneous "false memory" defense, and compares it in a brief
review to what the science says about the effect of trauma on memory.
Child sexual abuse is widespread and dissociative/traumatic amnesia
for it is common. Accused, convicted and self-confessed child
molesters and their advocates have crafted a strategy that tries to
negate their abusive, criminal behavior, which we can call a "false
memory" defense. Each of 22 of the more commonly used components of
this defense is described and discussed with respect to what the
science says about them. Armed with this knowledge, survivors, their
clinicians, and their attorneys will be better able to refute this
defense of disinformation.
In a civil lawsuit brought by an adult daughter against her father for
sexually abusing her when she was a child, the following is an example
of a closing argument for the defense:
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you to finally lift this
burden off his back, to let him stand tall and proud again. And when
you do, realize that you will be helping Roberta, too, because she
cannot get better if she keeps pursuing a dream based on a false
memory. She needs to know you have seen the truth; she needs to face
the truth herself. For it is only the truth that can reunite this
family and allow love to return to it. [The lawyer for the defense now
pauses for effect.] …. All you need to do to help this family is to
reach a verdict for the defendant. When you do, realize that good can
come out of this lawsuit. The defendant himself holds no hard feelings
toward Roberta for these terrible accusations. He realizes that
Roberta has been misguided [by her therapist]. He still loves her. He
and Gertrude want their daughter back. So bring in a verdict that can
accomplish that-a verdict for the defendant. Help to free Roberta from
her terrible confusion that has misled her. Help to show her the
truth. [With those final words, the defense attorney looks at the face
of each juror and then returns to his seat] (Roseman, Craig & Scott,
1997, p. 454).
This is a typical and perhaps convincing ending of a closing argument
in many of these cases. We can see how at least one of the two sides
plays upon the other in presenting their evidence for their client.
The problem is that even those who have indeed committed child sexual
abuse almost universally claim innocence, and they use the same
defense as above (Levy, 2000).
Attorneys for accused, convicted or found-responsible child molesters
tend to use a superficially sophisticated argument, which can be
described as the "false memory defense." This defense is fraught with
disinformation, smoke screens, and other untruths that are a
distortion of what the available science of the psychology of trauma
and memory shows. In this article, this seemingly sophisticated, but
actually mostly contrived and often erroneous defense, is described
and it is compared in a brief review to what the science says about
the effect of trauma on memory.
Many who are accused and some who are convicted of child molestation,
an especially harmful kind of criminal behavior, have made a number of
claims. A principal claim is that dissociative (also called traumatic)
amnesia and other detrimental effects resulting from child sexual
abuse (CSA) do not exist (Brown, Scheflin, & Hammond, 1997; Brown,
Scheflin, & Whitfield, 1999; Whitfield, 1995b, 1997b). Assisted by
their attorneys, some family members, and other advocates in order to
defend themselves, these "false memory" advocates have made many
erroneous statements to discount the experience of survivors of child
sexual assault and to attack helping professionals. They have blitzed
the media and tried to influence the clinical, academic, and legal
professions with what is mostly disinformation (J. Freyd, 1993; Freid,
1994; Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999; Hovdestad & Kristiansen,
1996; Loftus, 1993; Pope, Hudson, Bodkin, & Oliva, 1998; Pope, 1995,
1998; Pope & Brown, 1996; Whitfield, 1995a, 1995b,1998a).
They have claimed that their accusers' experience as a survivor of CSA
was invalid, and that they, the accused, were the "real" victim (Roys,
1995; D.T. Roys, personal communication, November 1997). While there
have been many factors to account for this defense (see Whitfield,
Silberg, & Fink, this issue), since early 1992 perhaps the organized
hub of this group has been the False Memory Syndrome Foundation
(FMSF). The FMSF has claimed that persons accusing parents or other
parent figures of having molested them as children had a "false memory
syndrome" ("fms"). The FMSF further claims that the alleged "false"
memories were "implanted" by outside sources, such as therapists, self-
help groups or even books and other "suggestive" influences. They
tried to make "fms" appear scientific in order to help it gain
entrance into the courtroom and academia.
They have taken a criminal act and major betrayal of children,
families and society and cleverly framed it as a "memory problem."
Prior to and since the FMSF was founded in March 1992, there has not
been a single case report documenting the existence of any clinical
condition known as "false memory syndrome" published in any of the
peer-reviewed clinical or scientific literature (Brown, Scheflin &
Whitfield, 1999; Dallam, this issue; Whitfield, 1995b, 1997b). This
lack remains to this day, a full nine years later, in spite of the
FMSF's pledge in 1993 to promote and support research on their made-up
"syndrome" (FMSF flyer, August 1993). A condition known as "false
memory syndrome" is not included in any of the diagnostic codebooks
and is not recognized as a bona fide clinical disorder by any of the
mental health professional associations or societies. It is not
included or even mentioned in any edition of the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (American Psychiatric
Association, 1994; Pope, 1998; Pope & Brown, 1996; Whitfield, 1995a,
1995b). There is also no convincing evidence in the clinical and
scientific literature that anyone can "suggest" or "implant" enduring
false memories of childhood sexual abuse, or induce the long-term
effects of child sexual abuse in individuals or groups of people
without actually abusing them (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999;
Whitfield, 1995b). Some forensic psychologists and sociologists
affiliated with the FMSF have coined another term as part of the false
memory defense: "recovered memory therapy." Like "fms," "recovered
memory therapy" ("rmt") is not recognized by the DSM-IV or any other
authoritative source (Briere, 1996; Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999;
Pope, 1998), yet some "fms" advocates, defense attorneys and their
expert witnesses continue to use the term.
Components of the "False Memory" Defense
A problem with the "false memory" defense was that these theories were
not based on careful clinical observation or solid research. Rather,
they were based mostly on speculation, usually made by non-clinicians,
some of whom were themselves accused of unethical behavior or had a
personal or financial interest in the accused being innocent (Brown,
Scheflin, & Hammond, 1997; Crook & Dean, 1999a, 1999b; Freid, 1994;
Pope, 1995; Stanton, 1997; Whitfield, 1995b).
The "false memory" defense is one of the most sophisticated ones to
appear in the history of the denial and minimization of the existence
and effects of child abuse, especially CSA, and it manifests as a
peculiar but not surprising socio-cultural-political-legal phenomenon
of the 1990s. It may present itself as any of a number of kinds of
disinformation which the accused, the convicted, and their advocates
used regularly (Brown, et al, 1999; Dallam, this issue; Cheit, this
issue; Emrick, 1994, 1996; Roys, 1995; Scheflin & Brown, 1996;
Stanton, 1997; Whitfield, 1995b). These defense strategies are listed
in Table 1, and each is briefly described below.
Table 1. Components of the False Memory Defense
The "Looking Good" Defense
The Accused/Defendant is the Real Victim
Choose Someone Else to Blame
Try to Blame the Plaintiff
Plaintiff has Not Shown External Evidence of CSA
Hire and Use a "False Memory"/ "FMS"-Advocating Expert Witness
Inappropriately Introduce Satanic Ritual Abuse, Alien Abduction, and
"Past Life" Experience
Regularly Take Quotes and Citations Out of Context
Try to Use Biased Articles and/or Opinions
Misinterpret the Effects of Trauma
Negate Dissociative Amnesia
Claim "Childhood Amnesia" When Accuser Has Early Memories
Claim Other Reasons Why They Were Accused
Propose Other Explanations for Accuser's Symptoms
Try to Combine "Common Sense" with a "Law of Probability"
Use Contrived Terms and Other Pseudoscientific Jargon
Make Up Other Special Categories with No Scientific Support
Try to Discredit Every Corroborating Witness
Erroneously Try to Equate Retraction with "Proof"of "False" Memory
Try to Impeach Other Witnesses or Those Who Have Filed Reports
Try to Intimidate and Impeach Plaintiff's Expert Witness
Play on Our Individual and Collective Wishes and Doubts
"The Looking Good" Defense
The "false memory" defense commonly starts with a "Looking Good"
defense, which claims that the accused or defendant is innocent, an
upstanding member of the community, a family man/woman, churchgoing,
hard working, and respected (Emrick, 1994; Pope & Brown, l996;
Whitfield, l995b). This is one of the oldest strategies in courtroom
history; that is, simply make your external appearance look better so
that those who may be judging your alleged criminal behavior will
thereby think better of you. For example, in the murder trial of
George Franklin, whose daughter had also accused him of sexually
abusing her (Terr, 1994), his attorney had him clean himself up
appreciably before appearing in court. Previously disheveled, he now
looked neat and clean (A.W. Scheflin, personal communication, October
1999). Nonetheless, he was convicted of murder, although
A few years later he was released from prison on a procedural
technicality. In another instance, Pamela Freyd, co-founder and
director of the FMSF, explained that her accused members were not
pedophiles or child molesters because "We are a good-looking bunch of
people, graying hair, well-dressed, healthy, smiling …Just about every
person who has attended [our meetings] is someone you would want to
count as a friend" (P. Freyd, 1992, p. 1).
Just as most of the other defensive components described below, the
science shows the opposite of what the "false memory" advocates claim.
Looking good or bad is not a factor. The disorder of pedophilia and
its usually resulting crime of CSA have no socio-economic restrictions
or boundaries. There is no such stereotypic abuser. People from all
socio-economic strata are equally represented among the pedophile/
child molesting population (Salter, 1995; Whitfield, 1995b).
Interviews of convicted and self-confessed child molesters reveal that
one cannot rely on self-report when assessing whether someone is a sex
offender. Despite their initial and enduring complete and convincing
denial, when they are finally in appropriate treatment or prison, many
offenders ultimately relate their crimes in horrific detail. In these
special and safe circumstances, molesters commonly describe how they
fooled people in their communities for years by "looking good," by
being so kind and responsible that no one would believe an accusation
of sexual abuse or assault (Roys, 1995; Salter, 1998; Whitfield,
1998b). This "looking good" appearance is part of the "grooming"
behavior that the molester commonly uses with the child and the family
or others to make them all feel a false sense of safety when the child
is in his or her care (Emrick, 1994; also cited in Whitfield, 1995b).
In this regard, if appropriate, the victim's attorney can offer
evidence of "grooming" behavior and expert testimony that "looking
good" is consistent with the superficial persona of a child abuser (W.
Murphy, personal communication, October, 1997; Salter, 1998;
Whitfield, 1995b).
The Accused/Defendant is the Real Victim
In a strange but common way of thinking, the molester and their
knowing or unknowing accomplices try to turn the tables on the accuser
by saying that the accuser simply made a mistake. This strategy claims
that, in a strange kind of sleight-of-hand, the defendant is actually
the victim here, just as the plaintiff and family are too, since the
real offender(s) is/are the inducers or "implanters" of "false
memories" or "false memory syndrome." This strategy is commonly used
now to help defend child molesters (Emrick, 1994, Roys, 1995; Salter,
1995).
In spite of recent attempts to claim that CSA is not harmful (Rind,
Tromovitch, & Bauserman, 1998; see critiques of this in the present
issue), the science shows that the detrimental effects of CSA do harm
the child (Briere, 1996; Courtois, 1999; Dallam, Gleaves, Cepeda-
Benito, Kraemer, & Spiegel, in press; Felitti, et al, 1998; Herman,
1992; Kendler, et al, 2000; McCauley, et al, 1997; Whitfield, 1998c),
and not the abuser. The victim's attorney can argue that such a
position is a "red herring" designed to distract attention from the
gruesome facts of the case (W. Murphy, personal communication, October
1997).
Choose Someone Else to Blame
"False memory" advocates try to divert the blame to others. They claim
that the actual causes of the "false memories"- which they say are the
"real perpetrators," that "victimize" the innocent accused defendant--
may include any one or more of the following:
The therapist --The "fms" advocate may offer varying kinds of
"evidence," often in the form of opinion articles that appear in
journals, but written by authors who are frequently one or more of
their own FMSF advisory board members. Examples include the opinions
of Loftus (1993), who, in spite of having no clinical training or
expertise and basing her ideas and reports mostly on her experiments
on normal memory, she tries to negate the existence of dissociative
amnesia and other effects of CSA. Another example is the report of a
controversial and methodologically weak survey of therapists'
experience. The author claimed that therapists commonly suggested
"false" memories of CSA to their patient/clients (Yapko, 1994a,
1994b). But there are no other data to support this contention. In
fact, Whitfield and Stock (1996) and others (e.g., Brown, Scheflin &
Whitfield, 1999) have found that individual and group therapy were
among the lowest associations as triggers of recovered memories of
CSA.
The therapy group - In looking at comments about group therapy, we
usually find claims and speculation only and no peer reviewed or data
based studies.
The books - any self-help or recovery oriented book. As with most of
these ideas, they are simply claims and speculation, with no
documentation by peer reviewed or data-based studies.
The media -movies, talk shows, other venues. Likewise, claims and
speculation only, since there are no peer reviewed or data-based
studies.
The plaintiff - they claim, was too "suggestible" to the above items 1
through 4 and was looking for a "complex" answer (molested by the
accused) to a "simple" explanation ("false memory syndrome"). The
truth is that "fms" is itself a complex, controversial, elusive, and
unproven hypothesis that remains neither properly researched nor peer-
reviewed. Using the law of parsimony, what they call a "complex"
answer is in fact the simplest explanation for the plaintiff's
symptoms (Cheit, 1998, 1999, 2000; Roseman, et al, 1997; Whitfield,
1995b).
Try to Blame the Plaintiff
They use this strategy often, especially if the allegations are
unusual, and then focus on the plaintiffs to try to make them and
their behavior look bizarre or crazy. Usually the plaintiffs are still
doing active work in their recovery process, with all of the emotional
swings that occur, and consequently these may make them appear as
though they are "crazy" on the surface. Often when the effects of
recovery from trauma are considered, it is actually clinically
appropriate for the people to manifest a broad range of symptoms, such
as intrusive posttraumatic stress symptoms, dissociative symptoms, and
painful psycho-physiological reactivity (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield,
1999; Herman, 1992; Whitfield, 1995b). Reliable recovered memories are
typically accompanied by significant emotional distress and the
occurrence of psychiatric symptoms concurrent with recovery of the
memory (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999; Courtois, 1999; Whitfield,
1994, 1998c).
Recent research has addressed the natural history and phenomenology of
recovered memories (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999). Memory of the
trauma persists both as an explicit, narrative memory and an implicit,
behavioral and somatic memory. While these clinical findings often
evolve in the order shown in Figure 1 below, they may also evolve in a
different sequence. Working through these phases over time in the
process of recovering the narrative memory strengthens recovery by
decreasing dissociation and leading to a sense of mastery over the
traumatic experience (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999).
childadvocate
The "False Memory" Defense:
Using Disinformation and Junk Science in and out of Court
Charles L. Whitfield, M.D., F.A.S.A.M.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 1. The Effects of the Evolution of Memory Recovery in Childhood
Sexual Abuse* (from Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999)
Clinical Findings** Example References
1) Transference re-enactments
(in &/or out of therapy)*** Burgess, et al 1995; Terr, 1994;
Laplanche & Pontalis, 1973
2) Somatic & psychological symptoms Cameron, 1996;
van der Kolk & Fisler, 1995; Pomerantz, 1999
3) Flashbacks, abreactions
& age regressions above plus: Roe & Schwartz, 1996; Kristiansen, et
al, 1995;
Whitfield 1995b,1997c,1998c
4) Dreams & nightmares Whitfield 1995b,1997c, 1998c;
Kristiansen, et al 1995
5) Fragmented narrative memory
(triggered by reminder events) Cameron, 1996;
Kristiansen, et al 1995;
Van der Kolk & Fisler, 1995
6) Obsessive thoughts of trauma Terr, 1994
7) Organized narrative memory van der Kolk & Fisler, 1995 (none showed
initial return of memory as narrative memory, which tended to occur
last)
*Working through these stages as they occurred decreased dissociation
and led to a sense of mastery over the trauma.
**Clinical findings are from Davies & Frawley 1994, Whitfield 1995b,
1997c, 1998c, and other cited references, and all may be
manifestations of PTSD. Triggering events commonly initiate these
kinds of memory (Whitfield, 1995b). These clinical findings tend to
progress from being vague to clearer.
***These clinical findings may occur in different sequences, e.g., #2
may be the initial experience, then skip to # 5, and then continue as
# 6 and # 7.
Plaintiff has Not Shown External Evidence of CSA
The "false memory" defense usually includes strong statements that the
plaintiff has not shown direct (external or "hard") evidence that the
abuse actually happened. The plaintiffs are usually criticized for not
having eyewitness testimony, physical findings (such as scars), or
other evidence that may appear in a medical record, photos, and
confessions. However, all of these are actually rare in CSA cases
(Briere, 1996; Brown, et al, 1997; Whitfield, 1995b, 1998c).
Circumstantial evidence may be present though. This may include, for
example, the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) without
another obvious traumatic cause (Rowan & Foy, 1993) or other common
effects of child sexual abuse, which the legal system may not
understand (Whitfield, 1997b, 1998c). If the belief system of the
judge or jury leans in the "false memory" direction, it may be
difficult to convince them that the abuse happened without
overwhelming evidence.
Some courts, such as in the case of Crook v. Murphy (1994; Yule,
1994), have allowed circumstantial or indirect evidence that, taken as
a whole, helps to show that the plaintiff was sexually abused as a
child. This may be a different kind of circumstantial evidence than
some courts are used to considering and admitting. It includes
clinical findings that a therapist may have observed, recorded, and
accumulated during evaluation and therapy that may also include
information concerning internal corroboration of traumatic memory and
consistency (for a discussion of internal corroboration, see Terr,
1994; Whitfield, 1997c, 1998c).
This kind of circumstantial evidence may end up suggesting that the
accused person(s) committed the offense. Nonetheless, it is
circumstantial evidence, which is accepted in most states as being
equal to or as strong as direct evidence for indicating that a crime
such as child abuse happened. Most courts may instruct the jury
regarding this: "The law makes no distinction between direct and
circumstantial evidence as to the degree of proof. Each is respected
for such convincing force as it may carry." (See details of
circumstantial or internal corroboration in Whitfield 1997c; 1998c.)
Hire and Use a "False Memory"/ "FMS" Advocating Expert Witness
The defendant hires an "expert" witness who is often on the FMSF
board, a fact frequently not mentioned on their resume. In their
testimony they tend to make vague claims as to the effects of CSA.
They are often not clinicians and have frequently published commentary
or opinions on trauma and memory that are not consistent with the
research. They tend to claim that they know the "true science" of CSA
and memory, when instead they are actually presenting their own
pseudoscientific version or interpretation of the published evidence
(or a version from the FMSF). Some have been questioned as to their
ethics (see Crook & Dean, 1999a, 1999b), or the obvious bias in their
writings (e.g., see Wakefield & Underwager 1993; Whitfield 1995b;
Dallam, 1999). At times some of these advocates for "fms" have sued
those who publically disagree with them or with whom they are
otherwise in conflict (Legg, 1997; Singer & Ofshe v. American
Psychological Association, et al, 1992, 1993, 1994a, 1994b; Underwager
& Wakefield v. Salter, 1994). Still others have been disqualified from
testifying as expert witnesses for the defense because of their
inadequate qualifications (see examples in Whitfield, 1995b) or
admonished for their inappropriate behavior (see examples in Peterson,
1990).
Screening the Expert Witness. How can a judge determine who is
acceptable as an expert witness in these kinds of cases? An important
question to consider asking before accepting such an expert witness
might be, "Does the proposed witness understand the clinical evolution
of dissociative/traumatic amnesia, PTSD, and dissociative disorders as
presented in the DSM-IV and elsewhere?" An affirmative answer and
demonstration of such an understanding would speak in favor of
accepting the person as an expert witness (Whitfield, 1997b).
Another useful screening question may be, "What data-based research or
writing have you published on traumatic memory, as contrasted with
ordinary or normal memory?" If proposed experts have published only
their opinions and comments on what they imagine or think traumatic
memory is, and their statements lack clinical or scientific merit,
this may argue against accepting them as expert witnesses. The judge
may ask to examine a copy of their articles on traumatic memory and,
if in doubt, have an expert on trauma psychology provide an opinion as
well. By contrast, having published scholarly articles on traumatic
memory in the clinical or scientific literature that have been widely
accepted by trauma psychologists would speak in favor of accepting a
person as an expert witness. A final question is, "What clinical
experience do you have in providing treatment to survivors of child
sexual abuse or sex offenders concerning their long term recovery?" If
they have little or no clinical experience, it is unlikely that they
will have the full knowledge and experience required to provide
reliable or valid testimony with respect to these issues.
In summary, if a proposed expert witness answers yes to the first
question and demonstrates a clear understanding of traumatic amnesia,
PTSD, and dissociative disorders; has demonstrated an accurate
understanding of traumatic memory by publishing scholarly articles or
books, and has specialized clinical experience in helping these
special populations, he or she is more likely to provide accurate and
helpful information to the trier-of-fact. One way to save court time
and expenses for both sides and to avoid this kind of bias is to have
the court hire a neutral clinical evaluator who has expertise and
extensive experience in treating traumatized populations (Lazo, 1995).
Defense attorneys in these cases can be expected to protest, but if
appropriate, under the federal rules of evidence, the decision of
whether to appoint an expert witness for the court is within the
judge's discretion.
Inappropriately Introduce Extreme Situations of Satanic Ritual Abuse,
Alien Abduction, and "Past Life" Experience
False memory advocates often introduce the notion of extreme
situations, such as satanic ritual abuse, alien abduction, and "past
lives" and then say that, "If you believe these, I guess you will
believe 'repressed memories' or the like, too." This intrusion into
the deposition or court record is nearly always of their own making
and is, therefore, inappropriate when this is not part of their
history. In fact, in and out of court, this smokescreen notion is
usually another of their diversionary tactics.
Regularly Take Quotes and Citations Out of Context
False memory advocates regularly juxtapose quotes and citations out of
context in their media packets, quotes, legal briefs and other
writings with irrelevant, contrived, propagandistic, and/or
generalized pro-"false memory" information in a hoped-for convincing
effect. They can often be challenged on this inappropriate and
unscientific pattern. A case example of this occurred in the 1996
lawsuit of Pamela and Peter Freyd v. Charles Whitfield for alleged
"defamation," which judged in favor of Whitfield (Legg, 1997). During
the Freyds' deposition of Whitfield, they handed him a page of brief
quotes or "snippets" that they had selected from the position papers
on memory of several professional organizations, such as the American
Psychiatric and Psychological Associations, and asked for his opinion
about them. He responded by saying that these were all statements
taken out of context from these much longer position papers. So that
he could comment, he asked to see the full paper for each one, which
they were unable to provide. He objected on the record to their
inappropriate and inaccurate use of these documents. They did not
pursue this line of questioning.
Try to Use Biased Articles and/or Opinions
In a similar way, in an attempt to discredit and invalidate the
plaintiff and witnesses and anyone who may disagree with them (in or
outside of court), false memory advocates try to use biased articles
and/or opinions. They often use their own published writing wherein
they distort the science of the effects of CSA (Brown, Scheflin &
Whitfield, 1999; Pope, 1995; Pope & Brown, 1996). For example, in
trying to show that all traumas induce only remembering but not
forgetting, Pope, et al (1998) reported their own selection of 63
research studies on trauma with a pool of over 10,000 victims of
various types of trauma, including accidents, natural disasters, wars,
etc., none of which described any clear cases of dissociative amnesia.
However, this report contained several scientific errors, such as: 1)
in 39 of their 63 analyzed studies, amnesia was not addressed, 2) in 2
studies amnesia is not reported in the results, 3) 19 studies actually
support the reality of dissociative (traumatic) amnesia, 4) 2 studies
report injury-specific amnesia only, and 5) 1 study is on flashbulb
memory (i.e., memory of a sudden traumatic, often public event) of the
Challenger explosion (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999).
Furthermore, besides featuring mostly public events only, their
selected 63 studies did not involve the hidden abuse of a child or
adolescent by a primary caregiver. There is now substantial evidence
that this type of betrayal trauma is more threatening because the
victim is simultaneously abused by, and dependent upon, the
perpetrator (J. Freyd, 1996). Oftentimes, the non-offending spouse or
other parent figure does not protect the child. Because the 63 studies
do not involve private childhood sexual abuse, Pope and Hudson (1995)
did not include them in their review of the relevant literature on
repression. Had Pope, et al (1998) been more discerning, appropriate
or complete in their selection from the available literature, they
would have found 68 more data-based reports which showed that
dissociative amnesia is a finding in every one of these studies of the
effects of CSA (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999). In their
conclusions about this article Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, (1999)
said, "In our opinion, based upon the prevailing scientific data, the
fact that the majority of people remember certain traumas does not
negate the fact that a significant minority do not remember, and that
dissociated amnesia, or repressed memory, for sexual abuse is a
commonly observed phenomenon in some individuals across virtually all
of the research that has addressed the issue" (p. 32).
Misinterpret the Effects of Trauma
The "false memory" advocates usually manifest a poor understanding and
interpretation of the effects of trauma, especially of child sexual
abuse, which they regularly introduce as a strategy into their
defense. They can be challenged on these as well from the vast
published reports and knowledge about the effects of CSA (e.g.,
Briere, 1992, 1996; Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999; Brown,
Scheflin, & Hammond, 1997; Chu, 1998; Courtois, 1989, 1999; Felitti,
et al, 1998; Herman, 1992; McCauley, et al, 1997; Whitfield, 1995b,
1997c; Berliner & Elliott, 2001; Brown, this issue).
Negate Dissociative Amnesia
False memory advocates regularly use another defense strategy wherein
they try to confuse dissociative (i.e., traumatic) amnesia with their
own version of it, which they commonly call "repression." They then
claim that repression does not exist. They try to invalidate or
exclude research and data on the existence of dissociative/traumatic
amnesia and other documented findings in the effects of trauma. The
reality of dissociative amnesia has been the primary target of the
"false memory" movement since its existence, although its spokespeople
have shrewdly tried to shift their focus over time (Brown, Scheflin &
Whitfield, 1999). However, the science shows that the evidence for its
existence is strong, is peer reviewed, and meets Daubert v. Merrell
Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993) standards, depending on the individual
court's interpretation. The science shows that traumatic amnesia is an
authentic and common part of denied and unprocessed trauma (see
American Psychiatric Association, 1994; Brown, et al, l997; Brown,
Scheflin & Whitfield 1999; Scheflin & Brown, l996; Whitfield, 1997a,
1997b).
Claim "Childhood Amnesia" When Accuser Has Early Memories
Some defense lawyers will also hire "false memory" advocating expert
witnesses to try to support a "childhood amnesia" defense (also called
"infantile amnesia"). Here, "fms" advocates claim that a person cannot
remember any event before 3 or 4 years of age, much less remember one
or more traumas. The reason, they claim, is that the very young
child's brain is too immature or insufficiently developed to be able
to have memories of such events. Once again, they cite experiments and
studies on normal memory and try to generalize them, often
inappropriately, to traumatic memory. The available data from
published case reports based on careful clinical observation, as well
as data from numerous survey studies, indicate that this defense is
not hard and fast; indeed, it is clearly untrue in many cases, as
indicated below.
For example, in a prospective study, Burgess, Hartman, and Baker
(1995) evaluated and monitored 19 children who had been sexually
abused (corroborated in court) by day-care staff. Their ages at the
time of the abuse ranged from 3 months to 4.5 years (M = 2.5 years).
Three independent clinicians evaluated each child just after the abuse
became evident and then every 5 years thereafter. At each evaluation,
they checked for four kinds of memory: cognitive (or verbal),
behavioral, visual, and somatic. The most common kind of nonverbal
memory manifested was somatic (100%), followed by behavioral (82%) and
visual (59%). Eleven (58%) of the children always verbally
(cognitively) remembered the abuse, 5 (26%) partially remembered, and
3 (16%) totally forgot experiencing any abuse. In a separate
prospective study of 12 children of similar ages, Burgess and Hartman
(1996) reported similar results.
In Williams' (1994) follow-up study of 129 women who had childhood
sexual abuse documented in emergency room medical records, 5 of 11
women (45%), who were under 4 years old at the time of being sexually
abused, remembered the abuse. If Williams' data are combined with
those from Burgess et al. described above, they result in a total of
42 very young children (i.e., less than 4 to 4.5 years of age) studied
prospectively, of whom 23 (55%) later remembered and 19 (45%) were
amnestic for sexual abuse that was also shown by direct evidence
(Burgess, et al., 1995; Williams, 1994).
Other studies have found similar results (Bauer, 1996; Bruhn, 1990;
Hewitt, 1994; Terr, 1991, 1994). In fact, after extensive research,
Bauer concludes that many very young children (i.e., 2-years old and
younger) remember certain events for long durations (Bauer, 1996).
Because language skills are not fully developed at these very young
ages, abused children are not usually able to talk about their
traumatic experiences in the way that an older person would. For
example, in the Oklahoma City bombing, most of the traumatized
survivors were supported by their family and peers when they reported
what happened to them and how the experience affected them. They were
able to more effectively consolidate their traumatic memories into
memory storage through a process that memory researchers call
rehearsal. Trauma clinicians explain that talking about (or
rehearsing) a traumatic event or experience is the best way to help
anyone remember the event. This sequence is shown in the following
diagram (see Figure 2) (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999; Whitfield,
1997b, 1997c).
Figure 2. The Process of Memory Retrieval
Encode
IN Experience Rehearsal* Retrieval OUT
Storage
*Threats, dissociation and lack of language skills block rehearsal.
Young children who are traumatized at a preverbal stage of development
are at a significant disadvantage because they are not able to process
the experience by talking about or rehearsing it (Terr, 1991, 1994;
Whitfield, 1995b). This disadvantage is compounded by the fact that,
in most cases of child sexual abuse, the offender threatened the child
with serious harm if he or she were to disclose the abuse, as shown in
Figure 2 (Emrick, 1994, 1996; D.T. Roys, personal communication,
November 1997; Whitfield, 1998b).
Claim Other Reasons Why They Were Accused
Using this strategy, the defendant claims or proposes other reasons
why they were accused, exposed, or why they believe that the plaintiff
brought suit (e.g., that the accuser was angry at the defendant for
another reason) (Roseman, et al, 1997). It is also common for the
defense to argue that the victim has a motive to lie. This claim can
sometimes be rebutted simply by arguing that it makes no logical
sense. W. Murphy (personal communication, October 1997) said, "I can
sometimes stretch that argument by saying, "If this victim wanted to
be vengeful and falsely accuse this person of a crime, why would she
choose rape since it is the most painful, stigmatizing and
revictimizing process to endure. She could have made it a lot easier
on herself if she claimed that he hit her, stole from her, etc."
Propose Other Explanations for Accuser's Symptoms
The accused often proposes other explanations for the accuser's
symptoms, such as having an unhappy marriage, job problems, or that
they are "mentally ill." When the alleged abuser's defense claims
there are other explanations for the victim's symptoms, the plaintiffs
can argue to the jury that they, the jury, have also been divorced,
had a loved one die, etc., and that it is painful, but it doesn't look
like this victim's situation, and thus the argument does not make
sense (W. Murphy, personal communication, October 1997).
childadvocate
Try to Combine "Common Sense" with a "Law of Probability"
The accused often also tries to combine what they may call "common
sense" with a "law of probability" that the defendant could not have
abused the plaintiff (Roseman, et al, l997). Drawing from the first
and last defense items (# 1 above and # 22 below), the first "common
sense" ploy is to say that for such a "fine family" here and the
"upstanding" person that the accused is, child abuse of any kind, much
less molestation, just "makes no sense."
A second "common sense" strategy is to take each bit of evidence
presented by the victim, examine it in isolation, and then show how it
(alone) is "improbable." This maneuver takes each piece of evidence
and tries to negate it individually, instead of weighing the total
evidence. For example, a man accused of sexually abusing his daughter
as a child argued that since his wife "slept very lightly," which she
agreed to in her testimony, she would have known it if he had done it,
and he argued several other such details similarly. However, the
totality of the evidence showed that he had likely sexually abused his
daughter. Criminal and civil justice is about sorting out and ruling
on the totality of the weight of evidence, not on isolated details of
common sense or odds-making (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999;
Roseman, et al, l997). W. Murphy (personal communication, October
1997) suggests: "Compare the 'pieces' argument to a puzzle and argue
that one puzzle piece does not make a picture; the jury has a
responsibility to view the pieces together, and they took an oath to
do that. In the same way that puzzle pieces, when put together, form
only one picture, the victim's evidence points to only one
conclusion."
Use Contrived Terms and Other Pseudoscientific Jargon
Accused molesters tend to use contrived terms and other
pseudoscientific jargon, such as "false memory syndrome," "recovered
memory therapy" or "parental alienation syndrome." These have never
been established through empirical or data-based studies (Brown, et
al, 1997; Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999; Whitfield, 1995b, 1997b).
As mentioned above, these terms are not found in the DSM-IV or the
ICD-10, and while their advocates have maneuvered and at times even
promoted them in some sectors of the popular media, they are not
accepted by mainstream mental health (Brown, Scheflin & Hammond, 1997;
Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999; Dallam, 1999; Whitfield, 1995b).
Make Up Other Special Categories with No Scientific Support
To further their argument, exposed or accused molesters may contrive
other terms or categories with no scientific support. Examples include
"robust repression" vs "partial repression" to try to confuse and
negate cases involving dissociative amnesia. These kinds of terms were
used to try to invalidate the sexual abuse of Ross Cheit and Frank
Fitzpatrick when they were children. Both had dissociative amnesia and
then recovered memories of the abuse decades later, and in both cases
their offender eventually confessed (Cheit, 1998, 1999, 2000;
Whitfield, 1995b).
Try to Discredit Every Corroborating Witness
The accused or convicted molester often tries to discredit and impeach
every corroborating witness, including other family members who have
been abused. This and the other defenses are commonly used by sex
offenders when they are molesting and also by supporters in and out of
court (R. Emrick, cited in Whitfield, 1995b; D.T. Roys, personal
communication, November 1997; Salter, 1998).
Erroneously Try to Equate Retraction with "Proof" of "False" Memory
Retractors are those who recall memories of child abuse, disclose
them, and later say that they were not real, commonly claiming that a
therapist or another source "implanted" the memories. Their retraction
is often triggered by family pressure and/or "false memory" advocates
(Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1998; Scheflin & Brown, 1999; Summit,
1983; Whitfield, 1995b). They also may file malpractice lawsuits
(Scheflin & Brown, 1999).
Without knowing the facts, "false memory" advocates have accepted that
these retractors' "secondary" claims (the primary claim is of the
trauma memory) are true. They base their assumption on their tenuous
theory that the retractor was originally wrong, but is now remembering
accurately. In fact, like one leg of a three-legged stool, retractor
stories make up a substantial base of the conception of "fms" (the
other two legs include denial by the accused or convicted molester,
and a few studies on normal memory, along with a few controversial
anecdotal reports) (Whitfield, 1995b, 1997b). This new reversed claim
then may raise a "plausible alternative explanation" for such cases.
For at least the last decade, accused and convicted child molesters
have erroneously tried to equate the common phenomenon of retraction
with "proof" of "false" memory. Since 1984, Summit has clearly
described his vast experience with this frequent part of the process
of CSA (Summit, 1983; Whitfield, 1995b). Armstrong (1999) recently
asked, "What kind of person would first accuse her parents of abuse
and then declare this belief to be false and accuse her therapist of
abuse? We know little of the psychology of a 'recanter,' someone whose
beliefs about her own nature and that of the people she loves appear
to transform so totally and then abruptly transform again" (p. 520).
The science shows some helpful findings. For example, in a study of 30
malpractice law suits by retractors against their former therapists
for "implanting false memories" or "implanting DID," Scheflin and
Brown (1999) found that most of the 30 had recovered their memories
and/or had the diagnosis of DID made before the sued therapist had
seen them. There were many other kinds of direct and circumstantial
evidence in these cases. Nearly all 30 retractors had been previously
given multiple co-morbid psychiatric diagnoses that are extensively
reported in the clinical scientific literature to be associated with
or caused by childhood trauma, especially child sexual abuse (e.g.,
Herman, 1992; Whitfield, 1997c, 1998c). These included: major
depression (e.g., Kendler, et al, 2000), anxiety disorders (e.g.,
McCauley, et al, 1997), PTSD (e.g,, Rowan, Foy, Rodriguez, & Ryan,
1994), major dissociative disorders (e.g., Whitfield, 1997c),
personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder (e.g.,
Herman, 1992), and major addictions such as chemical dependence and
eating disorders (e.g., Felitti, et al, 1998; Herman, 1992; McCauley,
et al, 1997). Ninety percent (27 of the 30) had a diagnosis of either
DID (11 retractors) or Dissociative Disorder, Not Otherwise Stated (DD-
NOS) (17 retractors) (Scheflin & Brown, 1999).
Nearly all of the therapists sued had given the retractors appropriate
stage-oriented trauma treatment. In none of the 30 cases was there any
mention or evidence of "recovered memory therapy" or a single-minded
focus on recovering memories of abuse. Scheflin and Brown (1999) said,
"…later, after encounters with pro-false memory (mis)information, the
patient came to misattribute the source of his/her abuse memory to the
defendant therapist and forgot that it had been self-reported,
sometimes being recovered outside the context of therapy" (p. 685). In
fact Scheflin and Brown (1999) found that if any false information was
implanted, it likely occurred by exposure to pro-false memory sources
close to or after the time of the identified therapy sessions. They
said, "…in all 30 cases the plaintiff failed to report his or her
vulnerability to post-therapeutic suggestive influences that might
have been operative in the shaping of the retraction belief itself.…
the most striking finding from our analysis was [that] the significant
post-therapeutic suggestive influences associated with the development
of the retraction belief could be identified in every one of the 30
cases" (p. 687).
They conclude, "In our analysis of these 30 cases, significant
exposure to false memory (mis)information occurred in the great
majority of the cases and had a significant impact on the progressive
shaping of retraction beliefs. …What do these data tell us? That
sometimes litigious patients, plaintiff attorneys, and other
individuals intentionally solicit other former patients in order to
influence them" (Scheflin & Brown, 1999, p. 688).
Both in and out of court, the potentially erroneous claims of
retractors and their advocates had not previously been tested. While
rare, at best some scientific data suggest that false memories for the
gist of complex traumatic events can occur. However, these usually
appear only under a specific set of conditions (i.e., from extreme
interviewing wherein most of the content about abuse themes is being
supplied by the interviewer and does not originate from the
interviewee) (Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999). While this can
happen in excessive police interrogations or in political brainwashing
interrogations (Marks, 1979; Sargent, 1957; Scheflin, 1995; Scheflin &
Opton, 1978), most psychotherapy is not conducted in this way (see
several citations in Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999). For such an
"implantation" to happen, there must be at least two conditions about
the retracting person: 1) they must have a personality trait of
sufficient memory suggestibility; and 2) they must be subjected to a
documented extensive and rigorous pattern of systematically suggested
misinformation within and across interviews. In other words, it must
be demonstrated that the interviewer actually is supplying most of the
content about abuse-related themes within and across sessions, and
that these themes are not originating from the patient (Brown,
Scheflin & Whitfield, 1999).
Evidence Criteria. In their extensive monograph Brown, Scheflin &
Whitfield, (1999) stated: "In our opinion the false memory suggestion
argument represents a gross overgeneralization from rather complex
sources of data and has seriously misled judges in the courts. Based
on a careful review of a large body of research on human suggestion
effects, several reasonable conclusions can be drawn. We recommend
that these conclusions be used by the courts as a set of criteria by
which to evaluate the evidence in cases where allegations have been
made that a false abuse-related memory has been implanted" (p. 83). In
order to demonstrate this claim, they concluded that the evidence must
show the criteria listed in Table 2.
Table 2. Evidence Criteria that a False Abuse-Related Memory May Have
Been Suggested or Implanted by an Authority Figure:
A Recommended Standard of Evidence for the Court
(from Brown, Scheflin & Whitfield 1999)
1) Patient : shows a specific trait of high memory suggestibility.
2) Clinical record : contains a pattern of systemic misinformation
within & across interview sessions.
3) Interaction : reflects uncritical acceptance by patient of the
specific abuse-related suggestions.
4) Ruled out : reflects no extra-therapeutic sources of the alleged
false abuse memory, i.e., therapy alone is proximate cause.
5) Ruled out : A pattern of post-therapeutic suggestive influences *
*This pattern may include, but is not limited to, such influences as:
a) Strong family pressures to retract,
b) Exposure to "false memory" media, literature, or personal
influences,
c) Other retractors who may have sued a therapist,
d) Coaching or consultation by "false memory" experts, attorneys or
advocacy groups, and
e) Retraction occurs in context of heated custody dispute.
In other words, the record must reflect that the great proportion of
abuse-related themes are unequivocally supplied by the interviewer,
and does not originate with the patient. Brown & Scheflin (1999) have
seen numerous malpractice cases where a plaintiff has sued a former
therapist for "implanting" abuse memories that were subsequently
retracted, where the medical record consistently showed that the abuse-
related content originally came from the patient, now plaintiff,
either inside or outside the context of therapy. The patient
subsequently as plaintiff, over and against the medical record, made
the misattribution error of attributing the source of the suggestion
to the therapist. Since this distinction often gets obscured, the
trier-of-fact must carefully evaluate the medical record to
distinguish between patient-reported abuse and therapist-suggested
abuse themes.
The vulnerability to suggestive influences does not stop once the
therapy has terminated. In many of these malpractice cases the
plaintiff has made the logical error of alleging therapist-implanted
memories of abuse that never occurred, while failing to consider the
likelihood that the retraction belief is actually the product of post-
therapeutic suggestive influences. Retraction beliefs are likely to be
the product of post-therapeutic suggestive influences when the
plaintiff has been subjected to any one or more of those influences (a-
b) at the bottom of Table 2 above. Under such circumstances, the
plaintiffs' complaints and recollections about alleged therapeutic
malpractice may be significantly distorted, unreliable and unduly
contaminated by post-therapeutic false memory influences. "Canned"
plaintiff malpractice complaints, wherein the language mirrors the
arguments found in popular pro false memory books, is evidence of
uncritical acceptance of the suggested false memory information on the
part of plaintiff.
Try to Impeach Other Witnesses or Those Who Have Filed Reports
Besides trying to discredit corroborating witnesses, the accused try
to impeach other witnesses or those who have filed reports, such as
therapists, child protective services, the police, and others who
intervene. In depositions and during cross-examinations the defendant
uses every possible strategy to make the witness or reporter look
wrong.
Try to Intimidate and Impeach Plaintiff's Expert Witness
The accused molester tries to intimidate and impeach the plaintiff's
expert witness with minutiae or irrelevant details that are often not
within their appropriate working clinical knowledge. For example,
"fms" advocate lawyer C. Barden so deposed a trauma expert by asking
him many inappropriate, irrelevant or distracting questions,
apparently in an effort to intimidate the witness (see Barden's
deposition of Dr. van der Kolk of 12/27/96 on website
www.tjcesq.com/html/van_der_Kolk_12_27.html).
Play on Our Individual and Collective Wishes and Doubts
Of all the defenses, this may be the most effective one that actual
abusers use to manipulate us to believe them. We all so much want the
abuse not to have happened, and so when an accused person, whether
they are guilty, says that they did not do it and uses any one or a
combination of the above excuses or defenses, it may activate several
parts of our own inner life, including our personal wants, emotions
and beliefs. The accused and/or exposed molester plays on our
individual and collective wishes and doubts that an adult would
sexually assault a child. It is as though we don't want to believe it,
and so every bit of evidence that is presented to us, no matter how
convincing, is then filtered out through the fine mesh of our beliefs
and doubts. With this kind of internal pressure to disbelieve any and
all evidence, our objectivity and reasoning capacities are then not
open to allow us to carefully listen, consider and weigh what we hear
from both sides.
Salter (1998) interviewed convicted child molesters in prison, who,
with nothing else to lose, told her that their chief enablers in their
enacting their crime are the "good" people who do not want to believe
that crimes of child sexual abuse occur. They describe how people
easily hand over their children to them. They explain that this is
because most people are not suspicious, they trust others, and do not
believe their children will be harmed by other adults who look
attractive and act polite. A way to handle this major potential block
to justice is to focus on the science, both clinical and basic, of
trauma psychology and offender psychology.
Conclusion
Child sexual abuse is widespread and traumatic amnesia for it is
common. Accused, convicted and self-confessed child molesters and
their advocates have crafted a strategy that tries to negate these
facts, which we can call a "false memory" defense. In this article
each of the more commonly used parts of the defense have been
described, and what the science indicates about them has been
presented. Armed with this knowledge, survivors, their clinicians, and
their attorneys will be better able to refute this defense of mostly
disinformation.
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(1994,March 4).
end of text
childadvocate
which we can call a "false memory" defense."
http://childabuse.georgiacenter.uga.edu/both/whitfield/whitfield29.phtml
Conclusion
Child sexual abuse is widespread and traumatic amnesia for it is
common. Accused, convicted and self-confessed child molesters and
their advocates have crafted a strategy that tries to negate these
facts, which we can call a "false memory" defense. In this article
each of the more commonly used parts of the defense have been
described, and what the science indicates about them has been
presented. Armed with this knowledge, survivors, their clinicians, and
their attorneys will be better able to refute this defense of mostly
disinformation.
Greegor
KRP > Only you LOONEY TUNES whackos are
KRP > right and EVERYONE ELSE is wrong!"
G > "And whoever is projecting their brain waves to
G > Direct Diana's thoughts! LOL"
KRP > "Maybe she isn't getting the whole message and should stick
KRP > her head in a microwave oven to improve the reception?"
Diana > A person with a strong argument doesn't need to use these
tactics.
Did you have a strong argument when you did this?
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20031106-9999_2m6stalk.html
Stalker of actress to be freed from jail
By Onell R. Soto UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER November 6, 2003
A mentally ill La Mesa woman who admitted stalking actress and singer
Jennifer Love Hewitt is scheduled to walk out of jail today, but will
have to comply with several conditions to remain free.
Diana Napolis – who accused Love Hewitt of trying to kill her through
mind control – must take her psychiatric drugs, stay away from
computers and guns and seek court permission before traveling, a judge
ordered yesterday.
Napolis pleaded guilty to stalking and could have been sent to prison,
but prosecutors argued for probation with those restrictions.
Prosecutor Fiona Khalil said a prison term likely would have resulted
in Napolis being released after a short time and moving about without
much supervision.
"Our intent here is to be involved with her life as long as possible,"
Khalil said of the 5-year probation.
Napolis has been diagnosed with delusional disorder and paranoid
schizophrenia and must take part in a program for mentally ill
criminals, according to court records.
The judge also ordered Napolis, 47, to stay away from Love Hewitt and
director Steven Spielberg for at least 10 years. Napolis said she
plans to live with her mother, court records show.
Prosecutors said Napolis tried to confront Love Hewitt during
promotional appearances by the entertainer here and in Los Angeles.
She yelled profanities and called the actress a "murderer." Napolis
also threatened in e-mails to kill Love Hewitt.
She also made threats against Spielberg, who obtained a restraining
order against her in Los Angeles.
Napolis, a former county social worker, madeaccusations on the
Internet against people who opposed theories of satanic ritual abuse
of children, but was never charged for those comments.
Her campaign, much of it under the pseudonym "Curio," was the subject
of a September 2000 Union-Tribune profile.
Shortly after her arrest Nov. 26, 2002, Napolis was declared too
mentally ill to stand trial and was committed to Patton State Hospital
near San Bernardino.
After months of psychiatric treatment, she began saying it was
possible she was wrong about being persecuted by the Hollywood starlet
and the famous director, said psychologist Thomas MacSpeiden.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Napolis
Diana Napolis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Diana Louisa Napolis
Born 1955
La Mesa, California
Nationality American
Known for Celebrity stalking, researcher regarding mind control and
satanic ritual abuse
Diana Louisa Napolis,[1] also known by her on-line pseudonym Karen
Curio Jones[2] or more often simply Curio,[3] is an American former
social worker. Between the late 1990s and 2000, Napolis posted a
series of pseudonymous accusations alleging that individuals skeptical
of the satanic ritual abuse phenomenon were involved in a conspiracy
to cover-up the sexual abuse and murder of children. The pseudonymous
poster's real life identity was discovered in 2000 to be Napolis.
In 2001, she was charged with stalking film director Steven Spielberg,
and in 2002 faced more charges for making death threats against
actress Jennifer Love Hewitt,[4] and was committed to a state hospital
until fit to stand trial. After a year in prison Napolis pled guilty
to stalking and was released on probation.
Contents [hide]
1 Satanic ritual abuse allegations
2 Celebrity harassment
2.1 Steven Spielberg
2.2 Jennifer Love Hewitt
3 Footnotes
4 External links
[edit] Satanic ritual abuse allegations
Napolis originally worked as a child protection worker for nearly ten
years (leaving the position in 1996), becoming involved in the satanic
ritual abuse (SRA) phenomenon that arose in the early 1980s. Napolis
held that those who did not believe in the phenomenon were themselves
child abusers involved in a conspiracy to conceal their activities
from the public.[3]
Posting under the screen name "Curio", Napolis began a pattern of on-
line harassment against those she believed were involved in the
conspiracy, posting information about the individuals. Among those she
targeted were Carol Hopkins, a school administrator who was part of a
grand jury in San Diego, California that criticized social workers for
removing children from their home without reason; Michael Aquino, a
member of the Temple of Set and a lieutenant colonel in the United
States Army Reserve against whom accusations of SRA were made but
dropped; and Elizabeth Loftus, a professor who studied memory who
believed coercive questioning techniques by poorly-trained
investigators led to young children making false allegations of child
sexual abuse.[3][5] Loftus was confronted at a New Zealand academic
conference by a group of people who accused her of conspiring to help
child molesters, with information comprised largely of the postings
made by Napolis.[3]
Using public computers in internet cafes and libraries, Napolis
concealed her identity for five years while continuing to post
information on-line about those she believed involved in the
conspiracy. In 2000, private researcher Michelle Devereaux and the San
Diego State University police tracked Napolis and caught her in the
act of posting information as Curio on-line from a campus lab. No
charges were filed, but by revealing her identity, those Napolis had
harassed ceased to consider her a serious threat.[3] The story was
reported in The San Diego Union-Tribune,[2] which was added to her on-
line list of harassing parties.[4]
[edit] Celebrity harassment
[edit] Steven Spielberg
In the fall of 2001, Steven Spielberg filed a restraining order
against Napolis after she made harassing telephone calls to the
director. Napolis claimed Spielberg and his wife were part of a
satanic cult operating out of his basement that had implanted a
microchip called "soulcatcher" in her brain, an accusation to which
Spielberg replied "To state the obvious, I am not involved with any
form of manipulating Ms. Napolis's mind or body through remote
technology or otherwise." Spielberg also expressed concern for the
safety and security of his family.[1] His security team indicated they
believed Napolis to be suffering from a delusional disorder and posed
"a serious risk of violent confrontation". The judge ruled Napolis was
barred from approaching within 150 meters of Spielberg and believed
her to be a "credible threat" to the director.[6]
[edit] Jennifer Love Hewitt
On September 18, 2002, Napolis "verbally confronted" Jennifer Love
Hewitt while entering the 2002 Grammy Awards, and the subsequent day
attempted to pose as a friend of the actress to enter the premiere of
The Tuxedo. On October 10 Napolis again tried to confront Hewitt at a
filming, and e-mailed several death threats to the actress later that
month.[4] In December, 2002, Napolis was arrested for stalking and
making death threats against Hewitt, charged with six felonies,[5] and
remanded to San Diego County Jail on $500,000 bail.[4] At her hearing,
Napolis also admitted to becoming involved in a shoving match with
Hewitt's mother while confronting the actress.[4] Napolis accused the
actress and Spielberg of being part of a satanic conspiracy and using
mind controlling "cybertronic" technology to manipulate her body.
Napolis was committed to Patton State Hospital in 2003 for three years
or until fit to stand trial.[3]
After nearly a year in jail (including five months in a state
psychiatric facility where she was judged delusional but fit to stand
trial[7]), Napolis pleaded guilty to stalking on September 29, 2003,
receiving five years probation; in addition, she was required to
enroll in a counseling program, surrender all weapons and firearms,
abstain from drugs and alcohol and refrain from using computers.
Napolis was also barred from any contact with Spielberg, Hewitt and
their families for ten years and was required by the judge to continue
taking prescribed medication.[8]
[edit] Footnotes
^ a b MacKenzie, D (2002-10-20). "Spielberg Stalker in Mind-Bug Game".
Sunday Mirror. p. 16.
^ a b Sauer, M (2000-09-24). "A Web of Intrigue: The search for Curio
leads cybersleuths down a twisted path". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
http://www.konformist.com/2002/curio-tribune.htm. Retrieved on
2008-10-30.
^ a b c d e f Bocij, Paul (2004). Cyberstalking: harrassment in the
Internet age and how to protect your family. New York: Praeger
Publishers. pp. 33-35. ISBN 0-275-98118-5.
^ a b c d e Sauer, M (2002-12-31). "Stalking suspect to undergo more
psychological tests". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20021231-9999_1m31stalker.html.
Retrieved on 2008-10-30.
^ a b De Young, Mary (2004). The day care ritual abuse moral panic.
Jefferson, N.C: McFarland. pp. 234-5. ISBN 0-7864-1830-3.
^ "Spielberg wins order banning cult stalker". The Australian.
2002-10-23. pp. 12.
^ Silverman, SM (2003-09-30). "J.Love Stalker Case Ends in Guilty
Plea". People.com. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,626932,00.html.
Retrieved on 2009-02-14.
^ "Woman Who Stalked Actress Sentenced to Probation, Mental Health
Counseling". City News Service. 2003-11-05.
[edit] External links
Diana Napolis' homepage
Statement by Napolis in People v. Napolis
Michael Aquino response in Napolis v. Aquino et al.(2008).
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Napolis"
whitevamp
> More name calling, insults and misrepresentations of data from the
> "skeptics."
>
> The majority of legitimate sources recognize that :
>
>
> 2) They have fairly high corroboration rates.http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-corroborat...
>
> 3) False allegations of child sexual abuse by children are rare.http://ritualabuse.us/research/false-allegations-of-child-sexual-abus...
>
> 4) False memory syndrome proponents have done the following to try and
> ensure that only their point of view is in the public view including
> harassing debate opponents, misrepresenting the data in the field and
>
> Good examples of harassment, using personal insults and name calling
> also appears in some of the posts above.
>
> like these:
>
> "it is EVERYONE but you NUT CAKES! Only you LOONEY TUNES whackos are
> right and EVERYONE ELSE is wrong!"
>
> "And whoever is projecting their brain waves to Direct Diana's
> thoughts! LOL"
>
> "Maybe she isn't getting the whole message and should stick her head
> in a microwave oven to improve the reception?"
>
> --
> A person with a strong argument doesn't need to use these tactics.
Nice boys, aren''t you, provoking an obsessive female whom you know
will respond with her SRA claims in massive C&Ps. You two know damn
well she's seriously mentally ill and yet you two just HAVE to shake
her cage, right boys?
But then that's part of your game online, isn't it? Instead of
actually helping battered women you two claim smugly that battered
woman's syndrome doesn't exist. Instead of helping victims of rape,
Kennie the misogynist claims they are liars.
And all this crap for what? To amuse yourselves at other's expense?
To be malicious bastards in a forum where you hide from immediate
results of your own words?
No wonder you two have driven many off these newsgroups and
PREVENTED actual subjects from being discussed and people helped.
You two are losers.
Moe
Know your snakes--- http://www.aboutkenpangborn.com
Greegor
> will respond with her SRA claims in massive C&Ps. You two know damn
> well she's seriously mentally ill and yet you two just HAVE to shake
> her cage, right boys?
>
> But then that's part of your game online, isn't it? Instead of
> actually helping battered women you two claim smugly that battered
> woman's syndrome doesn't exist. Instead of helping victims of rape,
> Kennie the misogynist claims they are liars.
>
> And all this crap for what? To amuse yourselves at other's expense?
> To be malicious bastards in a forum where you hide from immediate
> results of your own words?
>
> No wonder you two have driven many off these newsgroups and
> PREVENTED actual subjects from being discussed and people helped.
>
> You two are losers.
>
> Moe
Check out the "childadvocate" (Diana Napolis) posting history!
Moe, You MIGHT want to look this over before accusing
anybody of ""egging her on"" ROFL.
smartnews at aol.com
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Lars Eighner
<8261cf3b-5256-4466...@l2g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, the
lovely and talented whitevamp broadcast on alt.true-crime:
Week in and week out she starts new threads with new newsgroups, all with
pointers to phoney-baloney websites. Okay, if she were just talking about
alien mind-control rays, it would be merely annoying. But I can remember
the '80s when ritual-abuse/recovered-memory hysteria spread through many
communities, ruining the lives of countless innocent people, including many
of the supposed victims. This is not about the color of the sky on the
planet Meepzor. It is about a real world danger that is not merely
theoretical, but which has a history of producing vast real-world harm.
> But then that's part of your game online, isn't it? Instead of
> actually helping battered women you two claim smugly that battered
> woman's syndrome doesn't exist.
Of course it exists, but it doesn't often make the victims paranoid nutcases
with harmful theories.
> Instead of helping victims of rape, Kennie the misogynist claims they are
> liars.
Of course some people with "recovered memories" are real victims of real
abuse. However, the artifacts of "recovered memories" often result in the
innocent being accused and the guilty escaping detection in the smoke
screen.
> And all this crap for what? To amuse yourselves at other's expense?
To prevent miscarriages of justices such as have occurred in the past when
"recovered memories" have been accepted uncritically. That somebody, just
anybody, must pay is a childish concept of justice. Convicting an innocent
party may make some victims feel vindicated, but it certainly does not make
the world a better place while the true culprit, if there is one, goes free.
> To be malicious bastards in a forum where you hide from immediate
> results of your own words?
> No wonder you two have driven many off these newsgroups and
> PREVENTED actual subjects from being discussed and people helped.
> You two are losers.
> Moe
> Know your snakes--- http://www.aboutkenpangborn.com
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> September 5773, 1993
152 days since Rick Warren prayed over Bush's third term.
whitevamp
> In our last episode,
> <8261cf3b-5256-4466-b2e3-bdfca0ab2...@l2g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, the
I know about some of the cases where innocent people were accused and
convicted of child sexual abuse based on the garbage called "
recovered memory".
A real good book on the subject is the one by Jeffrey Victor called "
Satanic Panic".
I've encountered childadvocate before and frankly I doubt she has all
her marbles. But then a real good look at the " satanic ritual abuse"
claims, including the notorious McMartin Preschool case, pretty much
shows there are major flaws in the claims of folks like her.
The last time I "argued" with childadvocate ( of you can call it
that) a mother of one of the supposed victims at McMartin emailed me
in what I saw as her attempt to lure me to her cause. In her case, if
I believed her account, Ted Gunderson used her ( which may be true)
and she was the one who " funded" the parent-led " archeological dig"
at the preschool site. She also claimed that the woman who died from
liver damage due to her heavy alcohol abuse was " allergic" to
alcohol.
Long story short, whenever I looked into cases like that where
supposedly " ritual abuse" happens, it turns out to be smoke and
mirrors, nothing substantial.
>
> > But then that's part of your game online, isn't it? Instead of
> > actually helping battered women you two claim smugly that battered
> > woman's syndrome doesn't exist.
>
> Of course it exists, but it doesn't often make the victims paranoid nutcases
> with harmful theories.
I was referring to the poster Greegor who has a buddy named Ken
Pangborn AKA KRP who claims BWS is not proven in a court of law.
Greegor/ Greg is not what you would call an innocent person as one of
teh accusations leveled against him was that he was alone with a seven
year old child "washing the pee" off of her with his bare hands, the
child being his girlfriend's daughter. Pangborn is a misogynist who
actually claims that in 90 percent of the domestic abuse calls police
get that the women victim "asked for it".
What Greg is trying to do here with childavocate is simply to rattle
her cage for his amusement. He doesn't care if she is mentally ill or
not, or even the issue itself. He just gets a kick out of provoking
people.
>
> > Instead of helping victims of rape, Kennie the misogynist claims they are
> > liars.
>
> Of course some people with "recovered memories" are real victims of real
> abuse. However, the artifacts of "recovered memories" often result in the
> innocent being accused and the guilty escaping detection in the smoke
> screen.
One of the problems I have with "recovered memories" is that when
they are " brought to the surface" during a psych session under
hypnosis, there is no independent proof that the " memories" are
actual memories of actual past events, not " planted" memories.
If you ever read the crappy book " Daddy Was the Black Dahlia
Killer", you can see how erroneous " recovered memories" actually are.
In that book the woman claims she had an RM of The Black Dahlia AKA
Beth Short giving birth to a baby before her father supposedly kills
it. Problem is Short's autopsy showed she had an underdeveopled set of
female genitalia, making it damn near impossible for her to have
coitus, much less give birth.
>
> > And all this crap for what? To amuse yourselves at other's expense?
>
> To prevent miscarriages of justices such as have occurred in the past when
> "recovered memories" have been accepted uncritically. That somebody, just
> anybody, must pay is a childish concept of justice. Convicting an innocent
> party may make some victims feel vindicated, but it certainly does not make
> the world a better place while the true culprit, if there is one, goes free.
Pardon me but that is not the focus of my post, It was about Greg
attacking childavocate to provoke her, not about recovered memories.
I wasn't referring to whatever CA was posting.
Moe
Know your snakes--- http://www.aboutkenpangborn.com
>
> > To be malicious bastards in a forum where you hide from immediate
> > results of your own words?
> > No wonder you two have driven many off these newsgroups and
> > PREVENTED actual subjects from being discussed and people helped.
> > You two are losers.
> > Moe
> > Know your snakes---http://www.aboutkenpangborn.com
childadvocate
repeating the same unproven statements, totally ignoring any research
from the other side.
statements like these:
"Week in and week out she starts new threads with new newsgroups, all
with pointers to phoney-baloney websites."
"on the garbage called "recovered memory"
Actually, recovered memory is a proven phenomenon with fairly high
corroboration rates.
see: http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories
The websites I send use scientific data to back up their points,
unlike the posts above.
The name calling above is simply a propaganda technique used to
discredit an argument without using any reason or research.
And no, I am not Diana. Even she has posted stating this.
Jeffrey Victor is a member of the FMSF, an organization that has been
accused of misrepresenting data and its members have been accused of
harassing others to silence them.
see: http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=False_Memory_Syndrome
childadvocate
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories
copied with permission
Recovered memories have been defined as the phenomenon of partially or
fully losing parts of memories of traumatic events, and then later
recovering part or all of the memories into conscious awareness. They
have also been defined as the recollections of memories that are
believed to have been unavailable for a certain period of time[1].
There is very strong scientific evidence that recovered memories exist.
[2] This has been shown in many scientific studies. The content of
recovered memories have fairly high corroboration rates.
Contents
* 1 Scientific evidence
* 2 Corroboration rates
* 3 References
* 4 Bibliography
* 5 External Links
Scientific evidence
There are many studies that have proven that the recovered memories of
traumatic events exist. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond found 43 studies
that showed recovered memories for traumatic events[3]. The Recovered
Memory Project has collected 101 corroborated cases of recovered
memories[4]. Hopper's research shows that amnesia for childhood sexual
abuse is "beyond dispute." He states that "at least 10% of people
sexually abused in childhood will have periods of complete amnesia for
Other researchers state:
References
1. What about Recovered Memories? Jennifer J. Freyd, University of
Oregon http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/whatabout.html
2. Research discussing corroboration and accuracy of recovered
memories: An Annotated Bibliography by Lynn Crook
http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/suggestedrefs.html
3. Brown, Scheflin, & Whitfield. (1999). Recovered Memories: The
Current Weight of the Evidence in Science and in the Courts Journal of
Psychiatry & Law, 27, 5-156. "Brown, Scheflin and Hammond reviewed 43
studies relevant to the subject of traumatic memory and found that
every study that examined the question of dissociative amnesia in
traumatized populations demonstrated that a substantial minority
partially or completely forget the traumatic event experienced, and
later recover memories of the event. By 1999, over 68 studies had been
published that document dissociative amnesia after childhood sexual
abuse. In fact, no study that has looked for evidence of traumatic or
dissociative amnesia after child sexual abuse has failed to find it."
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/prev.html
4. The Recovered Memory Project http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Recovmem/index.html
5. Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse - Scientific Research &
Scholarly Resources by Jim Hopper “Amnesia for childhood sexual abuse
is a condition. The existence of this condition is beyond dispute.
Repression is merely one explanation - often a confusing and
misleading one - for what causes the condition of amnesia. At least
10% of people sexually abused in childhood will have periods of
complete amnesia for their abuse, followed by experiences of delayed
recall.” http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/
6. Williams LM (1994). Recall of childhood trauma: a prospective
study of women’s memories of child sexual abuse. J Consult Clin
Psychol 62: 1167–76. PMID 7860814. "One hundred twenty-nine women with
previously documented histories of sexual victimization in childhood
were interviewed and asked detailed questions about their abuse
histories to answer the question “Do people actually forget traumatic
events such as child sexual abuse, and if so, how common is such
forgetting?” A large proportion of the women (38%) did not recall the
abuse that had been reported 17 years earlier."
http://www.hss.caltech.edu/courses/2004-05/winter/psy130/Debate2Williams1.pdf
7. Andrews, B., Brewin, C., Ochera, J., Morton, J., Bekerian, D.,
Davies, G., and Mollon, P. (1999). Characteristics, context and
consequences of memory recovery among adults in therapy. Brit J
Psychiatry 175:141-146. "Of a total of 690 clients, therapists
reported that 65% recalled child sexual abuse and 35% recalled other
traumas, 32% started recovering memories before entering therapy.
According to therapists’ accounts, among the 236 detailed client
cases, very few appeared improbable and corroboration was reported in
41%. Most (78%) of the clients’ initial recovered memories either
preceded therapy or preceded the use of memory recovery techniques
used by the respondents. Techniques seemed to be used more to help the
clients to elaborate the memories than to facilitate their initial
recovery. Clients with whom techniques had been used before the first
reported memory recovery were no less likely to have found
corroborating evidence than clients with whom no techniques had been
used before memory recovery."
8. Bagley, C. (1995). The prevalence and mental health sequels of
child sexual abuse in community sample of women aged 18 to 27. Child
sexual abuse and mental health in adolescents and adults. Aldershot:
Avebury. "Study of women 18-24 years who had been removed from home 10
years previously by social services due to intrafamilial sexual abuse.
Of the 19 women for whom there was evidence of serious sexual abuse,
14 remembered events corresponding to their records. Two remembered
that abuse had taken place but could recall no specific details, and
three had no memory. Two of the last three described long blank
periods for the memory of childhood corresponding to the age when
abuse had taken place.
9. Feldman-Summers, S., & Pope, K. S. (1994). The experience of
forgetting childhood abuse: A national survey of psychologists.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 636-639. "A
national sample of psychologists were asked whether they had been
abused as children and, if so, whether they had ever forgotten some or
all of the abuse. Almost a quarter of the sample (23.9%) reported
childhood abuse, and of those, approximately 40% reported a period of
forgetting some or all of the abuse....Of those abused, 40% did not
remember at some time. 47% had corroboration. 56% said psychotherapy
aided in recall. Differences between those who first recalled abuse in
therapy and those who recalled it elsewhere were not significant.
10. Herman, J. L., & Harvey, M. R. (1997). Adult memories of
childhood trauma: A naturalistic clinical study. Journal of Traumatic
Stress, 10, 557-571. "Roughly half (53%) said they had never forgotten
the traumatic events. Two smaller groups described a mixture of
continuous and delayed recall (17%) or a period of complete amnesia
followed by delayed recall (16%). Patients with and without delayed
recall did not differ significantly in the proportions reporting
corroboration of their memories from other sources."
11. Corwin, D.; Olafson E. (1997). Videotaped Discovery of a
Reportedly Unrecallable Memory of Child Sexual Abuse:Comparison with a
Childhood Interview Videotaped 11 Years Before Child Maltreatment 2
(2): 91–112. doi:10.1177/1077559597002002001 http://cmx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/2/2/91
12. The Leadership Council - Trauma and Memory
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/tm.html
13. “True” and “False” Child Sexual Abuse Memories and Casey’s
Phenomenological View of Remembering Joanne M. Hall, Lori L. Kondora -
American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 48, No. 10, 1339-1359 (2005) DOI:
10.1177/0002764205277012 "Research shows that 64% of adult women
childhood sexual abuse survivors had some degree of amnesia regarding
the trauma; but in the majority of cases, corroboration was available
to verify that abuse had occurred (Herman & Schatzow, 1987). Of 129
women with recorded histories of childhood sexual abuse, 38% did not
recall the abuse that had been clearly verified and documented decades
earlier. This lack of recall was especially likely among those abused
at younger ages and among those whose perpetrators were known by them
at the time of the abuse (L.Williams, 1994). In fact, a body of
empirical evidence indicates that it is common for abused children to
reach adulthood without conscious awareness of the trauma (Briere,
1992; Herman, 1992; Schetky, 1990; van der Kolk et al., 1996)."
http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/48/10/1339?ijkey=ciZjJlFifgYIY&keytype=ref&siteid=spabs
14. Corroboration of Child Abuse Memories "Studies vary in
frequency. Between 31 and 64 percent of abuse survivors in six major
studies reported that they forgot “some of the abuse.” Numbers
reporting severe amnesia ranged from under 12% to 59%....Studies
report 50-75% of abuse survivors corroborating the facts of their
abuse through an outside source." http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/abuse/a/cooroborate.htm
15. van der Kolk, BA & R Fisler (1995), “Dissociation and the
fragmentary nature of traumatic memories: Overview and exploratory
study”, J Traumatic Stress 8: 505–25 "a systematic exploratory study
of 46 subjects with PTSD which indicates that traumatic memories are
retrieved, at least initially, in the form of dissociated mental
imprints of sensory and affective elements of the traumatic
experience: as visual, olfactory, affective, auditory and kinesthetic
experiences. Over time, subjects reported the gradual emergence of a
personal narrative that some believe can be properly referred to as
“explicit memory”....Of the 35 subjects with childhood trauma, 15
(43%) had suffered significant, or total amnesia for their trauma at
some time of their lives. Twenty seven of the 35 subjects with
childhood trauma (77%) reported confirmation of their childhood
trauma." http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk2.php
16. “Recovered memories of abuse among therapy patients: A national
survey.” Pope, Kenneth S.; Tabachnick, Barbara G. Independent
practice, Norwalk, CT, US Ethics & Behavior 1995 Vol 5(3) 237-248
"about 50% of the patients who claimed to have recovered the memories
had found external validation, a percentage that coincides with that
obtained in the Feldman-Summers & Pope, 1994 study"
17. Herman, J L.; Schatzow E (1987). Recovery and verification of
memories of childhood sexual trauma. Psychoanalytic Psychol 4. “Three
out of four patients were able to validate their memories by obtaining
corroborating evidence from other sources” http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=ppsy.004.0001a
18. Kluft, RP (1995). The confirmation and disconfirmation of
memories of abuse in Dissociative Identity Disorder patients: A
naturalistic study. Dissociation 8: 253-8. "Nineteen, or 56%, had
instances of the confirmation of recalled abuses. Ten of the 19, or
53%, had always recalled the abuses that were confirmed. However, 13
of the 19, or 68%, obtained documentation of events that were
recovered in the course of therapy, usually with the use of hypnosis.
Three patients, or 9%, had instances in which the inaccuracy of their
recollection could be demonstrated."
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1155/Dis_8_4_9_ocr.pdf?sequence=1
19. Westerhof, Y., Woertman, L. Van der Hart, O., & Nijenhuis,
E.R.S. (2000). Forgetting child abuse: Feldman-Summers and Pope’s
(1994) study replicated among Dutch psychologists. Clinical Psychology
and Psychotherapy, 7, 220-229. "In a replication of Feldman-Summers
and Pope’s (1994) national survey of American psychologists on
‘forgetting’ childhood abuse, a Dutch sample of 500 members of the
Netherlands Institute of Psychologists (NIP) were asked if they had
been abused as children and, if so, whether they had ever forgotten
some or all of the abuse for some significant period of time. As
compared to the 23.9% in the original study, 13.3% reported childhood
abuse. Of that subgroup, 39% (as compared to 40% in the original
study) reported a period of forgetting some or all of the abuse for a
period of time. Both sexual and non-sexual physical abuse were subject
to forgetting, which in 70% of cases was reversed while being in
therapy. Almost 70% of those who reported forgetting also reported
corroboration of the abuse."
20. Lewis, D., Yeager, C., Swica, Y., Pincus, J. and Lewis, M.
(1997). Objective documentation of child abuse and dissociation in 12
murderers with dissociative identity disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 154
(12):1703-10. "Signs and symptoms of dissociative identity disorder in
childhood and adulthood were corroborated independently and from
several sources in all 12 cases; objective evidence of severe abuse
was obtained in 11 cases. The subjects had amnesia for most of the
abuse and underreported it. Marked changes in writing style and/or
signatures were documented in 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study
establishes, once and for all, the linkage between early severe abuse
and dissociative identity disorder."
21. Martinez-Taboas, A. (1996). Repressed memories: Some clinical
data contributing toward its elucidation. American Journal of
Psychotherapy, 50(2), 217-30. "the author presents two well documented
and corroborated cases of dissociated or delayed memories of child
sexual abuse in patients with a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity
Disorder (DID). The patients had absolutely no conscious memory of
their childhood abusive experiences and in both cases the author
obtained definite and clear cut independent corroboration of the
realities of the abuse. The amnesia was documented and memories were
recovered in the course of treatment."
22. Viederman M. (1995). The reconstruction of a repressed sexual
molestation fifty years later. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic
Association, 43(4): 1169-1219. Reconstruction of a previously
completely repressed memory of sexual molestation. Six years following
termination of analysis, the patient wrote a letter describing a
confirmation of the event, now sixty years past, from the sole other
survivor of the period who had knowledge of what had happened.
23. Bull, D. (1999). A verified case of recovered memories of sexual
abuse. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 53(2), 221-224. "a 40-year-
old woman with no history of mental illness and ten years of exemplary
professional work, recovers memories of childhood sexual abuse by her
father through a call from her youth pastor in whom she had confided
as an adolescent."
24. Dahlenberg, C. (1996, Summer) Accuracy, timing and circumstances
of disclosure in therapy of recovered and continuous memories of
abuse. The Journal of Psychiatry and Law. "Seventeen patients who had
recovered memories of abuse in therapy participated in a search for
evidence confirming or refuting these memories. Memories of abuse were
found to be equally accurate whether recovered or continuously
remembered."
Bibliography
childadvocate
copied with permission
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=False_Memory_Syndrome
The term False Memory Syndrome was created in 1992 by the False Memory
Syndrome Foundation (FMSF)[1]. It has been called "a pseudoscientific
syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child
abuse."[1] The FMSF was created by parents who claimed to be falsely
accused of child sexual abuse.[1] The False Memory Syndrome was
described as "a widespread social phenomenon where misguided
therapists cause patients to invent memories of sexual abuse."[1]
Research has shown that most delayed memories of childhood abuse are
true[2]. In general, it has been shown that false allegations of
childhood sexual abuse are rare, with some studies showing rates as
low as one percent[3][4] and some studies showing slightly higher rates
[3]. It has been found that children tend to understate rather than
overstate the extent of any abuse experienced[3]. It has been stated
that misinformation on the topic of child sexual abuse is widespread
and that the media have contributed to this problem by reporting
favorably on unproven and controversial claims like the False Memory
Syndrome[5].
Contents
* 1 Research on False Memory
* 2 Critiques of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and its theories
* 3 References
* 4 Bibliography
* 5 External Links
Research on False Memory
There is a great deal of evidence showing the existence of the
phenomenon of recovered memory and the fairly high corroboration rates
of these memories[6]. The base rates for memory commission errors have
been shown to be quite low, at least in professional trauma treatment.
The base rates in adult misinformation studies run between zero and 5
percent for adults and between 3 - 5 percent for children[7]. It has
been shown that people who recover memories are a lot less suggestible
than clinicians have been led to believe by false memory advocates[8].
It has been stated that false memories are rare[9] One research study
showed the unlikelihood of being able to plant a false memory of a
traumatic event[10]. Some have stated that the False Memory Syndrome
is not a scientific syndrome[11].
Brown, Sheflin and Hammond stated "The hypothesis that false memories
can easily be implanted in psychotherapy (Lindsay & Read, 1994; Loftus
1993; Loftus & Ketcham, 1994; Ofshe and Watters, 1993, 1994; Yapko,
1994a) seriously overstates the available data. Since no studies have
been conducted on suggested effects in psychotherapy per se, the idea
of iatrogenic suggestion of false memories remains an untested
hypothesis.[12]
Elizabeth Loftus, a proponent of the theory of false memory, has been
critiqued in several studies and papers[13][14][15][16].
Critiques of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and its theories
Members of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation have been critiqued
for misrepresenting data and for their possible reasons for having
created the idea of the syndrome.
In reply to a TV documentary about FMS, William Freyd, (Pamela Freyd's
(one of the founders of the FMSF) step brother and sister-in-law)
wrote "There is no doubt in my mind that there was severe abuse in the
home of Peter and Pam. . . . The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a
fraud designed to deny a reality that Peter and Pam have spent most of
their lives trying to escape. There is no such things as a False
Memory Syndrome."[2] "In addition, Peter Freyd's own mother (who is
also Pamela's step-mother) and his only sibling, a brother, were also
estranged from Pamela and Peter. It should be noted that these family
members support Jennifer's side of the story."[1]
A co-founder of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, Ralph
Underwager, has also had several critiques written about him[17]. In
an interview in Amsterdam in June 1991 by “Paidika,” Editor-in-Chief,
Joseph Geraci, Underwager replied to the question "Is choosing
paedophilia for you a responsible choice for the individuals?" with
"Certainly it is responsible. What I have been struck by as I have
come to know more about and understand people who choose paedophilia
is that they let themselves be too much defined by other people. That
is usually an essentially negative definition. Paedophiles spend a lot
of time and energy defending their choice. I don’t think that a
paedophile needs to do that. Paedophiles can boldly and courageously
affirm what they choose. They can say that what they want is to find
the best way to love. I am also a theologian and as a theologian, I
believe it is God’s will that there be closeness and intimacy, unity
of the flesh, between people. A paedophile can say: “This closeness is
possible for me within the choices that I’ve made."[18]
In a transcription of the TV show Witness for Mr. Bubbles from
“Australia 60 Minutes,” Channel Nine Network (Aired on August 5, 1990
in Australia), researcher Anna Salter stated that Underwager "isn’t
accurate. That what he says in court does not necessarily fairly
represent the literature." That he frequently distorts facts and he
sometimes he quotes specific studies, and he’s frequently wrong about
what the studies say."[19]
It was stated in a court document that the two books that he and his
wife Hollida Wakefield, wrote "Accusations of Child Sexual
Abuse" (1988), and The Real World of Child Interrogations (1990) were
not "well received in the medical and scientific press." It was also
stated that "when they cannot use a quotation out of context from an
article, they make unsupported statements, some of which are palpably
untrue and others simply unprovable.” David L. Chadwick, Book Review,
in 261 JAMA 3035 (May 26, 1989)." In the same document it was stated
that "Both Salter and Toth came to believe that Underwager is a hired
gun who makes a living by deceiving judges about the state of medical
knowledge and thus assisting child molesters to evade punishment."[20]
Those that have examined or written about the False Memory Syndrome
theories or foundation or its members have been subjected to
harassment. This includes Anna Salter's analysis of her harassment by
Ralph Underwager[21], David Calof, the former editor of Treating Abuse
Today [22] and Jennifer Hoult [23].
Accusations have also been made about the accuracy of the False Memory
Syndromes' proponents data and research. Salter has critiqued some of
those that defend those accused of child sexual abuse. “The people who
support and defend those accused of child sexual abuse
indiscriminately, those who join organizations dedicated to defending
people who are accused of child sexual abuse with no screening
whatsoever to keep out those who are guilty as charged, are…not
necessarily people engaged in an objective search for the truth. Some
of them can and do use deceit, trickery, misstated research,
harassment, intimidation, and charges of laundering federal money to
silence their opponents.”[21]. Whitfield stated "Since at least 95
percent of child molesters initially deny their abusive behaviors, how
can untrained lay people like Pamela Freyd and her staff “document” a
real or “unreal” case of “FMS,” as appears to be the case with most of
their communications, which usually occur over the telephone or by
letter (p. 76)."[2]. Jennifer Freyd stated “Despite this documentation
for both traumatic amnesia and essentially accurate delayed recall,
memory science is often presented as if it supports the view that
traumatic amnesia is very unlikely or perhaps impossible and that a
great many, perhaps a majority, maybe even all, recovered memories of
abuse are false…Yet no research supports such an implication…and a
great deal of research supports the premise that forgetting sexual
abuse is fairly common and that recovered memories are sometimes
essentially true.” (p. 107) [24]
Proponents of false memory theories have also been accused of
manipulating the media[25][26]. The theory of false memory has been
used as a defense in court to try and negate "abusive, criminal
behavior" and this defense is fraught with disinformation, smoke
screens, and other untruths that are a distortion of what the
available science of the psychology of trauma and memory shows.[27].
References
1. Dallam, S. (2002). "Crisis or Creation: A systematic examination of
false memory claims". Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 9 (3/4): 9–36. doi:
10.1300/J070v09n03_02. PMID 17521989. "A review of the relevant
literature demonstrates that the existence of such a syndrome lacks
general acceptance in the mental health field, and that the construct
is based on a series of faulty assumptions, many of which have been
scientifically disproven. There is a similar lack of empirical
validation for claims of a "false memory" epidemic. It is concluded
that in the absence of any substantive scientific support, "False
Memory Syndrome" is best characterized as a pseudoscientific syndrome
that was developed to defend against claims of child abuse."
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/dallam/6.html
2. Whitfield M.D., Charles L. (1995). Memory and Abuse - Remembering
and Healing the Effects of Trauma Deerfield Beach, FL: Health
Communications, Inc. ISBN 1-55874-320-0.
http://books.google.com/books?id=z1LW3u1e04YC
3. Leadership Council - How often do children’s reports of abuse turn
out to be false? "Jones and McGraw examined 576 consecutive referrals
of child sexual abuse to the Denver Department of Social Services, and
categorized the reports as either reliable or fictitious. In only 1%
of the total cases were children judged to have advanced a fictitious
allegation. Jones, D. P. H., and J. M. McGraw: Reliable and Fictitious
Accounts of Sexual Abuse to Children.Journal of Interpersonal
Violence, 2, 27-45, 1987.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/csa-acc.html
4. False allegations of child sexual abuse by children are rare
http://ritualabuse.us/research/false-allegations-of-child-sexual-abuse-by-children-are-rare/
5. Whitfield, Charles L.; Joyanna L. Silberg, Paul Jay Fink (2001).
Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors.
Haworth Press. ISBN 0789019019.
6. Recovered Memories - Child Abuse Wiki http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories
7. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And
the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
8. Leavitt, F. (March 1997) False attribution of suggestibility to
explain recovered memory of childhood sexual abuse following extended
amnesia Child Abuse & Neglect - 21, 3, P. 265-272
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-3SWV6NV-7&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=bae98194eeabcbfb8a5dcaa602d5cc0b
9. Hall, J., Kondora, L. (2005) “True” and “False” Child Sexual Abuse
Memories and Casey’s Phenomenological View of Remembering American
Behavioral Scientist, 48, 10 p. 1339-1359 DOI:
10.1177/0002764205277012 "The notion of false accusation is often
raised in cases where physical evidence is not available and a period
of time has passed or when there has been a delay in recall of the
events by a survivor of child sexual abuse. This is not to imply that
false memories are not possible. This article outlines how rare they
must be, however, based on historical factors and a phenomenological
analysis of memory itself....Most scientists investigating traumatic
memory doubt that memories of abuse could be planted."
http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/48/10/1339?ijkey=ciZjJlFifgYIY&keytype=ref&siteid=spabs
10. Pezdek, Hodge, D. (1999) July-August Planting false childhood
memories: The role of event plausibility Child Development 70(4) p.
887-895 "One false event described the child lost in a mall while
shopping (the plausible false event); the other false event described
the child receiving a rectal enema (the implausible false event). The
majority of the 39 children (54%) did not remember either false event.
However, whereas 14 children recalled the plausible but not the
implausible false event, only one child recalled the implausible but
not the plausible false event; this difference was statistically
significant." http://www.jstor.org/pss/1132249
11. Friesen, J. (1995) "The Truth About False Memory Syndrome,
Huntington House Publisher ISBN: 1-56384-111-8 "The number of studies
which have subjected false memory syndrome to scientific inquiry is
zero. There is nothing scientific about it. There is nothing which
defines it. There is no list of symptoms which describes it, nor is
there anything which helps us distinguish it from other syndromes."
12. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And
the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
13. Crook, L. (1999) "Lost in a Shopping Mall"—a Breach of
Professional Ethics Ethics & Behavior, (9, 1) P. 39-50 "An analysis of
the mall study shows that beyond the external misrepresentations,
internal scientific methodological errors cast doubt on the validity
of the claims that have been attributed to the mall study within
scholarly and legal arenas. The minimal involvement or, in some cases,
negative impact of collegial consultation, academic supervision, and
peer review throughout the evolution of the mall study are reviewed."
http://users.owt.com/crook/memory/
14. Hopper, J. Elizabeth Loftus "Loftus is aware that those who study
traumatic memory have for several years, based on a great deal of
research and clinical experience, used the construct of dissociation
to account for the majority of recovered memories. However, she
continues to focus on and attack "repression" and "repressed
memories," which has the effect of confusing and misleading many
people." http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/#el
15. Pope, K. (1996) Memory, Abuse, and Science: Questioning Claims
About the False Memory Syndrome Epidemic American Psychologist 51:
957. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.51.9.957 "Does the trauma specified in the
lost-in-the-mall experiment seem comparable to the trauma forming the
basis of false memory syndrome? Loftus (1993) described the implanted
traumatic event in the shopping-mall experiment as follows: "Chris was
convinced by his older brother Jim, that he had been lost in a
shopping mall when he was five years old" (p. 532). Does this seem,
for example, a reasonable analogy for a five-year-old girl being
repeatedly raped by her father?....Is it possible that the findings
are an artifact of this particular design, for example, that the older
family member claims to have been present when the event occurred and
to have witnessed it, a claim the therapist can never make? To date,
replications and extensions of this study have tended to use a similar
methodology; that is, either the older family member makes the
suggestions in his or her role as the experimenter's confederate, or
the experimenter presents the suggestion as being the report of an
older family member, thus creating a surrogate confederate."
http://www.kspope.com/memory/memory.php
16. Hoult, J. (2005)"Remembering Dangerously" & Hoult v. Hoult: The
Myth of Repressed Memory that Elizabeth Loftus
http://www.rememberingdangerously.com/
17. Information on Ralph Underwager
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/ralph-underwager/
18. PAIDIKA INTERVIEW:HOLLIDA WAKEFIELD AND RALPH UNDERWAGER Part I
http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/Underwager2.html
19. Witness for Mr. Bubbles Transcribed from "Australia 60 Minutes,"
Channel Nine Network (Aired on August 5, 1990 in Australia) Produced
by Anthony Mcclellan; Reported by Mike Munro
http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/MrBubbles.html
20. Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v.
Anna Salter, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees. 22 F.3d 730 (7th Cir. 1994)
Federal Circuits, 7th Cir. (April 25, 1994) Docket number: 93-2422
21. Salter, A. (June 1998) Confessions of a Whistle-Blower: Lessons
Learned Ethics & Behavior 8(2) p.115 - 124 DOI: 10.1207/
s15327019eb0802_2 Abstract - In 1988 I began a report on the accuracy
of expert testimony in child sexual abuse cases utilizing Ralph
Underwager and Hollida Wakefield as a case study (Wakefield &
Underwager, 1988). In response, Underwager and Wakefield began a
campaign of harassment and intimidation, which included multiple
lawsuits; an ethics charge; phony (and secretly taped) phone calls;
and ad hominem attacks, including one that I was laundering federal
grant monies. The harassment and intimidation failed as the author
refused demands to retract. In addition, the lawsuits and ethics
charges were dismissed. Lessons learned from the experience are
discussed.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/confessions-of-a-whistle-blower-lessons-learned/
22. Calof, D.L. (1998). Notes from a practice under siege: Harassment,
defamation, and intimidation in the name of science Ethics and
Behavior, 8(2) p. 161-187. "For over three years, however, a group of
proponents of the false memory syndrome (FMS) hypothesis, including
members, officials, and supporters of the False Memory Syndrome
Foundation, Inc., have waged a multi-modal campaign of harassment and
defamation directed against me, my clinical clients, my staff, my
family, and others connected to me. I have neither treated these
harassers or their families, nor had any professional or personal
dealings with any of them; I am not related in any way to the
disclosures of memories of sexual abuse in these families.
Nonetheless, this group disrupts my professional and personal life and
threatens to drive me out of business. In this article, I describe
practicing psychotherapy under a state of siege and places the
campaign against me in the context of a much broader effort in the FMS
movement to denigrate, defame, and harass clinicians, lecturers,
writers, and researchers identified with the abuse and trauma
treatment communities.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/notes-from-a-practice-under-siege/
23. Hoult, J. (June 1998) The Politics of Discrediting Child Abuse
Survivors Ethics & Behavior, 8(2), p. 125 - 140 "As a victim of child
abuse who proved my claims in a landmark civil suit, there have been
many attempts to silence and discredit me. This article provides an
overview of my court case and its effects....I believe that published
documents demonstrate how some members and supporters of false memory
groups publish false statements that defame and intimidate victims of
proven violence and their supporters. Such altered accounts are used
to discredit others in court and in the press."
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402312~db
24. Freyd, J. (June 1998) Science in the Memory Debate Ethics &
Behavior, 8(2), p. 101 - 113 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402310~db
25. Stanton, M. (July/August 1997) U-Turn on Memory Lane Columbia
Journalism Review “Rarely has such a strange and little-understood
organization had such a profound effect on media coverage of such a
controversial matter. The foundation is an aggressive, well-financed
p.r. machine adept at manipulating the press, harassing its critics,
and mobilizing a diverse army of psychiatrists, outspoken academics,
expert defense witnesses, litigious lawyers, Freud bashers, critics of
psychotherapy, and devastated parents. With a budget of $750,000 a
year from members and outside supporters, the foundation’s reach far
exceeds its actual membership of about 3,000.” “As controversial
memory cases arose around the country, FMSF boosters contacted
journalists to pitch the false-memory argument, more and more
reporters picked up on the issue, and the foundation became an
overnight media darling. The story line that had dominated the press
since the 1980s — an underreported toll of sexual abuse, including
sympathetic stories of adult survivors resurrecting long-lost memories
of it — was quickly turned around. The focus shifted to new tearful
victims — respectable, elderly parents who could no longer see their
children and grandchildren because of bad therapists who implanted
memories."
http://web.archive.org/web/20071216011151/http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/97/4/memory.asp
26. Packard, N. (April, 2004) Battle Tactics of the False Memory
Syndrome Foundation New School for Social Research, N.Y. History
Matters Conference "Kondora’s and Beckett’s studies indicate that the
Foundation has been successful in many of its efforts to manage public
perception of child abuse victims, therapists and the people accused
of child abuse. Kondora and Beckett show that not only has public
perception of victimized children become skeptical, but in fact, the
press often goes beyond the Victorian custom of neutrality on all
fronts of the issue, to out-right sympathy for accused molesters."
http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/historymatters/papers/NoelPackard.pdf
27. Whitfield, C. L. (2001). The "false memory" defense: Using
disinformation and junk science in and out of court. In Whitfield, C.
L., Silberg, J. Fink, P. J. Eds. (2001). Misinformation Concerning
Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors New York: Hawthorn Press, Inc.
(pp. 53 - 78) also in Haworth Press, Special Issue on Disinformation,
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 9(3 & 4) "Attorneys for accused,
convicted or found-responsible child molesters tend to use a
superficially sophisticated argument, which can be described as the
"false memory defense." This defense is fraught with disinformation,
smoke screens, and other untruths that are a distortion of what the
available science of the psychology of trauma and memory shows. In
this article, this seemingly sophisticated, but actually mostly
contrived and often erroneous defense, is described and it is compared
in a brief review to what the science says about the effect of trauma
on memory." "Abstract: This article describes a seemingly
sophisticated, but mostly contrived and often erroneous "false memory"
defense, and compares it in a brief review to what the science says
about the effect of trauma on memory. Child sexual abuse is widespread
and dissociative/traumatic amnesia for it is common. Accused,
convicted and self-confessed child molesters and their advocates have
crafted a strategy that tries to negate their abusive, criminal
behavior, which we can call a "false memory" defense. Each of 22 of
the more commonly used components of this defense is described and
discussed with respect to what the science says about them. Armed with
this knowledge, survivors, their clinicians, and their attorneys will
be better able to refute this defense of disinformation."
http://childabuse.georgiacenter.uga.edu/both/whitfield/whitfield1.phtml
Bibliography
* Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And
the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
* Freyd, Jennifer J. (1996). Betrayal Trauma - The Logic of Forgetting
Childhood Abuse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN
0-674-06805-x.
* Knopp, Fay Honey (1996). A Primer on the Complexities of Traumatic
Memory of Childhood Sexual Abuse - A Psychobiological Approach.
Brandon, VT: Safer Society Press. ISBN 1-884444-20-2.
* Whitfield M.D., Charles L. (1995). Memory and Abuse - Remembering
and Healing the Effects of Trauma. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health
Communications, Inc. ISBN 1-55874-320-0.
* Whitfield, Charles L.; Joyanna L. Silberg, Paul Jay Fink (2001).
Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors.
Haworth Press. ISBN 0789019019.
External Links
* Memory, Abuse, and Science: Questioning Claims about the False
Memory Syndrome Epidemic http://www.kspope.com/memory/memory.php
* False Memory Syndrome A False Construct Feminista! v2, n10
http://web.archive.org/web/20030608221633/http://www.feminista.com/v1n9/false-memory.html
* False memory syndrome proponents tactics "False memory syndrome
proponents have done the following to try and ensure that only their
point of view is in the public view."
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/false-memory-syndrome-proponents-tactics/
Greegor
LIE - This was not one of the accusations leveled against me.
There was a caseworker who tried a DECEPTION like that
but it was complete fiction. Like on a BAD TV cop show
she hoped the big deception would get her an admission.
That particular LIE was never presented in court, of course.
> the
> child being his girlfriend's daughter. Pangborn is a misogynist who
> actually claims that in 90 percent of the domestic abuse calls police
> get that the women victim "asked for it".
>
> What Greg is trying to do here with childavocate is simply to rattle
> her cage for his amusement. He doesn't care if she is mentally ill or
> not, or even the issue itself. He just gets a kick out of provoking
> people.
Again, Moe, You REALLY should look at ""childadvocate""'s
posting history - 91 Groups -- 3410 messages
> > > Instead of helping victims of rape, Kennie the misogynist claims they are
> > > liars.
>
> > Of course some people with "recovered memories" are real victims of real
> > abuse. However, the artifacts of "recovered memories" often result in the
> > innocent being accused and the guilty escaping detection in the smoke
> > screen.
>
> One of the problems I have with "recovered memories" is that when
> they are " brought to the surface" during a psych session under
> hypnosis, there is no independent proof that the " memories" are
> actual memories of actual past events, not " planted" memories.
Moe > If you ever read the crappy book " Daddy Was
Moe > the Black Dahlia Killer", you can see how
Moe > erroneous " recovered memories" actually are.
There she goes again!
Moe follows ""True Crime"" pulps and
pretends she's a forensic scientist!
> In that book the woman claims she had an RM of The Black Dahlia AKA
> Beth Short giving birth to a baby before her father supposedly kills
> it. Problem is Short's autopsy showed she had an underdeveopled set of
> female genitalia, making it damn near impossible for her to have
> coitus, much less give birth.
> > > And all this crap for what? To amuse yourselves at other's expense?
> > To prevent miscarriages of justices such as have occurred in the past when
> > "recovered memories" have been accepted uncritically. That somebody, just
> > anybody, must pay is a childish concept of justice. Convicting an innocent
> > party may make some victims feel vindicated, but it certainly does not make
> > the world a better place while the true culprit, if there is one, goes free.
Moe > Pardon me but that is not the focus of my post,
Moe > It was about Greg attacking childavocate to
Moe > provoke her, not about recovered memories.
Moe > I wasn't referring to whatever CA was posting.
In orther words, Moe was off topic and purely ad hom herself!
childadvocate
copied with permission
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse
Definition
and as
Origins of the term
References
Bibliography
* Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment,
And the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
whitevamp
Ever actually READ Victors book, CA? You want to talk about evidence
and proof, fine. I'm one of those who asks for independent proof.
I doubt the claims of people like you because I've seen too many
cases of " recovered memories" of " ritual abuse" that have no
independent evidence, that contradict the evidence that DOES exist,
and cases TAINTED by true believers like you.
I'm all for prosecuting those bastards who molest children or
sexually prey upon children and juveniles. But when children are
coerced into claiming they were abused and there is no physical
evidence to support the stories, an injustice to the accused may be
committed by zealots like you.
Interestingly, you discredit critics with the same methods you claim
they use on your side.
whitevamp
So you claim and you wouldn't ever LIE, now would you Greggie?
The FACT still remains that Lisa LOST her daughter because of you.
>
> > the
> > child being his girlfriend's daughter. Pangborn is a misogynist who
> > actually claims that in 90 percent of the domestic abuse calls police
> > get that the women victim "asked for it".
>
> > What Greg is trying to do here with childavocate is simply to rattle
> > her cage for his amusement. He doesn't care if she is mentally ill or
> > not, or even the issue itself. He just gets a kick out of provoking
> > people.
>
> Again, Moe, You REALLY should look at ""childadvocate""'s
> posting history - 91 Groups -- 3410 messages
I KNOW what CA's posting history is Greg. Shes more obsessive than
you are. She's clearly a monomaniac. The point is what YOU were
trying to do. You knew she would do her massive C&P postings once you
poked her. Last year when I first encountered her I did some basic
online Googling and found her specific newsgroup, among other things.
I realize that all she ever posted was stuff like this, as if she
doesn't exist outside of this subject. Or, like you doesn't have a
life.
>
> http://groups.google.com/groups/profile?hl=en&enc_user=8_OxchEAAABKyQ...
>
> > > > Instead of helping victims of rape, Kennie the misogynist claims they are
> > > > liars.
>
> > > Of course some people with "recovered memories" are real victims of real
> > > abuse. However, the artifacts of "recovered memories" often result in the
> > > innocent being accused and the guilty escaping detection in the smoke
> > > screen.
>
> > One of the problems I have with "recovered memories" is that when
> > they are " brought to the surface" during a psych session under
> > hypnosis, there is no independent proof that the " memories" are
> > actual memories of actual past events, not " planted" memories.
>
> Moe > If you ever read the crappy book " Daddy Was
> Moe > the Black Dahlia Killer", you can see how
> Moe > erroneous " recovered memories" actually are.
>
> There she goes again!
> Moe follows ""True Crime"" pulps and
> pretends she's a forensic scientist!
I never claimed to be a forensic scientist Greg. I read a lot of true
crime BOOKS ( NON-fiction Greg. Do try to stick to the facts for
once) and I am part of at least one true crime discussion group
online. As an avid reader of these books,naturally I come across some
well-written ones and some really crappy ones. Teh book I mentioned
was crappy and is an example of how " recovered" memories" can be
misleading.
As for the Black Dahlia case, the mention of her gynecological
condition was mentioned in " Severed".
As for "pulps" if you mean the magazines like " True Detective" sorry
I don't tend to read those.
>
> > In that book the woman claims she had an RM of The Black Dahlia AKA
> > Beth Short giving birth to a baby before her father supposedly kills
> > it. Problem is Short's autopsy showed she had an underdeveopled set of
> > female genitalia, making it damn near impossible for her to have
> > coitus, much less give birth.
> > > > And all this crap for what? To amuse yourselves at other's expense?
> > > To prevent miscarriages of justices such as have occurred in the past when
> > > "recovered memories" have been accepted uncritically. That somebody, just
> > > anybody, must pay is a childish concept of justice. Convicting an innocent
> > > party may make some victims feel vindicated, but it certainly does not make
> > > the world a better place while the true culprit, if there is one, goes free.
>
> Moe > Pardon me but that is not the focus of my post,
> Moe > It was about Greg attacking childavocate to
> Moe > provoke her, not about recovered memories.
> Moe > I wasn't referring to whatever CA was posting.
>
> In orther words, Moe was off topic and purely ad hom herself!
I was on topic but YOU were baiting CA. I leave the overuse of ad
homs to you and your misogynist pervert pal Kennie.
BTW what is " orther"? You picking up Kennie's bad spellings now?
Moe
Know your snakes--- http://www.aboutkenpangborn.com.
childadvocate
articles, legal convictions and the debunking of the false stories of
coercion, cannot undo the cement of denial of those that simply do not
want to believe what has happened, that ritual abuse and these crimes
against children do exist.
Calling someone a "true believer" (have you read Hoffer) or a "zealot"
is simply more name calling. Is this how you "discredit" those that
disagree with you?
Journal articles
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/studies/satanic-ritual-abuse-evidence-with-information-on-the-mcmartin-preschool-case/
Legal convictions
Believe the children (1997). “Conviction List: Ritual Child Abuse”.
http://www.ra-info.org/resources/ra_cases.shtml
The Satanism and Ritual Abuse Archive contains 92 cases as of February
12, 2008. http://www.endritualabuse.org/ritualabusearchive.htm
Noblitt, PhD, J. R. - An Empirical Look at the Ritual Abuse
Controversy (2007)
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/an-empirical-look-at-the-ritual-abuse-controversy-randy-noblitt-phd/
False stories of coercion
Fran's Day Care
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/frans-day-care/
Amirault and other cases
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/
Amirault’s accusers reveal their faces, and their pain Boston Herald -
Boston, Mass. - Peter Gelzinis - Aug 7, 2001
http://web.archive.org/web/2001080701133 0/http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
h/ap/20010802/us/preschool_abuse_3.html
Amirault
http://abusearticles.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/common -vs-
amirault-424-mass-618-page-624.jpg
All nine children testified in a broadly consistent way…The children
testified to numerous instances of sexual abuse. Some of the children
testified that they were photographed during this abuse, describing a
big camera with wires, a red button, and pictures which came out of
the camera. The children testified that the defendant threatened them
and told them that their families would be harmed if they told anyone
about the abuse….The Commonwealth also presented a pediatric
gynecologist and pediatrician who examined five of the girls who
testified…She made findings consistent with abuse in four of the
girls.”
“The Search for Satan”: Fourteen Years Later
By Lynn Crook, M.Ed.
Shanley case
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/the-search-for-satan-fourteen-years-later/
Whitfield, C. L. (2001). The “false memory” defense: Using
disinformation and junk science in and out of court. In Whitfield, C.
L., Silberg, J. Fink, P. J. Eds. (2001). Misinformation Concerning
Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors New York: Hawthorn Press, Inc.
(pp. 53 - 78)
http://childabuse.georgiacenter.uga.edu/both/whitfield/whitfield1.phtml
What hysteria? A systematic study of newspaper coverage of accused
child molesters - Ross E. Cheit - Child Abuse & Neglect 27 (2003)
607-623
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-48NC1DN-8&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=65202c87aab1224ac207d3df874938d1
False attribution of suggestibility to explain recovered memory of
childhood sexual abuse following extended amnesia - Frank Leavitt -
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume 21, Issue 3, March 1997, Pages 265-272
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-3SWV6NV-7&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=bae98194eeabcbfb8a5dcaa602d5cc0b
The Legend of Robert Halsey - Cheit, Ross E.- Journal of Child Sexual
Abuse, v9 n3-4 p37-52 2001 Abstract: A brief narrative description of
the journal article, document, or resource. Examines the criminal
conviction of Robert Halsey for sexually abusing two young boys on his
school-van route near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Based on a
comprehensive examination of the trial transcript, suggests that the
credulous acceptance of the "false conviction" legend about Robert
Halsey provides a case study in the techniques and tactics used to
minimize and deny sexual abuse.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ672707&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ672707
False-conviction chic in the Berkshires - Robert Halsey was convicted
in 1993 of sexually abusing two boys on his school van route in
Lanesboro, Mass. There was a mountain of evidence against him, and he
was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2002-03/02-009.html
The Legend of Robert Halsey: A cautionary tale about the dangers of
“false-conviction chic”
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Manning/
Junk Skepticism and Recovered Memory: A Reply to Piper - Ross E. Cheit
- Ethics and Behavior,9(4) 295-318 (1999)"Piper purports to challenge
the facts in seven cases. As detailed later in virtually every
instance his argument is undocumented and inaccurate."
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Recovmem/pdf/piper.pdf
Ross Cheit Response to Critics (Replies to Piper and McNally)
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Recovmem/critics.html
This project began as a letter to PBS which objected to false
statements made by Ms. Ofra Bikel, producer of the program "Divided
Memories." That letter described how an undergraduate Research
Assistant at Brown University found half a dozen corroborated cases of
recovered memory in just a few hours of electronic database searching,
disproving Ms. Bikel's claim to the contrary (Cheit, 1995). PBS did
not defend Ms. Bikel's claim that "she could not find any"
corroborated cases of recovered memory in her allegedly extensive
search. http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Recovmem/purpose.html
childadvocate
Satanic Ritual Abuse evidence with information on the McMartin
Preschool Case
Adams, J. (2008). Case Studies of Ritual Abuse Survivors: From Abuse
to Activism. In Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-first Century:
Psychological, Forensic, Social and Political Considerations, J.R.
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Reed Publishers.
Anderson, A. (2008). Letter from a general practitioner. In A. Sachs
& G. Galton (Eds.), Forensic Aspects of Dissociative Identity
Disorder, pp. 140-144. London: Karnac.
Archaeological Investigations of the McMartin Preschool Site
http://web.archive.org/web/20010406130849/http://members.cruzio.com/~ratf/McMartIntro.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20010123212200/members.cruzio.com/~ratf/McMartin.html/
Awareness Center Information on Ritual Abuse http://theawarenesscenter.org/ritualabuse.html
Ball, T.M. (2008). The Use of Prayer for Inner Healing of Memories and
Deliverance with Ritual Abuse Survivors. In Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-
first Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social and Political
Considerations, J.R. Noblitt & P. S. Perskin (Eds), pp. 413-442.
Bandon, Oregon: Robert D. Reed Publishers.
Becker T. & Overkamp B. (2008). Spezifische Anforderungen an die
Unterstützung von Opfern organisierter und ritueller Gewalt. In: Fliß
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237-260. Bandon, Oregon: Robert D. Reed Publishers.
Becker T. & Woywodt, U. (2007). Ritueller Mißbrauch: Auswirkungen der
Arbeit auf die Beraterinnen und die Beratung. In: Wildwasser
e.V.:Sexuelle Gewalt - Aktuelle Beitraege aus Theorie und Praxis.
Berlin: Selbstverlag. (Ritual Abuse: Consequences of working [in this
field] on cousellors and counselling)
Becker, Thorsten (2008). Rituelle Gewalt in Deutschland. (Ritual
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sexual abuse treatment., (pp. 1-26). New York: Norton.
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and Human Behavior 20 (1): 1-34. doi:10.1007/BF01499130.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/q40489p813183l15/
Bottoms, Bette L., Diviak, K. R. and Davis, S. L. (1997) “Jurors’
reactions to satanic ritual abuse allegations.” Child Abuse and
Neglect 21(9):845-59.
Brandt, Susan Jeannine. An analysis of the mental health
professionals’ response to satanic ritual abuse. Dissertation
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Braun, B. (1986). “Issues in the Psychotherapy of Multiple Personality
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the Service of Healing. In Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-first Century:
Psychological, Forensic, Social and Political Considerations, J.R.
Noblitt & P. S. Perskin (Eds), pp. 381-412. Bandon, Oregon: Robert D.
Reed Publishers.
Brown, D. (1994). Satanic ritual abuse: A therapist’s handbook.
Denver, CO: Blue Moon Press.
Brunet, Lynn, MA (Hons) Doctor of Philosophy “Terror, trauma and the
eye in the triangle: the Masonic presence in contemporary art and
culture” November 2007 p. 98 - 101 has information on allegations of
Masonic ritual abuse
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/library/adt/uploads/approved/adt-NNCU20080314.144015/public/02whole.pdf
Buck, S. (2008). The RAINS Network in the UK (Ritual Abuse Information
Network and Support). In Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-first Century:
Psychological, Forensic, Social and Political Considerations, J.R.
Noblitt & P. S. Perskin (Eds), pp. 307- 326. Bandon, Oregon: Robert D.
Reed Publishers.
Bucky, Steven F.; Dalenberg, Constance; The relationship between
training of mental health professionals and the reporting of ritual
abuse and multiple personality disorder symptomatology. Journal of
Psychology & Theology, Vol 20(3), Fal 1992. Special issue: Satanic
ritual abuse: The current state of knowledge. pp. 233-238.
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abuse in a multi-victim day-care center case. Child Abuse and Neglect.
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ritual abuse reports.” Treating Abuse Today 1(4) 1991 p. 4
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Child Abuse Wiki articles:
Ritual Abuse
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse
Extreme Abuse Surveys
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Extreme_Abuse_Surveys
Hell Minus One http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Hell_Minus_One
Ritual Abuse Torture http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse_Torture
Chronology of the McMartin Preschool Abuse Trials and information on
the case http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/mcmartin-preschool-case-what-really-happened-and-the-coverup/
Cole, Deborah A. The incidence of ritual abuse: A preliminary survey.
Dissertation Abstracts International 1992 Dec Vol 53(6-B), p. 3150.
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ritual abuse. Child Abuse Review, 3: 83-92.
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credibility. In A. Sachs & G. Galton (Eds.), Forensic Aspects of
Dissociative Identity Disorder, pp. 9-22. London: Karnac.
Constantine, Alex “McMartin Preschool Revisited” p. 136-181 in Virtual
Government - CIA Mind Control Operations in America (1997) Feral House
Pub., ISBN 0-922915-45-8 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/psnews/message/222
Constantine, Alex - Ray Buckey’s Press Corps and the Tunnels of
McMartin in Psychic Dictatorship in the USA (Feral House, 1995)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/psnews/message/226
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/psnews/message/227
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/psnews/message/228
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/psnews/message/235
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ritual abuse survivors. Treating Abuse Today, 1(4), 14-19.
Cook, S. (2008). Opening Pandora’s box. P In A. Sachs & G. Galton
(Eds.), Forensic Aspects of Dissociative Identity Disorder, pp.
155-166. London: Karnac.
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evil”. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 18(3):218-227 https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt
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clinical practice and research.” Journal of Sex Research 26(1),
131-138.
Cozolino, L.J.; Shaffer, R.E (Fall 1992) Satanic Ritual Abuse: The
Current State of Knowledge Adults who report childhood ritualistic
abuse. Journal of Psychology and Theology 20(3) https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt
Craighead, W. E.; Corsini, R.J.; Nemeroff, C. B. (2002) The Corsini
Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science Published by John
Wiley and Sons ISBN 0471270830 - Sadistic Ritual Abuse (p.1435 - 1438)
http://books.google.com/books?id=JQMRmyOfpJ8C&pg=PT82&lpg=PT86&vq=sadistic+abuse&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
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A. Sachs & G. Galton (Eds.), Forensic Aspects of Dissociative Identity
Disorder, pp. 62-78. London: Karnac.
Dawson, Judith. “Ritual abuse.” Social Work Today 22(3) 1991 p.418
Day Care and Child Abuse Cases
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/
This page has information on the Mcmartin Preschool Case, Michelle
Remembers,the Fells Acres - Amirault Case,the Wenatchee, Washington
Case, the Dale Akiki Case, the Glendale Montessori - Toward case and
the Little Rascals Day Care Center case.
deMause, Lloyd, “Why Cults Terrorize and Kill Children” The Journal of
Psychohistory 21 (4) 1994 [4] http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/whycult.htm
Driscoll, L. N. & Wright, C. (1991). Survivors of childhood ritual
abuse: Multi-generational Satanic cult involvement. Treating Abuse
Today, 1(4), 5–13.
Edwards, Louise M.”Differentiating between ritual assault and sexual
abuse,” J Child and Youth Care 6(4) 1991 pp. 169-88.
Extreme Abuse Surveys (2007): 750 pages of data on pdf files:
http://extreme-abuse-survey.net EAS for survivors of extreme abuse, P-
EAS for professionals who work with survivors of extreme abuse, C-EAS
for caregivers who work with children who report extreme/ritual abuse.
Faller, K.C. (1 994). Ritual Abuse: A Review of the Research. The
American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children Advisor. 7(1).
Faller, K.C. (1988). The spectrum of sexual abuse in day care. Journal
of Family Violence. 3(4): 283-298.
Faller, K.C. (1990). Sexual abuse of children in cults: A medical
health perspective. Roundtable. 2(2).
Feldman GC; Survivors of sadistic abuse: how to spot them Emergency
Medicine, 1993 Aug; 25 (11): 83-7.
Finkelhor, D., Williams, L., & Bums, N. (1988). Nursery Crimes: Sexual
abuse in day care. Newbury Park, CA.: Sage Publications.
Fliß CM & Igney C (2008). Handbuch Trauma & Dissoziation. Lengerich:
Pabst Science Publishers.Becker, T. (Chapters on Ritual Violence and
Organized Abuse)
Fotheringham, T. (2008). Patterns in Mind-Control: A First Person
Account. In Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-first Century: Psychological,
Forensic, Social and Political Considerations, J.R. Noblitt & P. S.
Perskin (Eds), pp. 491-540. Bandon, Oregon: Robert D. Reed Publishers.
Fraser, G. A. (1990). “Satanic ritual abuse: A cause of multiple
personality disorder”. Special issue: In the shadow of Satan: The
ritual abuse of children. Journal of Child and Youth Care, 55-60
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disbelief” 10 (2): 220. Health sociology review.
Frequently Asked Questions about Ritual Abuse and Mind Control
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Frohling, U. (in pre-publication, 2008). Our Father Who Art in Hell: A
Factual Account. In Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-first Century:
Psychological, Forensic, Social and Political Considerations, pp.
355-362. J.R. Noblitt & P. S. Perskin (Eds). Bandon, Oregon: Robert
D. Robert D. Reed Publishers.
Gallagher, B (1996), The nature and extent of known cases of organised
child sexual abuse in England and Wales in Bibby, P. (ed.). Organised
Abuse: The Current Debate. Arena.
Gallagher, B. (2001). Assessment and intervention in cases of
suspected ritual child sexual abuse. Child Abuse Review, 10, 227-242.
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believing the patient. In A. Sachs & G. Galton (Eds.), Forensic
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Karnac.
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abuse,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 27(4) 1993
pp. 701-8
Gelb, Jerome L. “Multiple personality disorder and satanic ritual
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Golston, J. (1993). Ritual abuse: Raising hell in psychotherapy:
Creation of cruelty: The political military and multigenerational
training of torturers: Violent initiation and the role of traumatic
dissociation. Treating Abuse Today, 3(6), 12-19.
Gonzalez, L.S., Waterman, J., Kelly, R.J., McCord, J., & Oliveri, M.K.
(1993). Children’s patterns of disclosures and recantations of sexual
and ritualistic allegations in psychotherapy. Child Abuse and Neglect,
17, 281-289.
Gonzalez, Lauren S.; Waterman, Jill; Kelly, Robert J.; Children’s
patterns of disclosures and recantations of sexual and ritualistic
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Goodman, Gail S.; Quas, Jodi A.; Bottoms, Bette L.. Children’s
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20
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IVAT conference in San Diego, California, includes a 4-hour workshop,
Wednesday, September 17, 1:00 to 5:00pm, entitled: Torture-Based mind
Control: Empirical Research, Programmer Methods, Effects & Treatment,
by Wanda Karriker, Ph.D., Randy Noblitt, Ph.D., H. Jane Wakefield, MA
(replacing Eileen Schrader, MSW), and Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D.
http://www.ivatcenters.org/Conferences/13th-InternationalBooklet.pdf
Johnson Davis, Anne “Hell Minus One: My Story of Deliverance From
Satanic Ritual Abuse and My Journey to Freedom” Transcript Bulletin
Publishing - ISBN 978-0-9788348-0-7 - 2008 “Anne’s parents confessed
their atrocities—both in writing and verbally—to clergymen, and to
detectives from the Utah Attorney General’s Office. Anne’s suppressed
memories, which erupted when she was in her mid-30s, were fully
substantiated by her mother and stepfather….The book’s foreword was
written by Lt. Detective Matt Jacobson, who was the lead investigator
with the Utah Attorney General’s Office on Anne’s case in 1995.”
http://www.hellminusone.com/
http://www.hellminusone.com/Links.html
Woman revisits the ‘Hell’ of ritual abuse By Ben Winslow Deseret
News 12/10/08 http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705269563,00.html
Hell Minus One - signed verified confessions of satanic ritual abuse -
Anne’s parents confessed their atrocities - both in writing and
verbally. http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/survivor-stories/hell-minus-one-signed-verified-confessions-of-satanic-ritual-abuse/
An Interview With the Author of Hell Minus One
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/survivor-stories/interview-with-the-author-of-hell-minus-one/
Johnston, Jerry (1989). The Edge of Evil - The Rise of Satanism in
North America. Dallas: Word Publishing. ISBN 0-8499-0668-7.
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and Neglect, 15, 163-170.
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Neglect 15(3) 199, pp. 163-70
Jones, David P. “What do children know about religion and satanism?”
Child Abuse Negl. 21(11) 1997 pp. 1109-10
Jonker, F. and Jonker-Bakker, P. ‘Effects of ritual abuse: The results
of three surveys in The Netherlands.” Child Abuse and Neglect 21(6)
1997 pp. 541-56
Jonker, Fred. “Reaction to Benjamin Rossen’s investigation of satanic
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results of three surveys in the Netherlands.” Child Abuse & Neglect 21
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child sexual abuse: a case study from the Netherlands”. Child Abuse
and Neglect 15: 191-196. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(91)90064-K. PMID
2043971
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1992 pp. 267-70.
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Neglect Vol. 15, 1991
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study.” Smith College Studies in Social Work 65(3) 1995 pp. 255-267
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by approximately 900 respondents to the “International Survey for
Adult Survivors of Extreme Abuse (EAS).”
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LTD. ISBN 0-9717171-0-9.
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methods, effects and treatment. Workshop conducted at the 13th
International Conference on
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Religion 23(4):355-367
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childadvocate
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An Empirical Look at the Ritual Abuse Controversy Randy Noblitt, PhD
Most empirical studies of ritual abuse can be divided into four
categories. They are studies of (1) the frequency of ritual abuse
disclosures to professionals and their beliefs about such reports; (2)
suggestibility, rumor and iatrogenesis as possible explanations for
ritual abuse allegations; (3) ritual abuse allegations made by
children; and (4) ritual abuse allegations made by adults.
Studies have evaluated the frequency with which ritual abuse
allegations are disclosed to mental health and other professionals. A
national survey of 2,709 clinical psychologists with memberships in
the American Psychological Association showed that 70% denied and 30%
acknowledged seeing at least one case of “ritualistic or religion-
related abuse since January 1, 1980” (Bottoms, Shaver, &Goodman, 1991,
p. 6). The authors also found that among the psychologists who had
worked with at least one individual with allegations of ritual abuse,
93% believed that the harm had actually occurred. This report was part
of a series of five studies later published by Goodman, Qin, Bottoms
and Shaver (1994). The first of the five studies involved a survey of
a stratified random sample of clinical members of the American
Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and
National Association of Social Workers. The second study consisted of
a survey of district attorneys’ offices, social service agencies, and
law enforcement offices. The third study investigated the question of
“repressed” and later“ recovered” memory based on 490 cases from the
first study of which 43 were described as “repressed memory” cases and
447 were “no repressed memory” cases. The fourth study examined
children’s knowledge of Satanic [1] abuse. The fifth study
investigated three types of “religion-related child abuse:” abusive
acts intended to rid the child of demons, clergy abuse, and medical
neglect for religious reasons.
From the data of their first study, these investigators concluded that
31% of the combined sample of psychologists, psychiatrists and social
workers had seen at least one case of ritual or religion-related
abuse. There were 387 child ritual abuse cases, 674 adult ritual abuse
survivor cases, 171 child religion-related cases, and 234 adult
survivor of religion-related cases reported. The authors concluded
that the adult ritual abuse cases “were consistently the most
extreme” (p. 4). Of the adult ritual abuse cases 33% reported
cannibalism and 28% baby breeding for purposes of ritual sacrifice.
Among the adult ritual abuse cases, they found that the victims were
likely to be diagnosed with MPD. They also found that child cases were
“far more likely to be disclosed to authorities or professionals, to
family members or neighbors and to be linked to corroborative
evidence, but were less likely to be disclosed in therapy than adult
cases” (p. 4). The authors concluded that the psychologists,
psychiatrists, and social workers who responded to their survey
“overwhelmingly believed both the allegations of abuse and the
allegations of ritual or religious elements of the abuse” (p. 6).
Their second study of district attorneys, social services and law
enforcement agencies revealed that 23% had identified at least one
case of ritual or religion-related abuse. “In general, the ritual
cases with the most convincing evidence were unlike the satanic ritual
abuse stereotype” (p. 6). The authors expressed surprise that “the
conviction rate in ritual cases was almost as high as in religion-
related cases” (p. 7).
In their third study investigating the question of “repressed” and
later “recovered” memory they found that the “repressed memory” cases
were more likely to be “ritual cases” in comparison with the “no
repressed memory cases.” However, when they excluded what they called
“outlier” cases, the “repressed” versus no “repressed” memory effects
disappeared.
The fourth study of children’s knowledge of ritual abuse showed that
“children have relatively little knowledge of satanic child abuse” (p.
10). Their fifth study considered 271 cases of religion-related abuse.
They found that in 94% of the clergy abuse, 48% of the evil ridding
cases, and 23% of medical neglect included allegations of sexual
abuse. They found that MPD and other dissociative disorders were
diagnosed in over 20% of the evil ridding and medical neglect cases.
Another survey investigated reports of sexual and ritual abuse made to
British psychologists (Andrews, Morton, Bekerian, Brewin, Davies, &
Mollon, 1995). Of 810 British Psychological Society practitioners who
had seen sexually abused clients, the investigators found that 15% had
worked with clients reporting satanic ritual abuse. Eighty percent of
the psychologists who had seen one or more individuals with a stated
history of satanic ritual abuse believed the allegations. In their
national investigation of 270 cases of substantiated sexual abuse of
1,639 children in day care, Finkelhor, Williams, and Burns (1988)
found 13% of the cases involved allegations of ritual abuse. According
to Jonker and Jonker-Bakker, “The National Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children in Britain reported in its 1989 Annual Report
that seven out of 66 Child Protection Teams in England and Wales were
currently working with children victimized by ritualistic
abuse” (1997, p. 542). In a survey of the membership of the
International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and
Dissociation [2], Perry concluded that 88% of 1185 “respondents
reported belief in ritual abuse, involving mind control and
programming” (1992, p. 4).
These studies show that the overwhelming majority of surveyed
professionals believe ritual abuse allegations. What would account for
such a high degree of concurrence? If these ritual abuse allegations
are essentially false, then these therapists are at best misguided.
Some have argued that false ritual abuse “memories” are implanted or
created by inept or unethical therapists. If the patients’ allegations
are essentially true, then this high degree of concurrence may simply
reflect the professionals’ accurate assessment of their informants’
reports. I hypothesize that patients who make ritual abuse allegations
appear to be genuinely traumatized. In a study comparing 34 adult
psychiatric patients making ritual abuse allegations with 31 patients
making no such allegations, I found that the group making ritual abuse
allegations had significantly higher PTSD scores on the MMPI-2
(Noblitt, 1995). In their study of preschool ritualistic and non-
ritualistic sexual abuse, Waterman, Kelly, Olivieri, and McCord,
(1993) demonstrated that PTSD criteria were met for 80% of their
sample of ritualistically sexually abused children as compared with
35.7% of the non-ritualistically sexually abused children.
The hypothesis that ritual abuse allegations are essentially false and
the result of suggestibility and social influence has been propounded
by a number of individuals (Mulhern, 1991, 1994; Ofshe& Waters, 1994;
Spanos, 1996). However, this hypothes is appears to be based on
subjective opinion and speculation rather than any research findings.
It has never been shown that people who report ritual abuse are
particularly suggestible. It has also never been demonstrated that
therapists with such patients attempt to persuade their patients to
believe that they were ritually abused. Nevertheless, several studies
are worth reviewing in spite of their methodological problems. Jeffrey
Victor (1993) described what he calls Satanic rumor panics. Victor
argues that Satanism is a frightening and provocative subject to the
general public and has been the source of numerous rumors for which he
cites examples from the popular press. Even Philip Coons, a skeptic
regarding ritual abuse allegations, comments critically of Victor’s
research: “Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell from Victor’s
cursory review of the evidence what really did happen at these 61
locations” (1997, p. 108).
However, Philip Coons (1994) contributed a study of his own on this
question. He retrospectively reviewed the psychiatric records of 29
patients who had made allegations of Satanic ritual abuse. He
concluded that 76% of the patients had either DID or DDNOS but that he
was unable to find any external corroboration of the SRA allegations.
Three cases he labeled delusional and four were categorized as
factitious. He concluded that in all but 2 cases “questionable”
therapeutic methods were used. Weir and Wheatcroft (1995) reviewed
twenty cases where ritual sexual abuse had been alleged. Based on
their evaluative findings they concluded that false allegations of
ritual abuse occurred in 75% of the cases and true allegations in only
25%. The primary weakness of these three studies is that they rely
entirely on the subjective interpretations of the authors. Whereas the
validity of the last two studies would depend on the ability of their
authors to accurately diagnose ritual abuse and/or find corroborating
evidence; and the extent to which the data they needed to confirm any
true ritual abuse was available. With no measure of inter-rater
reliability, there is no way to know how reliably or accurately these
investigators interpret these data or of knowing whether sufficient
data were available to interpret.
Two other case studies merit attention although they suffer the same
methodological problems noted above. Coons and Grier (1990) described
a single case where an individual with ritual abuse allegations was
instead diagnosed with factitious disorder and Yeager and Lewis (1997)
briefly present a single case of a recanter. In the former example one
must ask whether the patient’s inaccurate reporting of particular
events means that they were not abused or ritually abused. In my
opinion the characteristic features of ritual abuse include abuse by
ruse and deception. In the latter example it should be obvious that
recantation is no more intrinsically credible than an original
allegation. It has been found that individuals with well documented
evidence of sexual abuse will sometimes later recant and that many
recanters, particularly with ritual abuse allegations, later
redisclose abuse (Waterman, Kelly, Olivieri, and McCord, 1993).
Some authors argue that there is no substantial legal evidence that
the ritual abuse of children actually occurs, and that most cases of
ritual abuse convictions are reversed on appeal. Michael Newton (cited
in Noblitt, 1998a) accumulated data on criminal convictions in the
U.S. where allegations of ritual abuse of children were made. He found
cases of 145 defendants who were sentenced. Seventeen (11.7%) were
reversed on appeal. Newton argues that these reversals do not
necessarily indicate that the defendants were innocent of the
accusations. In some instances the decisions were reversed based on
legal technicalities rather than factual matters as to whether the
abuse occurred or not.
Chronology of Ritual Abuse Convictions
Data Accumulated and Reported by Newton (1997)
Date Venue Convictions Guilty/Nolo Pleas
1983 Bakersfield, CA 4*
1983 Denver, CO 1
1984 Malden, MA 1
1984 Jordan, MN - 1
1984 Bakersfield, CA 5
1984 Richmond, VA - 1
1985 Pittsfield, MA 1
1985 El Paso, TX 1*
1985 Niles, MI 1* (1**)
1985 Bakersfield, CA 7
1985 Dade County, FL 1 1
1985 Richmond, VA 1
1985 Bakersfield, CA 1*
1986 El Paso, TX 1*
1986 Des Moines, IA 3 2
1987 Bakersfield, CA - 2
1987 Lehi, UT 1
1987 San Diego, CA 2
1987 Winston, OR 1
1987 Mt. Vernon, NY 2 (1*)
1987 Malden, MA 2*
1987 Memphis, TN 1
1988 Carson City, NV 2*
1988 Lincoln, NE - 1
1988 Maplewood, NJ 1*
1988 Santa Rosa, CA - 2
1988 Roseburg, OR 1*
1989 Nottingham, Engl. - 9
1989 Asheville, NC - 1
1989 Thurston County, WA - 1
1989 Stuart, FL 1 1
1989 Winston-Salem, NC - 1
1989 Edgewood, IA 1
1989 Roseburg, OR 1
1990 Prescott, Ont. 1 1
1990 Akron, CO - 1
1991 Prescott, Ont. 4
1992 Mansfield, OH 1 1
1992 Edenton, NC 1*
1992 Smithfield, NC 1
1992 Wenatchee, WA 1
1992 Austin, TX 2
1992-93 Prescott, Ont. 11 19
1993 Christchurch, NZ 1
1993 Wenatchee, WA 1
1993 Smithfield, NC - 1
1993 Edenton, NC 1*
1994 Martensville, Sask. 2
1994 Amsterdam, Neth. 2
1994 Edenton, NC - 2
1994 Canton, OH 1
1994 Hapeville, GA - 1
1994 Wenatchee, WA 3 13
1995 Meriden, CT 1
1995 Wenatchee, WA - 1
1996 Oxford, MS - 1
1996 Danbury, CT 1
1996 Virginia Beach, VA 1
Defendants convicted: 80 Guilty/Nolo Pleas: 64 (44% of total) Total
defendants sentenced: 144
*Reversed on appeal: 17 (11.8% of defendants sentenced);
**Guilty on new charge after reversal on appealShe also noted that
among the children’s allegations were their being molested by other
children (n=11) and being molested by strangers, daycare workers or a
parent (n=11). Hudson identified 16 forms of abuse: (1) locked in a
cage or “jail,” (2) told that their parents, pets or younger siblings
would be killed if they told anyone of the abuse, (3) buried in the
ground in coffins which they called “boxes,” (4) held underwater, (5)
threatened with guns and knives, (6) injected with needles, bled,
drugged, (7) photographed during the abuse, (8) tied upside down over
a “star,” hung from a pole or hook, burnt with candles, (9)
perpetrators wearing blackrobes, masks, (10) participated in a mock
marriage, (11) defecated and urinated upon, (12) observed animals
killed, (13) observed torture or molestation of other children, (14)
saw children and babies killed, (15) had blood poured on their heads,
(16) taken to churches, other daycare settings, people’s homes,and
graveyards for the ritual abuse. Of these 13 children responded to at
least one of the items, excluding number 14. Four children reported
number 14, seeing children and babies killed.
Hudson performed a second study. In order to control for the possible
contagion effects that may have occurred in her Ft. Bragg case, she
conducted a telephone interview of 10 other families, in different
locations in the U.S. where ritual abuse had been reported. All but
two were daycare cases. She collected data from these interviews which
she combined with her Fort Bragg data. Thus, she had a total of 11
cases. The following abuses and corroboration were reported:
Confinement in cage (n=10)
Threats (n=11)
Live burial in caskets, coffins, boxes (n=6),
Water torture (n=7),
Threats with guns or knives (n=10)
Drug injections (n=10)
Filming and still photography (n=11)
Bondage, locked in closets, hung by feet or wrists, spread-eagled over
pentagrams, tied onto upside-down crosses (n=7)
Abusers wearing masks and robes, carrying candles (n=11),
Mock marriages (n=6),
Defecation, urination, forcible ingestion of human wastes (n=10)
Witnessing animals tortured and killed (n=10)
Fake operations (n=6),
Children’s descriptions of the torture and sexual assault of
themselves or others (n=10)
Evidential medical examinations: findings commensurate with sexual
assault (n=11)
Babies, small children killed, carved up, and parts eaten (n=9)
Transportation elsewhere for abuse; various methods of transport
(n=10)
Sexual assault and terrorizing in churches, graveyards, other daycare
centers (n=10)
(Adapted from Hudson, 1991, pp. 11—21)Kelley (1993) compared three
groups of children in daycare: 35 allegedly ritualistically abused
children, 32 children reportedly sexually, not ritualistically abuse,
and 67 children without any claims of sexual abuse. She collected data
from the abused children’s parents and compared the results of the
children with non-ritualistic sexual abuse with ritualistic sexual
abuse. She found that ritualistically abused children were more likely
to report more incidents, types and severity of abuse relative to the
non-ritual sexual abuse victims. She also found that ritualistic abuse
was more often associated with multiple victim, multiple perpetrator
situations. Using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), parents
reported more behavior problems and tendency toward internalizing
symptoms among both groups of abused children in comparison with non-
abused children. But the children identified as ritualistically abused
scored worse.
Jill Waterman, Robert Kelley, Mary Kay Olivieri, and Jane McCord
(1993) did a six year longitudinal study of 82 children who had made
allegations of ritualistic sexual abuse (RSA) in the Manhattan Beach,
California area in comparison with 37 non-abused (NA) children and 15
non-ritualistically sexually abused (SA) children. A variety of
standardized and non-standardized questionnaires and interview
instruments were employed. They found that both the RSA and SA group
reported intrusive and highly intrusive sexual abuse. Additionally the
RSA group but not the SA group reported “terrorizing acts that
included killing of animals, death threats to the children or their
families, sadistic acts and physical abuse, and ritualistic acts that
included Satanic activities” (p. 64).
Recantations occurred in 25% of the RSA and 23% of the SA children.
This was the case even though the perpetrator in the SA group had
given a detailed confession. However, 88% of the RSA group that
recanted, later redisclosed abuse. The children alleging RSA had more
severe symptoms than SA children with significantly more PTSD,
depression, and aggressive behaviors. The RSA group showed less
improvement over time in comparison with the SA group.
A case involving 172 children who made disclosures in day care in
southwest Michigan was investigated (Bybee & Mobray, 1993; Faller,
1994). Kathleen Faller gathered data from her clinical interviews with
18 of the children and Bybee and Mobray reviewed the records of 106
children regarding interviews by state police, community mental health
professionals, and the department of social services. Bybee and Mobray
identified 62 (58%) children who disclosed that they had been
victimized and 53 (50%) children who reportedly observed others being
abused with 92% of the children who were observed being abused also
disclosing that they had been abused. They found that children
reported experiencing and observing acts of :fondling, penetration,
oral sex, sex with children, penetration of an adult, threats of harm,
being hit or hurt, being given medicine or bad food, bestiality, as
well as ritual acts. Among her sample of 18 children, Faller found
“sadistic acts (100%), threats of harm and death to children and their
family members (100%), use of drugs (56%), confinement (44.4%) and
animal killings or injury (22%)” (p. 22). Faller writes that when she
compared the 18 children she interviewed with children who were abused
by a single perpetrator in a day care center or day care home she
found that significantly “higher percentages of ritually abused
children were reported to have sexual acting out problems, sleep
problems, emotional problems, behavior problems and phobias” (p. 22).
Faller also cites an unpublished report by Valliere, Bybee, and Mobray
(1988) of scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) comparing the
abused children with a comparable sample of non-abused children from
the community with clinical and non-clinical norms. “The sexually
abused children’s scores were generally comparable to those of
clinical norms, and significantly higher than non-clinical norms.
Sexually abused girls demonstrated improvement on the CBCL between
times one and two, but the boys did not” (p. 22).
Not all child ritual abuse research examines day care cases. Within
the professional and scholarly literature on child abuse there are two
reports of what Faller calls “community-based ritual abuse” (p. 23).
She defines community-based cults as “those whose membership is
contemporary and often made up of persons of various ages—children,
adolescents, and adults in a particular community” (p.24).
Snow and Sorenson (1990) saw 39 children who described abuse in five
neighbor-based cults in Utah. In four of the five cults there were
alleged incidents of intrafamilial incest, perpetration by
adolescents, and features of an adult sex ring. No adolescent
perpetration was found in the fifth group. Also reported was forced
sexual behavior, threats of violence, and multiple perpetrators and
victims. At least two-thirds of the children described multiple
locations of abuse, pornography, ingestion or other use of excrement,
the espousal of Satanic beliefs, magical spells and use of occult
paraphernalia, animal mutilation or killing, and the use of drugs. The
abusers were generally viewed as respected members of the community
and many were religious leaders. Two of the accused adult perpetrators
were convicted and two adolescents pled guilty.
Jonker and Jonker-Bakker (1991, 1997) reported a case of the ritual
abuse of children in the Netherlands. The authors describe the
allegations and their observations regarding this case in Oude Pekela,
a small town of 8,000 inhabitants in northeastern Netherlands near the
German border. Jonker and Jonker-Bakker initially surveyed the
families of 90 involved children six to eight weeks after the initial
disclosures. They gathered additional data from the families of 87 of
these children at 2½ and 7 year intervals after the first outcries had
been made. They compared their later findings with clinical
information that antedated the abuse and with initial survey results.
They found that 20% of the children made spontaneous disclosures. The
list of reported abuses included the following elements: sexual abuse,
warnings to be silent, taking photographs, making videotapes, tying up
children, keeping children in extreme darkness, being scratched,
kicked, beaten, being drugged, animals being present, animals being
tortured, killed, babies being involved, babies being killed, adults
being killed, chanting, forced eating of excrement or semen, and
supernatural powers being claimed. “Almost one-third of the parents
reported in 1989—1990 profound changes, as if they were dealing with a
different child” (p. 550). The symptomatic behaviors of the children
included: a poor sleep pattern, nightmares, night awakenings,
bedwetting, genital shame, masturbation, inappropriate sexual
behavior, swearing, aggressiveness, destructiveness, self-isolation,
anxiety, tongue kissing, torturing of animals, fear of being locked
up, interest in fire, fear of spiders, interest in devils, ghosts, the
experience of words turning around, and interest in death. The three
most common symptoms among the boys were: “poor sleep pattern (79%),
waking during the night (79%), and aggressiveness toward the
surroundings (83%)” (p. 550). Among the girls, “the most exhibited
behaviors were poor sleep pattern (67%), anxiety, nervousness (77%),
and aggressiveness towards the surroundings (87%)” (p. 550). The
authors also noted that “If the Oude Pekela case had been a result of
adult community hysteria rather than real children’s experiences, then
the behavioral changes would be expected to escalate as a function of
disclosures to adults. Instead, there was a decrease in the number of
changes in behavior following disclosure…” (p. 551). In this case two
arrests were made but there were no convictions. However, Jonker and
Jonker-Bakker noted that the chief of the police investigation team
believed that 50% of the 64 children investigated by the police “were
certainly involved.” (p. 545). A statement by the district attorney on
January 21, 1988 is cited:
A total number of 98 children, 3 to 11 years old were interviewed. The
statements of 62 children were used in the further investigation.
Finally 48 statements of children remained, speaking of clear sexual
abuse, where they had either submitted to or been forced to perform on
themselves or others. Many of the children told about strong lights,
lamps on poles, and seeing each other on TV. The justice ministry
concluded that it was nearly sure that photographs were taken of the
children. Against 18 children violence was used. The child abuse took
place over a period of several months. The justice Ministry thinks
that four people, two men and two women, were involved in the sexual
abuse. (quoted by Myers, 1994, and cited by Jonker & Jonker-Bakker,
1997, p. 541)
Faller (1994) cites a study of intergenerational ritual abuse of
children by Susan Kelley. This paper, entitled Ritualistic Abuse:
Recognition, Impact, and Current Controversy was presented by Kelley
at the San Diego Conference on Responding to Child Maltreatment in
January, 1992. Kelley investigated reports of 26 children from 14
families. The accused abusers were parents, grandparents, great-
grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and siblings. Similar to other
reports a significant number of abusers were female (45%). “Sixty-one
percent of children were abused by two generations of older relatives,
and 57% of cases involved extrafamilial as well as intrafamilial
offenders” (Faller,1994, p. 25). Reported abuses included “terrorizing
threats and acts (89%),including having spiders or other insects
placed on them; death threats (77%), making pornography (81%), threat
swith supernatural powers (89%), satanic reference (92%),animal
killings (54%), being made to ingest drugs (92%), songs and chants
(69%), and being made to ingest or touch excrement (85%)” (p. 25).
Scores on the CBCL were in the clinical range for 73% of the children
on total problems, 81% on internalizing, and 50% on externalizing
scales.
Three studies have surveyed adults who allege to be survivors of
ritual abuse (Drisoll & Wright, 1991; Smith, 1993; Young, Sachs,
Braun, & Watkins,1991). These three studies appear to have
investigated primarily cases of what some call transgenerational
ritual abuse. Lynda Driscoll and Cheryl Wright (1991) investigated the
experiences of 37 adult mental health patients who were allegedly
survivors of ritual abuse. Eighty-one percent had no memory of ritual
abuse before beginning therapy and of the remaining 13%, their
memories were incomplete. Dissociation was a commonly reported problem
in this sample with 63% being diagnosed with MPD, 34% diagnosed
dissociative and 17% with “strong ego states” (p. 6.) Eighty-three
percent reported involvement in rituals by a relative with their
fathers (63%), uncles (41%), mothers (38%), grandfathers (35%), and
grandmothers (22%.) Other abusers included “doctors (54%), neighbors
(41%), friends of relatives (49%), church members (35%), police (27%),
teachers (22%), and morticians (19%)” (p. 6). Eighty percent stated
that the ritual abuse began before age six. The mean age was 6. The
reported physical and psychological abuse sincluded being “forced to
drink blood (84%), tied up (84%), drugged (78%), deprived of food
(61%), forced to eat flesh (57%), forced to eat or drink body waste
(57%), deprived of sleep (54%), and given electric shock” (p. 8).
Ninety percent reported being exposed to confusing and degrading
experiences. “Seventy-five percent reported being isolated, 61%
ejaculated on, 54% urinated on, 38% defecated on, 50% put in coffins
(46%with corpses), 44% buried alive, and 39% put in graves”(p.8.)They
were allegedly coerced into silence “by threats of harm (84%), of
abandonment (76%), death or mutilation of themselves(73%),death of
parent or relative (57%). Most victims reported they were threatened
with supernatural powers (62%), and they were told they had been
magically altered (51%) in a way that would end their lives if they
‘talked’ or disobeyed” (p. 8). Seventy-four percent said they were
forced to perpetrate.
Ninety-three percent were allegedly sexually victimized with reported
abuses including oral sex (89%), vaginal (84%), object penetration
(81%), anal sex (78%). They reported sex with adults (89%), group sex
84%), with animals (62%), other children (54%), and corpses (38%).
Eighty-four percent reported human sacrifice, 14% claimed they were
breeders for sacrifices. The alleged affects of ritual abuse included
problems with trust (100%) and emotional intimacy (97%). “Eighty
percent mistrust family members, peers, males, and authority figures
in general….Over ninety percent reported chronic depression, anxiety
attacks, obsessions and suicidal behavior” (p. 9). Over 80% described
feelings of “worthlessness, inferiority, lack of assertiveness, and
dirtiness” (p. 10). Roughly 70% state they feel “helplessness,
difficulties making decisions, embarrassment about themselves,
humiliation and hopelessness” (p. 10). Reported physical symptoms
include headaches (90%),insomnia and chronic back and abdominal pain
(75%), acute unexplained weakness(76%),catatonic spells(33%) episodic
paralysis (37%),and blackouts (50%). Eating disorders included:
anorexia (30%), bulimia (30%), and consistently over 20 pounds
overweight (70%).
Another study conducted by Margaret Smith (1993) presents data on 52
adults who reported being survivors of childhood ritual abuse. Ninety-
seven percent reported that “at some point in their lives, they were
amnestic of their ritual abuse experience” (p. 20). Smith found that
perpetrators were reportedly fathers (67%), mothers (42%),
grandfathers (31%), grandmothers (23%),aunts(21%),uncles(27%),non-
family member physicians (33%),non-family member clergy (17%), and non-
family member teachers (17%).In her study of the occupations of the
family and non-family alleged perpetrators there were physicians
(35%), teachers (25%), clergy (22%) and police (15%). Sixty-five
percent reported that the abuse began before age 4. The following
experiences of abuse were allegedly perpetrated against the
respondents: molestation or intercourse (100%), forced participation
in group sex with adults (96%), being tortured (94%), witnessing or
forced participation in animal sacrifice (90%), witnessing or forced
participation in human sacrifice (88%), sodomy (88%), being drugged
during the abuse (88%), witnessing or forced participation in
cannibalism (82%), being forced totorture others (75%), child
prostitution (52%), child pornography (52%), being forced to breed
children who were later sacrificed (36%). Smith also lists “other
forms of abuse mentioned by ritual abuse survivors:”mental programming
(21%), bestiality (17%), torture by electric shock (13%), witnessing
or forced participation in dismemberment or mutilation of bodies
(12%), being hung upside down (10%), being forced to kidnap children
from playgrounds (8%), hypnotism (8%), having pets killed(4%), having
psychic surgery (4%), and being lent to other cults(4%).
Young, Sachs, Braun, and Watkins (1991) studied the allegations of a
sample of 37 patients, reporting transgenerational childhood ritual
abuse. They found that all reported sexual abuse, witnessing and
receiving physical abuse or torture, witnessing animal mutilation or
killings and experiencing death threats. Ninety-seven percent
indicated forced drug usage. Other abuses included witnessing and
forced participation in human adult and infant sacrifice (83%),forced
cannibalism (81%), marriage to Satan (78%), being buried alive in
coffins or graves (72%), and forced impregnation and sacrifice of own
child (60%). All of the patients had severe PTSD and experienced
dissociative states with Satanic characteristics. Other psychiatric
sequelae included survivor guilt (97%), indoctrinated beliefs (94%),
unusual fears (94%), sexualization of sadistic impulses (86%), bizarre
self-abuse (83%) and substance abuse (62%). The authors also reported
some corroborating evidence.
The most recent effort to quantify and qualify the experience of
ritual and other extreme abuse has been recently completed via the
Internet. This undertaking was a cooperative effort between social
scientists in the United States and Germany, Becker, Overkamp, Rutz,
and Karriker, who developed an extensive questionnaire available over
the Internet for a period of three months to survivors of extreme
abuse. A second survey was developed and made available for a like
period of time to therapists treating survivors of extreme abuse and a
third for caregivers of survivors of extreme abuse. Preliminary data
is impressive for the numbers of survivors who participated, their
range of ages (only those over 18 were eligible for participation),
the countries they represented, the universality of their experiences,
and their search for answers. Their preliminary findings were recently
described at the SMART conference in August, 2007 and will be further
discussed in a chapter of the forthcoming book, Ritual Abuse in the
Twenty-first Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social and Political
Considerations, edited by Noblitt and Noblitt.
A final area of research has been developed (Noblitt1998a, 1998b;
Noblitt & Perskin, 2000) with a method for research and clinical
application of “programming” phenomena. I have identified specific
cues and “triggering” stimuli which have been shown to access
dissociated mental states in certain patients consistent with the
reports of other patients who allege to be survivors of ritual abuse.
Research on allegations of ritual abuse is important and needed
because many questions are as yet unresolved among mental health,
legal, and law enforcement professionals. Until we can better clarify
this difficult and troubling subject, we can continue to expect this
area to be rife with problems and bitter contentiousness. We will
continue to hear that blameless individuals have been unfairly
convicted of charges stemming from ritual abuse allegations, or that
innocent children are being returned to abusive households because
their outcries are not taken seriously in courts of law.
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Noblitt, J.R. (1998b, March). Techniques for induction of trance
phenomena without suggestion. Paper presented at the 40th Annual
Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Ft. Worth,
Texas.
Noblitt, J.R., & Perskin, P.(Rev. ed. 2000).Cult and ritual abuse: Its
history, anthropology and recent discovery in contemporary America.
Westport, CT: Praeger.
Ofshe, R.,& Waters, E.(1994). Making monsters: False memories,
psychotherapy and sexual hysteria. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Perry, N.E.(1992).Therapists’ experiences of the effects of working
with dissociative patients. Paper presented at the 9th Annual Meeting
of the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and
Dissociation, Chicago, IL.
Smith, M. (1993).Ritual abuse: What it is, why it happens, and how to
help. Harper San Francisco.
Spanos, N.P. (1996).Multiple identities and false memories: A
sociocognitive perspective. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Valliere, P., Bybee,D.,& Mobray, C.(1988, Apr.). Using the Child
Behavior Checklist in Child sexual abuse research: Longitudinal and
comparative analysis. Paper presented at the National Symposium on
Child Victimization, Anaheim, CA.
Victor, J.S. (1993). Satanic panic: The creation of a contemporary
legend. Chicago, IL: Open Court.
Waterman, J., Kelly, R.J., Olivieri, M.K., McCord, J.(1993).Beyond the
playground walls: Sexual abuse in preschools .New York: Guilford
Press.
Yeager, C.C.,& Lewis, D.O.(1997). False memories of cult abuse [letter
to the editor]. American JournalofPsychiatry,154, 435.
Young, W., Sachs, R.G., Braun, B.G., & Watkins, R.T. (1991). Patients
reporting ritual abuse in childhood: A clinical syndrome. Journal of
Child Abuse and Neglect, 15, 181–189.
[1]The reader may notice that the word “Satanic” is sometimes
capitalized and sometimes not in this paper. This apparent
inconsistency results from the word “Satanic” and “satanic” having
different meanings. If one is referring to a religion or system of
worship in which Satan is the focal spiritual entity, the term should
be capitalized as with any other religion (e.g., Buddhism,
Christianity, Judaism, etc.). When the word is not capitalized, it
refers to a point of view, not particularly a religion, which is
dedicated to evil. In this regard, I prefer the capitalized spelling
because most of the se patients are alleging this to be a religion.
However, other authors frequently do not capitalize the word thus,
when I am quoting or citing them, I will usually use their
capitalization rules, regardless of whether their usage conforms to
the above definitions.
[2] Renamed the International Society for the Study of Dissociation
and later, in 2007, renamed again, the International Society for the
Study of Trauma and Dissociation.
childadvocate
This page has information on the McMartin Preschool Case, Michelle
Remembers, the Fells Acres - Amirault Case, the Wenatchee, Washington
Case, the Dale Akiki Case, the Glendale Montessori - Toward case, the
Little Rascals Day Care Center case, Fran’s Day Care case, the Baran
case and the Halsey case.
It describes alleged crimes against children and the convictions in
most of these cases.
Sexual Abuse in Day Care: A National Study - Executive Summary - March
1988 - Finklehor, Williams, Burns, Kalinowski “The study identified
270 “cases” of sexual abuse in day care meaning 270 facilities where
substantiated abuse had occurred involving a total of 1639 victimized
children….This yielded an estimate of 500 to 550 reported and
substantiated cases and 2500 victims for the three-year period.
Although this is a large number, it must be put in the context of
229,000 day care facilities nationwide service seven million
children….allegations of ritual abuse (”the invocation of religious,
magical or supernatural symbols of activities”) occurred in 13% of the
cases.” The authors divided these cases into “true cult-based ritual,”
pseudo-ritualism” with a primary goal of sexual gratification and
ritual being used to intimidate the children from disclosing and
“psychopathological ritualism” the activities being “primarily the
expression of an individuals obsessional or delusional system.”
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1c/82/61.pdf
The McMartin Preschool Case - What Really Happened and the Cover-up
Archaeological Investigations of the McMartin Preschool Site by E.
Gary Stickel, Ph.D. This is the final report, written by Dr. E. Gary
Stickel, describing his findings at the McMartin preschool site in
Manhattan Beach, California.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/10252626/Archaeological-Investigations-of-the-McMartin-Preschool-Site-by-E-Gary-Stickel-PhD
describes crimes of abuse
Satanism Linked To Scores of U.S. Child Abuse Cases Edward W.
Lempinen. San Francisco Chronicle 11/5/87 p. A1 Satanism and cult
rituals have been linked to scores of child-molestation cases
nationwide in the past five years, including dozens in California.
Children as young as 2 and 3 years old have come forward with
harrowing tales of drinking blood, animal sacrifices and sexual abuse
as part of rituals, according to law enforcement investigators, child
abuse experts and parents. Others have even talked of cannibalism and
ritual sacrifice of children. After hearing similar tales over and
over from people across the country, many investigators and child
abuse experts now have come to believe in the unbelievable….In San
Francisco, police confirmed last week that they are investigating
reports by a 3-year-old girl who claimed that she was taken from a day-
care center at the Presidio Army base and driven to a home where she
was molested by two men in costumes. Police suspect that the home was
the headquarters of the Temple of Set, a Nazi-Satanic group, and they
have listed the temple’s high priest as a possible suspect. No arrests
have been made. Investigators and parents have declined to give
details of the cases of at least 58 children who attended the Presidio
Child Development Center, fearing that they might jeopardize the
prosecution of a former day-care worker. But in other cases across the
nation, experts say there is striking evidence of ritualized sexual
abuse that recurs in case after case: — At West Point, N.Y., Army
families have pressed an investigation into widespread child abuse at
a military day-care center in 1983 and 1984….But an increasingly
influential group of legal, psychological and medical experts say they
are beginning to amass considerable testimony and circumstantial
evidence of cult and Satanic abuse nationwide - and dating back four
generations or more. Sandi Gallant, an intelligence officer with the
San Francisco police and one of the nation’s most influential experts
on cults, cautions that many cases are proving unfounded. But she says
that there have been 60 to 70 “solid” cases of ritual sexual abuse in
the past few years nationwide. She and others have heard hundreds of
children and adult - people who have never met and who live a
continent apart - tell stories that are fundamentally the same.
“Independently, the victims are describing incredibly similar
circumstances,” said Catherine Gould, a clinical psychologist in the
Los Angeles district of Encino who has counseled dozens of children
who claim they were molested in rituals.
http://ezproxy.sfpl.org/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=65772423&Fmt=3&clientId=3266&RQT=309&VName=PQD
verification of the accuracy of the book “Michelle Remembers“by
Michelle Smith and Lawrence Pazder, MD from the book “A NOTE FROM THE
PUBLISHER” pages xi - xiii”
“Dr. Pazder’s credentials are impressive. He obtained his M.D. from
the University of Alberta in 1961; his diploma in tropical medicine
from the University Liverpool in 1962; and in 1968, his specialist
certificate in psychiatry and his diploma in psychological medicine
from McGill University. In 1971, he was made a fellow of Canada’s
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a member of three
Canadian professional associations and of the American Psychiatric
Association as well. He practiced medicine in West Africa and has
participated in medical task forces and health organizations. He has
been chairman of the Mental Health Committee of the Health Planning
Council for British Columbia. A member of the staff of two hospitals
in Victoria, British Columbia -the Royal Jubilee and the Victoria
General-he is in private practice with a group of five psychiatrists.
His professional papers include a study of the long-term effects of
stress upon concentration-camp victims.
Two experienced interviewers journeyed to Victoria and talked to Dr.
Pazder’s colleagues, to the priests and the bishop who became involved
in the case, to doctors who treated Michelle Smith when she was a
child, to relatives and friends. From local newspaper, clergy, and
police sources they learned that reports of Satanism in Victoria are
not infrequent and that Satanism has apparently existed there for many
years. Satanism in Western Canada flourished in many areas with
activities far more ominous than some of the innocuous groups now
found in parts of the United States who claim some connection with
Satanism.
The source material was scrutinized. The many thousands of pages of
transcript of the tape recordings that Dr. Pazder and Michelle Smith
made of their psychiatric sessions were read and digested; they became
the basis of this book. The tapes themselves were listened to in good
measure, and the videotapes made of some of his sessions were viewed.
Both the audio and video are powerfully convincing. It is nearly
unthinkable that the protracted agony they record could have been
fabricated.”
Thomas B. Congdon, Jr New York April 22, 1980
Fells Acres - Amirault Case
http://web.archive.org/web/20010719201703/http://www.vocal-nasvo.org /
hardoon.htm
Letters to the Editor: The Real Darkness Is Child Abuse WALL STREET
JOURNAL (J) 02/24/95
excerpts:
As the chief prosecutor of both of the Amirault cases I am writing to
prevent the public from being misled into believing that an injustice
occurred as Dorothy Rabinowitz alleges in her Jan. 30 editorial-page
piece “A Darkness in Massachusetts.”
Her suggestion that the convictions were based on “some of the most
fantastic claims ever presented” presumptuously ignores the reality of
the cases. The three Amiraults — Gerald, Violet and Cheryl - were
convicted after two trials before different judges and juries almost
one year apart. They were represented by able and well-known defense
counsel. The convictions were upheld after review by state and federal
appellate courts. The McMartin case in California was the result of a
botched legal system and Kelly Michaels’s conviction was overturned
because of legal errors. Contrary to Ms. Rabinowitz’s implication, the
Amirault convictions were neither of these.
Studies show, as did testimony from a nationally recognized pediatric
gynecologist, that most sexually molested young children have
absolutely normal physical examinations. However, in Amirault, the
majority of the female children who testified had some relevant
physical findings, as did several female children involved in the
investigation who did not participate in the trial. The findings
included labial adhesions and hymenal scarring of the sort present in
avery small percentage of non-sexually abused children.
Ms. Rabinowitz’s article is a superficial, one-sided look at a case
handled extensively and carefully by the legal system. The victims and
their families in these cases have been irrevocably harmed by what was
done to them by the Amiraults. Every argument raised by Ms. Rabinowitz
was ably presented by the defense at the trials. The juries, by their
verdicts, rejected these arguments. Justice was done.
see for actual case evidence http://abusearticles.wordpress.com/category/commonwealth-vs-amirault/
http://abusearticles.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/common -vs-
amirault-424-mass-618-page-624.jpg
http://abusearticles.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/common-vs-amirault-424-mass-618-page-622.jpg
“All nine children testified in a broadly consistent way…The children
testified to numerous instances of sexual abuse. Some of the children
testified that they were photographed during this abuse, describing a
big camera with wires, a red button, and pictures which came out of
the camera. The children testified that the defendant threatened them
and told them that their families would be harmed if they told anyone
about the abuse….The Commonwealth also presented a pediatric
gynecologist and pediatrician who examined five of the girls who
testified…She made findings consistent with abuse in four of the
girls.”
http://pqasb.pqarchive r.com/bostonherald/access/77139259.html?
dids=77139259:77139259&FMT=ABS& ;FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Aug+7%2C
+2001&author=Peter+Gelzinis&pub=Boston+H
erald&edition=&startpage=002&desc=Amirault%27s+accusers+reveal+the ir
+faces%2C+and+their+pain
Amirault’s accusers reveal their faces, and their pain Boston Herald -
Boston, Mass. - Peter Gelzinis - Aug 7, 2001
http://web.archive.org/web/2001080701133 0/http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
h/ap/20010802/us/preschool_abuse_3.html
Mass. Victims Fight Commutation Plea By Leslie Miller, Associated
Press Writer
excerpts:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Victims in the Fells Acres child abuse case
broke down Thursday as they described their pain publicly for the
first time in hopes of keeping the last person convicted in the case
behind bars. Victims urged her to keep Amirault in prison. “During
counseling meetings as a child, I would speak of a tall man touching
me and taking pictures of me,” Phaedra Hopkins, 20, said at an
emotional news conference. “So many times, Mr. Amirault hovered over
me, touched me and hurt me and committed many disgusting acts of
abuse.” Those children, now adults, stood by their testimony Thursday.
“This family raped me, molested me and totally ruined my life,’’said
Jennifer Bennett, who was 3 1/2 years old when she started at Fells
Acres. “We weren’t coaxed. We weren’t lying. We’re telling the truth
and we always will,” said Bennett, 22. “I was there. None of you were
there. We weren’t coaxed, nor were we ever ever ever
brainwashed.”Brian Martinello, 21, said he was sexually abused by
Amirault. His mother, Barbara Standke, claims her son came home from
the day care with sores on his genitals and other people’s underwear.
“I think it’s an absolute disgrace to let anyone out of prison for
such a disgusting crime,” Martinello said.
Paul Ingram - Thurston County Washington Case
Seattle Post-Intelligencer - June 8, 1996 - News, Pg. B1 - Son of
Deputy Says He Was Sexually Abused ; Dramatic Report in Testimony to
Clemency Panel -: Rachel Zimmerman P-I Capitol Bureau - Olympia
excerpts:
The son of Paul Ingram, a former Thurston County deputy sheriff who
confessed to raping his daughters during nightmarish satanic rituals
but later recanted, said for the first time yesterday that he was
physically and sexually abused by his father for eight years. Chad
Ingram, 27, told the state Pardons and Clemency Board that his father,
who is serving 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to six counts
of third-degree rape - crimes he now says never happened - said he was
abused by his father from ages 4 to 12. “He would put himself on top
of me and I would perform oral sex on him,” Chad Ingram said.
Thurston County Sheriff Gary Edwards, though the case never went to
trial, it was subject to intense judicial scrutiny, “all the way up to
the Ninth Circuit.” Edwards added, “This case was not perfect but it
had complete judicial review. “Paul Ingram did commit these crimes; he
plead guilty to these crimes. I have no problem shaving in the
morning. I can look myself in the mirror.”
The Facade of Scientific Documentation: A Case Study of Richard
Ofshe’s Analysis of the Paul Ingram Case” by Karen Olio and William
Cornell. APA’s journal “Psychology, Public Policy, and Law,” (1998,
Vol. 4, No. 4, 1182-1197) “The case of Paul Ingram, a man who pleaded
guilty to sexually abusing his daughters, has received widespread
media attention. Richard Ofshe (1992, 1994) set forth a narrative of
the case which included his account of an experiment to test the
veracity of Ingram’s confessions and concluded that the inadvertent
use of hypnosis during Ingram’s interrogation resulted in the creation
of pseudomemories that convinced Ingram of his guilt. On the basis of
an examination of the original source documents, the authors discusses
the errors of fact, methodological flaws, and confounding factors in
Ofshe’s rendering of this case of alleged child abuse. They also cite
examples of the extent to which Ofshe’s imperfect narrative of this
case and pseudoscientific conclusions have been uncritically accepted
and repeated in the literature…”
Harvard Society for Law & Public Policy, Inc. Harvard Journal of Law &
Public Policy - Spring, 1999 - 22 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 523 The
Guilty and the “Innocent”: an Examination of Alleged Cases of Wrongful
Conviction from False Confessions by Paul G. Cassell -”According to
the authors (Leo and Ofsche), in twenty-nine of these cases the false
confession resulted in the wrongful conviction of an innocent person.”
“examines nine of these twenty-nine cases in detail. Based on review
of original trial court records and other similar sources, the part
concludes that each of these nine persons were, in all likelihood,
entirely guilty of the crimes charged against them.”"Leo and Ofshe
rely in large measure on secondary sources for the descriptions of the
evidence against the defendants in their collection….For many cases,
court records are available only in the local courthouses where the
trial took place, while media accounts are often readily accessible in
computerized databases. Relying on secondary sources, however, poses
the risk of inaccurate recounting of the evidence. Examining primary
sources for the cases in Leo and Ofshe’s collection reveals that this
is a very real problem.” “The problems with the subjective
determination of “innocence” in the Leo-Ofshe collection, like similar
problems elsewhere, suggests that reliance on second-hand sources
combined with understandable enthusiasm for the enterprise of
discovering miscarriages may produce more such cases than really
exist.” “Only a relative handful of Leo and Ofshe’s cases would
satisfy the criterion of undisputed wrongful conviction.”
http://www.kspope.com/memory/facade1a.php
Wenatchee, Washington Case
http://abusearticles.wordpress.com/category/articles-on-wenatchee/
information from articles :
At the trial, one girl showed “definite medical signs of sexual abuse”
while “it could not be ruled out for two others.
In 1996, a consultant, retired Bellevue Police Chief D.P. Van
Blaricom, hired by a city insurer who looked into how the Wenatchee
police ran the child abuse investigations stated that the cases were
handled properly. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation also
found that there was no evidence of civil rights violations.
Cops Win Wash. State Sex Ring Case - June 29, 1998 - Aviva L. Brandt
AP Online - Seattle “A jury on Monday rejected claims of police
misconduct brought by four people who say they were falsely accused of
child rape and molestation. After deliberating for more than five
days, the King County Superior Court panel decided that the central
Washington town of Wenatchee, the town’s police officials and three
members of the Douglas County sheriff’s department did not violate the
civil rights of the four, who said they were falsely accused in
1994-95. Douglas County Sheriff Dan LaRoche said the verdict allows
police to keep investigating sex abuse and molestation cases without
fear of lawsuits.
Debate Rages Over Wenatchee Sex-Ring Allegations - November 6, 1995-
Aviva L. Brandt, Associated Press Writer - Wenatchee, Wash.
Excerpts:
A line divides this town. On one side are those who believe dozens of
children were raped and molested over seven years by adults in two
loosely organized sex rings. On the other are those who assert a rogue
cop and obsessed social workers created a whirlpool of sexual
hysteria- coaxing children into accusations and bullying bewildered,
poorly educated adults into confessions. Gov. Mike Lowry, petitioned
by critics who believe the case is a witch hunt, has asked for a
Justice Department review and is awaiting a decision from U.S.
Attorney General Janet Reno. Authorities say as many as 50 children
were forced to have sex with adults since 1988 - sometimes alone,
sometimes in groups. In the last year, 28 adults have been charged
with child rape and sexual abuse. Five have been convicted, 10 have
pleaded guilty.
“Every female victim had physical evidence of sexual abuse and the
majority of the males did,” Smith said. “Clearly it’s pretty good
evidence to show that this is occurring.”
Douglas County Prosecutor Steve Clem sounded frustrated when asked
about allegations that his office hasn’t bothered to look for the
truth. “The defense attorneys are using what I’m sure … some day in
the future will be called the O.J. defense, where they sling mud, make
wild accusations and see conspiracies all around them,” he said.”
There’s physical evidence consistent with the stories they (the
children) tell. There’s more than one person talking about the very
same things going on,” said Tim Abbey, a regional supervisor with the
state Child Protective Services. “And there are a lot of confessions,
and many times they’re confessing to more than the kids said
happened.”
Dale Akiki Case
describes crimes
Ex-School Volunteer Acquitted of Child Abuse Charges Verdict: After
deliberating for just seven hours, jury finds Dale Akiki not guilty on
all 35 counts. Trial was longest in San Diego’s history. Los Angeles
Times - Los Angeles, Calif. - Michael Granberry - Nov 20, 1993
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60254778.html?dids=60254778:6025
4778&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+20%2C+1993&
author=MICHAEL+GRANBERRY&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edi
tion=&startpage=29&desc=Ex-School+Volunteer+Acquitted+of+Child+Abuse+C
harges+Verdict%3A+After+deliberating+for+just+seven+hours%2C+jury+finds
+Dale+A kiki+not+guilty+on+all+35+counts.+Trial+was+longest+in+San
+Diego%27s+history
A Superior Court jury concluded a 7 1/2-month trial Friday by
acquitting a former nursery school volunteer of 35 counts of child
abuse and kidnapping that had kept him jailed without bail for 2 1/2
years….
Nearly 170 witnesses testified during Akiki’s trial-the longest in San
Diego history-which ended after only seven hours of jury
deliberation….
Several on the (jury) panel sided with Akiki’s attorneys, public
defenders Kathleen Coyne and Susan Clemens, who tried to show that
Akiki’s alleged victims-nine boys and girls between the ages of 3 and
5-had been systematically brainwashed by parents and therapists.
But Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery, the lead prosecutor, disputed such
claims.
“The whole idea of contamination and suggestibility just does not
account for the major behavior changes that occurred (in the children)
while they were in Dale Akiki’s (nursery school) class,” she said,
referring to such incidents as bed-wetting and nightmares.
Witnesses accused Akiki of sexually molesting and terrorizing children
at Faith Chapel charismatic church in Spring Valley by hanging them
upside-down from a chandelier, dunking them in toilets and making them
drink the blood of animals in ritualistic ceremonies.
Molestation Hearing Continues Next Week - Los Angeles Times - February
8, 1992 - San Diego County Edition
.…Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery has called some of the parents to
testify about behavioral changes they observed in the children. “There
were drastic changes observed,” Avery said. Defense attorney Kate
Coyne, however, maintains that Akiki has been falsely accused by
parents who did not like his physical appearance.
Judge Rejects Bail for Suspect In Molestations at Preschool - Los
Angeles Times - May 25, 1991 Amy Wallace; Times Staff Writer
….But Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery, the prosecutor, said that, in
addition to the grand jury testimony of seven children who attended
the Faith Chapel in Casa de Oro, her case will rely on behavioral
symptoms observed by parents months before any allegations of abuse
were raised.
One mother said her daughter was so terrified of having her head near
water that it was impossible to wash her hair, Avery said. Grand jury
testimony later revealed that at least one child had had her head
dunked in a toilet, she said.
Testimony was also heard that a child became hysterical when he was
taken to a hospital to get stitches, apparently because he had a
flashback of “the defendant holding him down and hurting him,” Avery
said. The indictment filed against Akiki said he inflicted injuries on
children with a needle.
Avery maintained that some of the children remain so traumatized by
Akiki’s treatment that they have attempted suicide–one by running in
front of a car, another with a knife.
Other Suspects Added to Child Sex Abuse Probe - Los Angeles Times -
May 15, 1991 - Amy Wallace; Times Staff Writer
As many as three former child care workers at Faith Chapel in Spring
Valley are suspected of molesting and abusing preschoolers over a 15-
month period ending in August, 1989, a San Diego County prosecutor
said Tuesday.
Speaking after the arraignment of Dale Anthony Akiki, a former church
volunteer who was indicted last week on 50 felony counts of child
molestation and related charges, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery said
two other former child care workers are being investigated….
According to the 13-page indictment, which a grand jury returned after
hearing live televised testimony from seven of the children, Akiki
abused them sexually and physically, at times using a bottle top, a
toy, a glass, a stick and a needle.
Church Volunteer Indicted in Molestations - Los Angeles Times - May
14, 1991 - Amy Wallace; Alan Abrahamson; Times Staff Writers
….Soon, Avery said, a couple of parents noticed that their children
were exhibiting similar “unusual” and “regressive” behavior. The
children had not yet said they were abused, Avery said, but the
parents observed a pattern.
“In thinking it over, they realized the one thing the children had in
common was they went to the same church,” she said.
The church asked a licensed social worker to assess whether there was
reasonable suspicion of abuse and, after talking to a few families, he
reported the case to the authorities.
Avery began investigating in February, 1990. Since then, she said, the
district attorney’s office has kept Akiki under periodic surveillance,
“to make sure he was not working with children during the week or
involved with child care in any way.”
Avery said her case is strengthened by the fact that it relies on the
children’s behavior as well as their testimony. “It will focus on
behavior that was observed prior to the initial disclosure” of the
alleged abuse, she said. “So there cannot be a contamination issue
regarding behavior that occurred prior to anyone ever mentioning this
to the children.”
Unlike other child molestation cases that rely largely on the
testimony of the victims, the Akiki case is “one which can be cleanly
and coherently presented to a jury for their determination,” said
Steve Casey, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.
Glendale Montessori - Toward case
describes crimes
Headmaster’s evil lives on in 20-year-old abuse case By Jill Taylor
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer 3/1/08 Stuart - Twenty years ago today,
on a quiet street in a guard-gated Palm City community, investigators
snapped handcuffs onto the wrists of a respected Montessori school
headmaster and delivered a message the people of Martin County did not
want to hear. Little children, lots of little children, were raped and
defiled in unspeakable ways by a man some of the smartest and richest
people in the community had trusted to care for their sons and
daughters….Hours later, Toward’s office manager, Brenda Williams,
turned herself in at the Martin County jail to answer similar charges.
Four months later, Toward was charged with molesting and kidnapping
five more preschool boys, and Williams was charged in four of those
cases. Investigators later learned of up to 60 victims, most ages 2 to
5….Toward, now 77, pleaded guilty to molesting or kidnapping the six
boys and was sentenced to 27 years in prison. He was released from his
prison term on probation after 12 years, but has remained in custody
under the state’s Jimmy Ryce Act, which allows confinement of sex
offenders deemed a continuing danger to the community. Toward is
challenging his commitment and maintains his innocence, saying his
plea was only to avoid a harsher sentence. No date has been scheduled
for a civil trial on the issue. He did not respond to a request for an
interview. Part of Toward’s plea deal prevented prosecutors from
filing more charges or arresting others they thought were involved
when dozens more victims came forward later….”We found there were
literally dozens of kids who were affected by this guy for a long
time,” Colton said. “He spent his life manipulating people. He
convinced people they could trust him with their children.” Ralicki
expects she will be called to testify at an upcoming Jimmy Ryce
hearing. She says she has no doubt that Toward still poses a threat to
children. She can never forget what he did to the 20 or so children
she treated….Williams pleaded no contest to sex and attempted
kidnapping charges involving five boys, and was released from prison
in 1993 after serving five years of a 10-year sentence. She could not
be reached for comment, but is listed in records as owning a home in
Vero Beach….
The psychotherapist Jeanne Ralicki, who treated many of the victims
stated “There’s this whole underbelly of evil here that just oozes…Who
wants to think that that exists in the world?”
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Little Rascals Day Care Center case
(describes crimes)
Closing Arguments in Child-Abuse Trial By Ronald Smothers, 3/24/1992
New York Times - Calling the operator of a day-care center who is the
defendant in a child sex-abuse case an “evil, evil man,” the
prosecution in the eight-month-long case began closing arguments
today, painstakingly recalling children’s testimony that jurors had
not heard since September…. Mr. Kelly, 43 years old, is facing 100
charges of sexually abusing a dozen children in 1988 and 1989 at the
Little Rascals Day Care Center in Edenton, N. C., 60 miles east of
here. Originally there were 248 charges involving 22 children, but the
prosecution has withdrawn many charges while Judge D. Marsh McLelland
of Pitt County Superior Court has dismissed others. Six Others Charged
- Still, the case remains one of the largest child sex-abuse cases in
the nation’s history in terms of number of charges and alleged
victims. The case also involves charges against Mr. Kelly’s wife,
Elizabeth, three adult employees of the center and two other adults.
All have been accused of fondling, raping and sodomizing the children
at the center….Testifying on his own behalf in January, Mr. Kelly said
he never touched any of the children in a sexual way….Using 8-by-10-
inch color photographs of each of the dozen children who testified,
Mrs. Lamb recounted their own childish words in testifying about what
“Mr. Bob” did to them. The words, which were children’s euphemisms for
sex organs and body parts, seemed incongruous coming from the adult
prosecutor, but with repetition even that incongruity served to
highlight the horror of the allegations.
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/24/us/closing-arguments-in-child-abuse-trial.html
Man convicted in N.C. child sex abuse case M. Mayfield 4/23/92 USA
TODAY In April 1992, “Robert Kelly Jr. was convicted of 99 of 100
counts of rape and related crimes against children.” One of the
mothers of the 12 children that testified against Kelly stated that
she felt “overwhelming relief.” The six other defendants, including
Kelly’s wife, would face trials later. The jury believed the children
on the witness stand. One juror stated “the children were convincing.”
Kelly and his supporters believed he was innocent. He was sentenced to
12 consecutive life terms in prison. The trial “included 83
prosecution witnesses and 60 defense witnesses.” The children had
testified that Kelly had forced them to have different types of sex.
The parents testified that the children exhibited abnormal behavior.
“Twelve children, between the ages of 4 and 7, testified, and the
results of physical and psychological tests of them were presented as
evidence.”
Child Abuse Conviction in Day Care Case; N.C. Man Was Subject of
Sympathetic Documentary - The Washington Post - April 23, 1992- Megan
Rosenfeld ” North Carolina’s longest and most expensive trial came to
a close yesterday with the conviction of former child-care center
operator Robert Kelly on 99 of 100 charges of sexually abusing 12
children. Kelly’s wife, Betsy, and five other people are also charged
with abusing children at the Little Rascals Day Care Center, but have
yet to stand trial. Kelly’s trial, which started in August, included
83 prosecution witnesses and 60 defense witnesses. In the end, juror
Dennis Ray told the Associated Press, “the children were convincing.”
Twelve children, between the ages of 4 and 7, testified, and the
results of physical and psychological tests of them were presented as
evidence.” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1002268.html
Day-Care Owner Is Convicted of Child Molesting 4/23/92 The longest and
costliest criminal trial ever held in North Carolina ended today when
the owner of a day-care center was convicted on 99 of 100 charges of
sexually abusing 12 children there. After 14 days of deliberating, a
Pitt County Superior Court jury found the 44-year-old defendant,
Robert F. Kelly Jr., guilty of 4 counts of rape, 46 of taking indecent
liberties, 36 of first-degree sexual offense and 13 crimes against
nature. He was acquitted only of a single charge of taking indecent
liberties with one of the 12 children….one juror, Dennis Ray, did
speak to reporters, saying the panel had rejected the defense’s
assertion of widespread hysteria and had believed the children. “The
children were convincing,” Mr. Ray said.
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/23/us/day-care-owner-is-convicted-of-child-molesting.html
Six months after Betsy’s release, the Appellate Court of North
Carolina overturned the convictions of both Robert Kelly and Dawn
Wilson, stating that there were legal errors by the prosecution. On
May 23, 1997, the prosecution dropped all charges related to the
Little Rascals case against the two.
Fran’s Day Care Case - Randy Noblitt, PhD
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/frans-day-care/
Baran case
Baran received a fair trial By William W. Simons - Pittsfield 9/13/03
“I have spent my professional life (going on 50 years) as a
prosecutor, defense lawyer and Superior Court judge….I was the
presiding judge in the Superior Court trial of Bernard Baran that took
place in Pittsfield, extending for 10 days in January 1985. Baran was
charged with rape and indecent assault and battery on six children
while he was a child-care worker in a Pittsfield day care center. He
was originally represented by the Public Defender’s Office but chose
to obtain private counsel, Leonard Conway of Westfield. After his
conviction on these cases involving five of the children, an appeal
was taken on Baran’s behalf by Attorney David O. Burbank of
Pittsfield, also an experienced and able trial and appellate counsel.
The appeal was decided on March 27, 1986, affirming the convictions.
Mr. Burbank sought further appellate review and that application was
denied by the Supreme Judicial Court on May 30, 1986….The concern that
young victims are prone to suggestibility pales in comparison to the
suggestibility of grown and experienced newspapermen. A more serious
injury is that distorted claims of injustice that seek freedom for
Baran are not without consequences for society and this community,
should they succeed.” http://www.berkshireeagle.com/
also see: http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/ctf/bib.html
Halsey case
The Legend of Robert Halsey - Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, v9 n3-4
p37-52 2001 - Cheit, Ross E. Abstract: A brief narrative description
of the journal article, document, or resource. Examines the criminal
conviction of Robert Halsey for sexually abusing two young boys on his
school-van route near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Based on a
comprehensive examination of the trial transcript, suggests that the
credulous acceptance of the “false conviction” legend about Robert
Halsey provides a case study in the techniques and tactics used to
minimize and deny sexual abuse.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ672707&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ672707
False-conviction chic in the Berkshires
Robert Halsey was convicted in 1993 of sexually abusing two boys on
his school van route in Lanesboro, Mass. There was a mountain of
evidence against him, and he was sentenced to two consecutive life
terms. Now a growing movement is trying to suggest that Halsey was
unjustly convicted. A country that cherishes the presumption of
innocence still needs to learn something about the presumption of
guilt. There is a dark side to the growing movement on behalf of
persons falsely convicted by the criminal justice system: phony false-
conviction claims. There is just such a phony claim currently brewing
in the Berkshires….As long-time residents of the Berkshires will
remember, Robert Halsey was convicted in 1993 of sexually abusing two
boys on his school van route in Lanesboro, Mass. There was a mountain
of evidence against him. The two boys…had clear medical signs of the
abuse. Their disclosures were extremely detailed and they were written
up well before the boys were involved in any repeat interviews,
therapy sessions or other measures which are commonly cited as sources
of “child suggestibility.”….Various parts of the boys’ testimony were
corroborated by three other children, two of whom had moved to Florida
nine months before Halsey was arrested.
Greegor
11 childadvocate Jun 22
Satanic Ritual Abuse evidence and journal articles
12 childadvocate Jun 22
An Empirical Look at the Ritual Abuse Controversy
Moe, Are you "egging her on" ?? LOL
freedom
On Sun, 21 Jun 2009, Greegor <Gree...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Week in and week out she starts new threads with new newsgroups, all w=
ith
>> > pointers to phoney-baloney websites. =A0Okay, if she were just talking=
about
>> > alien mind-control rays, it would be merely annoying. =A0But I can rem=
ember
>> > the '80s when ritual-abuse/recovered-memory hysteria spread through ma=
ny
>> > communities, ruining the lives of countless innocent people, including=
many
>> > of the supposed victims. =A0This is not about the color of the sky on =
the
>> > planet Meepzor. =A0It is about a real world danger that is not merely
>> > theoretical, but which has a history of producing vast real-world harm=
.
>
>> =A0I know about some of the cases where innocent people were accused and=
>> convicted of child sexual abuse based on the garbage called "
>> recovered memory".
>>
>> =A0A real good book on the subject is the one by Jeffrey Victor called "=
>> Satanic Panic".
>>
>> =A0I've encountered childadvocate before and frankly I doubt she has all=
>> her marbles. But then a real good look at the " satanic ritual abuse"
>> claims, including the notorious McMartin Preschool case, pretty much
>> shows there are major flaws in the claims of folks like her.
>>
>> =A0The last time I "argued" with childadvocate ( of you can call it
>> that) a mother of one of the supposed victims at McMartin emailed me
>> in what I saw as her attempt to lure me to her cause. In her case, if
>> I believed her account, Ted Gunderson used her ( which =A0may be true)
>> and she was the one who " funded" the parent-led " archeological dig"
>> at the preschool site. She also claimed that the woman who died from
>> liver damage due to her heavy alcohol abuse was " allergic" to
>> alcohol.
>>
>> =A0Long story short, whenever I =A0looked into cases like that where
>> supposedly " ritual abuse" happens, it turns out to be smoke and
>> mirrors, nothing substantial.
>>
>>
>>
>> > > =A0But then that's part of your game online, isn't it? Instead of
>> > > actually helping battered women you two claim smugly that battered
>> > > woman's syndrome doesn't exist.
>>
>> > Of course it exists, but it doesn't often make the victims paranoid
>> > nutcases
>> > with harmful theories.
>>
>> =A0I was referring to the poster Greegor who has a buddy named Ken
>> Pangborn AKA KRP who claims BWS is not proven in a court of law.
>> Greegor/ Greg is not what you would call an innocent person as one of
>> teh accusations leveled against him was that he was alone with a seven
>> year old child "washing the pee" off of her with his bare hands,
>
>LIE - This was not one of the accusations leveled against me.
>There was a caseworker who tried a DECEPTION like that
>but it was complete fiction. Like on a BAD TV cop show
>she hoped the big deception would get her an admission.
>
>That particular LIE was never presented in court, of course.
You've already admitted that this was true, by attempting to defend it here=
on usenet. =20
The fact is that an unrelated adult male has NO business watching a girl of=
that age taking a shower, and would only do so for perverse reasons.
And then, there was the time you told your girlfriend**: "If you call the
police, I'll knock out all of your teeth, I'll cripple you. I may go to
prison for it, but when I get out, I'll be able to walk, but you will still=
be a cripple."
http://www.aboutkenpangborn.com
The truth about Kenneth Pangborn, who supports convicted child sex
criminals
"[I have] [n]ever had [any] standing in the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's=
Association or AN Y connection to them."
- --Ken Pangborn in a usenet post on January 1, 2009, denying affiliation
with the TCDLA, to whom he provided bogus educational credentials. His lie=
is disproved here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060822021821/www.tcdla.com/secure/experts/inde=
x.shtml
"Some photo of some girl without even any documentation on THAT only proves=
that YOU are a PSYCHO! A really STUPID one at that!"
- --Ken Pangborn, admitting to being a "stupid" "psycho" in message-ID
<jOp3l.292$Es4...@nwrddc01.gnilink.net>
"The FACT is that [my mail-order wife Barbara Sanciprian] and I were
introduced in the FORMAL Spanish tradition by mutual friends, and were
married first in Cuba after 2 year courtship."
- --Ken Pangborn, admitting that he began cheating on his wife Peggy on
September 28, 2001, nearly two years before she separated from him
"I'm David Moore and I am insane!"
- --Ken Pangborn posting to alt.dads-rights.unmoderated, attempting to
claim that his name is David Moore
"If you call the police, I'll knock out all of your teeth, I'll cripple
you. I may go to prison for it, but when I get out, I'll be able to walk,
but you will still be a cripple."
- --Pangborn puppet Greg Hanson of alt.support.child-protective-services
**, in a verbal threat to his girlfriend
** - this conclusion was reached via applying Ken and Greg's logic
Keywords: false allegations,sexual abuse,marital rape, date rape, sexual
harassment,child abuse,domestic violence,rape allegations,false allegations=
of child abuse,false rape allegations,false abuse accusations,false
accusations,recovered memories,child sexual abuse,abuse child,sexual
assault,child molestation,reactive attachment disorder,penile
plethysmograph,polygraph,attorneys,divorce,visitation,pedophiles
More-keywords: KRP CONSULTING. False allegations of child abuse, false
abuse accusations, false domestic violence allegations help, false rape
allegations, abuse child, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, false
allegations, false accusations, recovered memories, sexual assault, child
molestation, child sexual abuse, reactive attachment disorder, penile
plethysmograph, polygraph, trial consulting, jury consulting, jury
selection, jury voire dire, wrongful allegations, false child sexual abuse
allegations. Wrongful child sexual abuse allegations. Domestic Violence.
Rape. Marital rape. Date Rape. Confidence Rape.
Yet-more-keywords: ken pangborn,kenneth pangborn,barbara pangborn,barbara
sanciprian,palm harbor,tampa,attorneys,florida lawyers,florida
attorneys,tampa lawyers,tampa attorneys,trial consultant,trial
consulting,dui,domestic violence,vawa,abuse,3648 cockatoo,new port
richey,ernesto sanciprian,ernesto miguel blanco sanciprian,blanco
sanciprian,bryce carter,holguin,julio aguilar,yudith bacallao,raimundo
cabrera,ana hernandez chi,lixandro cordero,leandis diaz,al faisbuker,wendy
gil,armando capo ramos,george riveron,reinaldo rodriguez,lexis ross,liana
yisell alvarez silveira,madelyn tamayo,manuel toledo,thais valdes
Extra-keywords: Julito Sainz,craig clawson,lia yisell
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krp
"freedom" <about...@aboutISkenApangbornFRAUD.com> wrote in message
news:9456b6645ec743a5...@msgid.frell.theremailer.net...
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>
> On Sun, 21 Jun 2009, Greegor <Gree...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > Week in and week out she starts new threads with new newsgroups, all
>>> > w=
>
> And then, there was the time you told your girlfriend**: "If you call the
> police, I'll knock out all of your teeth, I'll cripple you. I may go to
> prison for it, but when I get out, I'll be able to walk, but you will
> still=
> be a cripple."
DAVEY DIPSHIT - you KNOW that wasn't Greg Hanson. YOU ARE A LIAR!'
Keywords: david daniel moore pathological liar, david daniel moore
calumet city, illinois, david daniel moore internet psychopath, Lotus,
david daniel moore stalker, stalker, real estate agents, david daniel moore
pathological liar, david daniel moore, pervert, abusive real estate agents,
david daniel moore coward, david daniel moore computer hacker,
david daniel moore criminal, internet stalkers david daniel moore,
internet harassment david daniel moore, david daniel moore, moore the porn
star,
internet libel, david daniel moore website of lies,janet moore,
850 buffalo avenue, calumet city,illinos, dui, linda boss, ACT, Lotus
Solutions consulting,
david daniel moore malicious use of employers computers,
david daniel moore sara lee corporation, never employ david
daniel moore, internet psychopaths, david daniel moore, david kojack, moore,
chicagoland pansies, internet addiction, internet stalking, woman hater,
tara moreland, janet more, dawn moore, alias dustin calloway, alias
david miller, alias david boss, alias jeff johnson, blackmailer, sexual
harassment,sexual blackmail, david moore bbs blackmail, david moore usmc, 29
palms california,linda boss, david moore child abuser, anonymous remailer
stalkers, anonymous remailer abusers, basement dwellers,off shore website,
new zealand, malaysia website,employer hotel/casino,computer abuse, office
disruption,
obsessive compulsive disorder, four winds,calumet city drag queen,
transvestite,
sexual disorders, mglf, milwaukee general liberation front,punks, putz,
cowardice, forger, mommys basement, skinheads, forgeries, willian rainey
harper college,
coalition forces, buffalo, michigan, david moore coalition supreme allied
commander,
anonymous remailer stalkers, david moore womanizer, david daniel moore drag
queen,
lotus programs, IT contractors, david d. moore aryan nations member.
Greegor
Path: g2news1.google.com!news1.google.com!news4.google.com!feeder.news-
service.com!weretis.net!feeder1.news.weretis.net!newsfeed.datemas.de!
feeder.motzarella.org!news.motzarella.org!eternal-september.org!
news.mixmin.net!news.bananasplit.info!news.dizum.com!sewer-output!
mail2news-x5!mail2news-x4!mail2news-x3!mail2news-x2!mail2news
Subject: Re: Moe the armchair Tabloid ""criminologist""
Newsgroups: misc.legal,soc.men,alt.dads-rights.unmoderated,alt.true-
crime,alt.support.child-protective-services
References: <8261cf3b-5256-4466-b2e3-
bdfca0...@l2g2000vba.googlegroups.com>
<slrnh3ta9e...@debranded.larseighner.com> <995e7f34-89f1-4783-
b73b-a72...@n30g2000vba.googlegroups.com>
<4f98a47b-3f0c-4210...@f10g2000vbf.googlegroups.com>
From: freedom <aboutKRP...@aboutISkenApangbornFRAUD.com>
X-keywords: false allegations,sexual abuse,marital rape, date rape,
sexual harassment,child abuse,domestic violence,rape allegations,false
allegations of child abuse,false rape allegations,false abuse
accusations,false accusations,recovered memories,child sexual
abuse,abuse child,sexual assault,child molestation,reactive attachment
disorder,penile
plethysmograph,polygraph,attorneys,divorce,visitation,pedophiles
X-more-keywords: KRP CONSULTING. False allegations of child abuse,
false abuse accusations, false domestic violence allegations help,
false rape allegations, abuse child, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse,
false allegations, false accusations, recovered memories, sexual
assault, child molestation, child sexual abuse, reactive attachment
disorder, penile plethysmograph, polygraph, trial consulting, jury
consulting, jury selection, jury voire dire, wrongful allegations,
false child sexual abuse allegations. Wrongful child sexual abuse
allegations. Domestic Violence. Rape. Marital rape. Date Rape.
Confidence Rape.
X-yet-more-keywords: ken pangborn,kenneth pangborn,barbara
pangborn,barbara sanciprian,palm harbor,tampa,attorneys,florida
lawyers,florida attorneys,tampa lawyers,tampa attorneys,trial
consultant,trial consulting,dui,domestic violence,vawa,abuse
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Message-ID:
<9456b6645ec743a5d4b4e02117575...@msgid.frell.theremailer.net>
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:58:12 +0200
Mail-To-News-Contact: ab...@dizum.com
Organization: mail2n...@dizum.com
----------------------------------------------------------
DDM > And then, there was the time you told your
DDM > girlfriend**: "If you call the police, I'll knock
DDM > out all of your teeth, I'll cripple you. I may
DDM > go to prison for it, but when I get out, I'll
DDM > be able to walk, but you will still be a cripple."
KRP > DAVEY DIPSHIT - you KNOW that
KRP > wasn't Greg Hanson. YOU ARE A LIAR!'
It is a Greg Hanson, wrong state, wrong middle name.
about 10 years younger than me and in prison when
last I checked.
It's as lame as when ""that other guy"" said
his bad KRP impersonation was not an
impersonation as harassment.
Dave only started that to support his LIE
that he is not David Daniel Moore of
Calumet City, IL
Dave's the DARLING of the ""REMOP community"".
freedom
On Tue, 23 Jun 2009, krp <kr...@verizon.net> wrote:
>"freedom" <about...@aboutISkenApangbornFRAUD.com> wrote in message
>news:9456b6645ec743a5...@msgid.frell.theremailer.net...
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>
>> On Sun, 21 Jun 2009, Greegor <Gree...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> > Week in and week out she starts new threads with new newsgroups, all
>>>> > w=
>.
>>
>> And then, there was the time you told your girlfriend**: "If you call the
>> police, I'll knock out all of your teeth, I'll cripple you. I may go to
>> prison for it, but when I get out, I'll be able to walk, but you will
>> still=
>> be a cripple."
>
>
>DAVEY DIPSHIT - you KNOW that wasn't Greg Hanson. YOU ARE A LIAR!'
The quote in question indeed attributes to Greg. A court of law found this
to be true.
http://www.aboutkenpangborn.com
The truth about Kenneth Pangborn, who supports convicted child sex
criminals
"[I have] [n]ever had [any] standing in the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's
Association or AN Y connection to them."
- --Ken Pangborn in a usenet post on January 1, 2009, denying affiliation
with the TCDLA, to whom he provided bogus educational credentials. His lie
is disproved here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060822021821/www.tcdla.com/secure/experts/inde
x.shtml
"Some photo of some girl without even any documentation on THAT only proves
that YOU are a PSYCHO! A really STUPID one at that!"
- --Ken Pangborn, admitting to being a "stupid" "psycho" in message-ID
<jOp3l.292$Es4...@nwrddc01.gnilink.net>
"The FACT is that [my mail-order wife Barbara Sanciprian] and I were
introduced in the FORMAL Spanish tradition by mutual friends, and were
married first in Cuba after 2 year courtship."
- --Ken Pangborn, admitting that he began cheating on his wife Peggy on
September 28, 2001, nearly two years before she separated from him
"I'm David Moore and I am insane!"
- --Ken Pangborn posting to alt.dads-rights.unmoderated, attempting to
claim that his name is David Moore
"If you call the police, I'll knock out all of your teeth, I'll cripple
you. I may go to prison for it, but when I get out, I'll be able to walk,
but you will still be a cripple."
- --Pangborn puppet Greg Hanson of alt.support.child-protective-services
**, in a verbal threat to his girlfriend
** - this conclusion was reached via applying Ken and Greg's logic
Keywords: false allegations,sexual abuse,marital rape, date rape, sexual
harassment,child abuse,domestic violence,rape allegations,false allegations
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childadvocate
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse_Torture
copied with permission
“Ritual abuse-torture” (sometimes called “RAT”) is defined as “is one
form of non-state actor torture and is about pedophilic parents,
families, guardians, and like-minded adults who abuse, torture, and
traffic children using organizing ritualisms.” [1][2].
Contents
* 1 History
* 2 Research
* 3 References
* 4 Bibliography
* 5 External links
History
In 1991 the Minister for the Status of Women appointed panel members
of The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women. They went to all
parts of Canada, met with 4,000 people in over 100 places. Seven
hundred reports were submitted to the panel. Several major themes
identified by panel reports included the fact that “ritual abuse cults/
groups were both intergenerational and extra-familial,” child victims
were forced to take vows of secrecy, “programming triggers were put in
victims when they were children, children were given “mind-control
programming using hypnosis, mind-altering drugging, and the
implantation of trigger messages to prevent them from disclosing their
ritual abuse ordeals,” children were tortured repeatedly with “pain,
deprivation, death threats, harassment, and intimidation,” victims
discussed the money earned by ritual abuse torturers from videoing or
filming the violence, forced prostitution and drug trafficking of
victims, that active cult members were continuing to harm and threaten
adult victims in many ways to stay quiet, mostly with death threats if
they disclose ritual abuse occurrences and that perpetrators worked in
organized ways to discount victim accounts of ritual abuse-torture[3].
Research
The research on ritual abuse-torture was started by two women from
Nova Scotia, Canada, Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald. They began
their work with ritual abuse-torture victims in 1993[4]. In 1998, they
began working on what they call “kitchen table” research with female
survivors of ritual abuse-torture[4].
Sarson and McDonald have also published other works more recently in
the field. [5] They have made several presentations at the United
Nations, including the “Torture of Canadian Women by Non-State Actors
in the Private Sphere: A Shadow Report” made in March 2008. The report
included women’s testimonies of different forms of torture as well as
reproductive tortures.[6] Additional research by Sarson and MacDonald
included the publication of case studies that identified ten issues of
violence that were part of a pattern of group RAT victimization,
finding that this victimization happened in infancy or slightly later.
[7]
References
1. Persons against ritual abuse http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/
2. Ritual abuse torture definitions http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/definitions.htm
3. Ritual abuse torture research http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/research.htm
4. Ritual abuse torture biography http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/biography.htm
5. Sarson, J.; McDonald L. (2007). Ritual Abuse-Torture in
Families. in Jackson, N. (ed) (2007). Encyclopedia of Domestic
Violence, p. 704, Routledge.
6. Torture of Canadian Women by Non-State Actors in the Private
Sphere: A Shadow Report http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/ngos/VOWCanada42.pdf
7. Sarson, J. (2008). "Ritual Abuse-Torture Within Families/
Groups," Child Maltreatment, 16, 419-438.
Bibliography
* Sarson, J. & MacDonald, L. (2008). Ritual Abuse-Torture within
Families/Groups. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 16(4),
pp. 419-438. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a903766904~fulltext=713240928
External links
* Persons against ritual abuse http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/
* Defining Torture by Non-State Actors in the Canadian Private
Sphere - from First Light - A Biannual Publication of the Canadian
Centre for Victims of Torture http://www.ccvt.org/pdfs/firstlighwinter2009.pdf
childadvocate
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Hell_Minus_One
copied with permission
Note: This article describes abuse in detail.
Hell Minus One is Anne Johnson Davis’ memoir of her story of being
subjected as a child to satanic ritual abuse. Anne’s story has been
confirmed by physical evidence and by the written and verbal
confessions of her mother and stepfather.
Contents
* 1 History
* 2 Confessions
* 3 Media coverage
* 4 References
* 5 External links
History
Anne was abused from the ages of 3 to 17 sexually abused, tortured and
forced to hurt her siblings in satanic rituals.[1][2][3] At the age of
17, she ran away from home.[1] Anne went public with her story in
1995, during the time a study by the Utah Attorney General's Office on
ritual abuse was taking place.[1][4][2] Anne recovered her memories of
abuse outside of therapy in her 30's.[3] Her mother and stepfather
also agreed to pay for her therapy bills.[4].
Confessions
Both Anne’s mother and stepfather confessed in writing to Matt
Jacobson, Lieutenant, Detective, Utah State Attorney General’s Office
and his partner Mike King, with Jacobson stating “we found the
contents of their confession letters to be true.” [5][1][6][2][4] Her
mother and stepfather also confessed to the leaders of the church they
went to.[2][4] There was also physical evidence that proved that she
was physically abused.[4][3]
Paul Murphy: One woman who came forward to tell about ritual abuse
brought something no one else has - a confession from the
perpetrators. “Jenny” was only three years old when her parents
started sexually abusing her. The bruises in this picture show she was
physically abused as well.”
Jenny: “They would go through these very formal satanic rituals and I
would be abused and tortured and threatened with my life and used as a
sacrifice.”
Paul Murphy: “And most people would be skeptical of Jenny’s story of
satanic ritual abuse, except for one thing - her parents confessed. In
these letters the parents ask for forgiveness and describe the abuse
in detail. Her mother wrote: ‘He cut off your nightclothes and
panties. A dog was hung by the back feet, throat cut and disemboweled
and hind legs cut off. You were hung by your feet after being bound.’
Others have told similar stories, but had no physical proof.”
Paul Murphy: Her father wrote: ’I performed the same sexual acts on
you at home. The sexual acts on you at home. The sexual abuse in our
home was a repeat of the ritual.’
Paul Murphy: “Confessed, and even paid up. The parents settled out of
court to pay Jenny’s therapy bills.”[4]
Her mother and stepfather also wrote letters confessing to each of
their children “confirming everything in explicit detail.”[2]
Media coverage
Anne's story has been discussed in the media several times.[1][2][4][7]
[8] She testified to investigators of the Ritual Abuse Task Force of
the Utah State Attorney General’s Office investigating ritual abuse.
[5][1][6][2][4] The Ritual Abuse Task Force of the Utah State Attorney
General’s Office investigating ritual abuse 59 page report found that
ritual abuse existed in Utah, but it was difficult to prosecute.[4]
“And I’m Kimberly Perkins. The report is final. Ritual abuse exists in
Utah, but its hard to prosecute.”
Randall Carlisle: “After spending three years and $250,000 the
Attorney General’s office has finished its probe into ritual abuse.
Now the 59-page report says investigators found evidence of ritual
abuse, but nothing that can be prosecuted at this time.”
Kimberly Perkins: “The lack of prosecution of such reports does not
mean that the reports are fictitious.”[4]
References
1. Winslow, Ben. Woman revisits the 'Hell' of ritual abuse Deseret
News, Deseret News, 2008-12-10. "From age 3 until she ran away at 17,
she said she was sexually abused, tortured, bathed in blood and forced
to hurt her siblings in Satanic rituals."
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705269563,00.html
2. Spangler, Jerry. "Ritual abuse does exist, victim says", Deseret
News, 1995-04-25. "The confessions offer much greater detail of events
Rachel could not have ever known. Hopkins’ (an alias) parents also
confessed in detail to two investigators from the Utah Attorney
General’s Office and to the leaders of the church they attended."
3. Hell Minus One website http://www.hellminusone.com/
4. Carlisle, Randall, Perkins, Kimberly. Hell Minus One website,
Transcript of ABC News, KTVX Channel 4, Salt Lake City, UT broadcast,
1995-04-25. http://www.hellminusone.com/Links.html
5. Statement of Matt Jacobson Lieutenant, Detective, Utah State
Attorney General’s Office (retired) http://www.johnsondaviscommunications.com/about.htm
6. Foreword for Hell Minus One by Lieutenant Detective Matt
Jacobson Utah Attorney General’s Office (retired) http://www.hellminusone.com/Links.html
7. Park City Television, Mountain Morning Show broadcast 12-12-2008
http://www.hellminusone.com/Links.html
8. Fox 13 News broadcast 12-11-2008 http://www.hellminusone.com/Links.html
External links
* Hell Minus One website http://www.hellminusone.com/
* Anne Johnson Davis’ website - Power through Adversity
http://www.johnsondaviscommunications.com/
childadvocate
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Extreme_Abuse_Surveys
copied with permission
The Extreme Abuse Surveys (EAS) were created to develop a qualitative
and quantitative base of data regarding the accounts of survivors of
extreme abuse [1]. Four researchers from Germany and the United
States, Carol Rutz, Thorsten Becker, Bettina Overcamp and Wanda
Karriker worked together to develop three different surveys to develop
this base of data[1].
Contents
* 1 The Trilogy
* 2 Methodology
* 3 Attacks
* 4 Results
* 5 Background
* 6 References
* 7 External links
* 8 Bibliography
The Trilogy
The international online survey was divided into three parts. The
Extreme Abuse Survey for adult survivors (EAS), was conducted between
January 1 and March 30, 2007. The Professional-Extreme Abuse Survey (P-
EAS) was conducted between April 1 and June 30, 2007. This survey was
for therapists, clergy, counselors and other persons that had worked
professionally with at least one victim of extreme abuse. The Child-
Extreme Abuse Survey (C-EAS) was conducted between July 8 and October
8, 2007. This survey was for caregivers of child survivors of extreme
abuse and mind control.[1]
Methodology
The main objective of the surveys was gather preliminary data on the
nature and extent of extreme abuse. The researchers decided that the
most practical way to generate a large number of responses was to
announce and conduct an online survey. Survey questions were
pretested, and all survey items were confirmed to have face validity.
The target population of the study was defined as all survivors of
extreme abuse[2].
Attacks
On January 2, 2007, the server that had the survey faced an intense
amount of port scans at low and high ports and attempts to access non-
existing server pages. These were carried out on a large scale. This
used an enormous amount of bandwidth. The attacks diminished and after
three weeks almost ended. In early March 2007, there was an attack to
hack into the server, but this failed. Several attempts were also made
to obtain the private data of some technicians and surveyors. The EAS
survey however was successfully completed on March 31, 2007.[2]
Results
Fourteen hundred and seventy-one participants from more than thirty
countries answered at least one question of the EAS. The survey was
given in both German and English. Sixty-four percent of 985
participants reported memories of incest and 48% of 977 participants
reported memories of extreme abuse before they sought therapy. Sixty-
nine percent of 257 respondents that reported secret mind control
experiments on them when they were children also reported that they
were abused in a cult.[2]
Of 1007 participants in the EAS, 65% stated that they had been
diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. Higher percentages were
found in the C-EAS and the P-EAS. High percentages of physical abuse,
sexual abuse from multiple perpetrators and child pornography were
found in all three surveys. In the C-EAS, medical evidence consistent
with extreme abuse was found in 53% of 80 respondents, psychological
symptoms consistent with extreme abuse were found in 91% of the 88
respondents and the symptoms abated when the child was able to tell
about the abuse in 78 respondents[1].
Background
Wanda Karriker is a retired psychologist in the United States. She was
interviewed on Court TV as an expert in Extreme Abuse. She wrote about
the after-effects of extreme abuse in her novel “ Morning, Come
Quickly.” Carol Rutz is a healed extreme abuse/mind control survivor
in the United States. She wrote “A Nation Betrayed: The Chilling True
Story of Secret Cold War Experiments Performed on Our Children and
Other Innocent People (2001). Thorsten Becker is a social worker and
freelance supervisor in Germany. He served as a case consultant in
several suspected cult-related cases in Europe. In 1994, he received
the “German Child Protection Award” for his team’s work with severely
abused children.[1]
References
1. Becker, T; Karriker W; Overkamp B; Rutz, C (2008). “The extreme
abuse surveys: Preliminary findings regarding dissociative identity
disorder”, Forensic aspects of dissociative identity disorder. London:
Karnac Books, 32-49. ISBN 1-855-75596-3
http://books.google.com/books?id=upHtL9lual0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s
2. Rutz, C. Becker, T., Overkamp, B. & Karriker, W. (2008).
Exploring Commonalities Reported by Adult Survivors of Extreme Abuse:
Preliminary Empirical Findings. In Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-first
Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social and Political Considerations,
J.R. Noblitt & P. S. Perskin (Eds), pp. 31- 84. Bandon, Oregon: Robert
D. Reed Publishers.
External links
* Extreme Abuse Survey http://extreme-abuse-survey.net/
* Karriker, Wanda (November, 2007). "Helpful healing methods: As
rated by approximately 900 respondents to the "International Survey
for Adult Survivors of Extreme Abuse (EAS)."
http://www.endritualabuse.org/Karriker%20ISSTD%20Paper%20November%2012,%202007.pdf
* MEDIA PACKET - Torture-based, Government-sponsored Mind Control
Experimentation on Children http://my.dmci.net/~casey/GovernmentSponsoredMindControlExperiments-MediaPacket.pdf
* Extreme Abuse Survey Research http://ritualabuse.us/mindcontrol/eas-studies/
* Preliminary data from the 2007 series of Extreme Abuse Surveys.
Karriker, W. (2008, September). In Torture-based mind control:
Empirical research, programmer methods, effects and treatment
http://ritualabuse.us/mindcontrol/eas-studies/torture-based-mind-control-as-a-global-phenomenon/
* Understanding ritual trauma: A comparison of findings from three
online surveys
http://ritualabuse.us/mindcontrol/eas-studies/understanding-ritual-trauma-a-comparison-of-findings-from-three-online-surveys/
Bibliography
* Becker, T. (2008). "Organisierte und rituelle
Gewalt" ("Organized and Ritual Violence"). In Fliß CM & Igney C:
Handbuch Trauma & Dissoziation. Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers.
* Becker, T. (2008). Re-Searching for New Perspectives: Ritual
Abuse/Ritual Violence as Ideologically Motivated Crime. In Ritual
Abuse in the Twenty-first Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social and
Political Considerations, J.R. Noblitt & P. S. Perskin (Eds), pp.
237-260. Bandon, Oregon: Robert D. Reed Publishers.
* Becker T. & Woywodt, U. (2007). Ritueller Mißbrauch:
Auswirkungen der Arbeit auf die Beraterinnen und die Beratung. In:
Wildwasser e.V.:Sexuelle Gewalt - Aktuelle Beitraege aus Theorie und
Praxis. Berlin: Selbstverlag. (Ritual Abuse: Consequences of working
[in this field] on counsellors and counselling)
* Becker, Thorsten (2008). Rituelle Gewalt in Deutschland. (Ritual
Violence in Germany). In: Froehling Ulla: Vater unser in der Hoelle.
Bergisch-Gladbach: Lübbe
* Karriker, Wanda (2003). Morning, Come Quickly. Catawba, NC:
Sandime, LTD. ISBN 0-9717171-0-9.
* Rutz, Carol (2001). A Nation Betrayed. Grass Lake, MI: Fidelity
Publishing. ISBN 0-9710102-0-X.
childadvocate
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Dissociative_Identity_Disorder
copied with permission
Dissociative identity disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality
Disorder or MPD) is defined in the DSM-IV-TR as the presence of two or
more personality states or distinct identities that repeatedly take
control of one’s behavior. The patient has an inability to recall
personal information. The extent of this lack of recall is too great
to be explained by normal forgetfulness. The disorder cannot be due to
the direct physical effects of a general medical condition or
substance.[1]
DID entails a failure to integrate certain aspects of memory,
consciousness and identity. Patients experience frequent gaps in their
memory for their personal history, past and present. Patients with DID
report having severe physical and sexual abuse, especially during
childhood. The reports of patients with DID are often validated by
objective evidence.[1]
Physical evidence may include variations in physiological functions in
different identity states, including differences in vision, levels of
pain tolerance, symptoms of asthma, the response of blood glucose to
insulin and sensitivity to allergens. Other physical findings may
include scars from physical abuse or self-inflicted injuries,
headaches or migraines, asthma and irritable bowel syndrome.[1]
DID is found in a variety of cultures around the world. It is
diagnosed three to nine times more often in adult females than males.
Females average 15 or more identities, males eight identities. The
sharp rise in the reported cases of DID in the U.S. may be due the
greater awareness of DID’s diagnosis, which has caused an increased
identification of those that were previously undiagnosed.[1]
The average time period from DID’s first presentation of symptoms to
its diagnosis is six to seven years. DID may become less manifest as
patients reach past their late 40’s, but it can reemerge during
stress, trauma or substance abuse. It is suggested in several studies
that DID is more likely to occur with first-degree biological
relatives of people that already have DID, than in the regular
population.[1]
Contents
* 1 Symptomology
* 2 Causes
* 3 DSM inclusion
* 4 History
* 5 Physiological Evidence
* 6 References
* 7 Bibliography
* 8 External links
Symptomology
Individuals diagnosed with DID demonstrate a variety of symptoms with
wide fluctuations across time; functioning can vary from severe
impairment in daily functioning to normal or high abilities.[2]
Patients may experience an extremely broad array of other symptoms
that resemble epilepsy, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, mood
disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, and
eating disorders.[2]
Causes
The causes of dissociative identity disorder are theoretically linked
with the interaction of overwhelming stress, traumatic antecedents,[3]
insufficient childhood nurturing, and an innate ability to dissociate
memories or experiences from consciousness.[2] Prolonged child abuse
is frequently a factor, with a very high percentage of patients
reporting documented abuse[4] often confirmed by objective evidence.
[1] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders states
that patients with DID often report having a history of severe
physical and sexual abuse. The reports of patients suffering from DID
are "often confirmed by objective evidence," and the DSM notes that
the abusers in those situations may be inclined to "deny or distort”
these acts.[1] Research has consistently shown that DID is
characterized by reports of extensive childhood trauma, usually child
abuse.[5][6][7] Dissociation is recognized as a symptomatic
presentation in response to psychological trauma, extreme emotional
stress, and in association with emotional dysregulation and borderline
personality disorder.[8] A study of 12 murderers established the
connection between early severe abuse and DID[9].
DSM inclusion
DID meets all of the guidelines for inclusion in the DSM and is
supported by taxometric research.[10] Research has established DID as
a valid diagnosis.[10] In one study, DID was found to be a genuine
disorder with a constant set of core features.[11]
History
The 19th century saw a number of reported cases of multiple
personalities which Rieber estimated would be close to 100.[12]
By the late 19th century there was a general realization that
emotionally traumatic experiences could cause long-term disorders
which may manifest with a variety of symptoms.[13] Between 1880 and
1920, many great international medical conferences devoted a lot of
time to sessions on dissociation.[14]
Starting in about 1927, there was a large increase in the number of
reported cases of schizophrenia, which was matched by an equally large
decrease in the number of multiple personality reports.[14] Bleuler
also included multiple personality in his category of schizophrenia.
It was found in the 1980s that MPD patients are often misdiagnosed as
suffering from schizophrenia.[14] Multiple personality disorder began
to emerge as a separate disorder in the 1970s when an initially small
number of clinicians worked to re-establish MPD as a legitimate
diagnosis.[14]
Physiological Evidence
Physiological evidence has provided additional evidence to back the
existence of DID. One review of the literature found "physiologic and
ocular differences across alter personalities." [15]. Additional
studies have been found showing optical differences in DID cases.[16]
[17] One study found that "eight of the nine MPD subjects consistently
manifested physiologically distinct alter personality states."[18].
Other reviews have found additional physiological differences[19].
Brain mapping has also found physiological differences in alternate
personalities[20]. A variety of psychiatric rating scales found that
multiple personality is strongly related to childhood trauma rather
than to an underlying electrophysiological dysfunction[21].
References
1. American Psychiatric Association (2000-06).Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV TR (Text Revision).
Arlington, VA, USA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc..
http://books.google.com/books?id=3SQrtpnHb9MC&pg=PA527&lpg=PA535&sig=25ML_7zbvvLZl6ySYCF4DomqeRU
DOI:10.1176/appi.books.9780890423349. ISBN 978-0890420249.
2. Dissociative Identity Disorder, doctor's reference. Merck.com
(2005-11-01). http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec15/ch197/ch197e.html
3. Pearson, M.L. (1997). Childhood trauma, adult trauma, and
dissociation (PDF). Dissociation 10 (1): 58–62
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1837/Diss_10_1_9_OCR.pdf;jsessionid=A72D0913DBBF1F96D30FD98B1D8805E1?sequence=1
4. Kluft, RP (2003). site may have a virus - use caution Current
Issues in Dissociative Identity Disorder (PDF). Bridging Eastern and
Western Psychiatry 1 (1): 71–87. http://www.psyter.org/allegati/180/Kluft.pdf
5. Putnam FW, Guroff JJ, Silberman EK, Barban L, Post RM (June
1986). "The clinical phenomenology of multiple personality disorder:
review of 100 recent cases". J Clin Psychiatry 47 (6): 285–93. PMID
3711025. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3711025?dopt=Abstract
6. Ross CA, Miller SD, Bjornson L, Reagor P, Fraser GA, Anderson G
(March 1991). "Abuse histories in 102 cases of multiple personality
disorder". Can J Psychiatry 36 (2): 97–101. PMID 2044042."The patients
reported high rates of childhood trauma: 90.2% had been sexually
abused, 82.4% physically abused, and 95.1% subjected to one or both
forms of child abuse....Multiple personality disorder appears to be a
response to chronic trauma originating during a vulnerable period in
childhood." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2044042?dopt=Abstract
7. Boon S, Draijer N (March 1993). Multiple personality disorder
in The Netherlands: a clinical investigation of 71 patients. Am J
Psychiatry 150 (3): 489–94. PMID 8434668."A history of childhood
physical and/or sexual abuse was reported by 94.4% of the subjects,
and 80.6% met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder....Patients
with multiple personality disorder have a stable set of core symptoms
throughout North America as well as in Europe."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8434668?dopt=Abstract
8. Marmer S, Fink D (1994). "Rethinking the comparison of
Borderline Personality Disorder and multiple personality disorder".
Psychiatr Clin North Am 17 (4): 743–71. PMID 7877901.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7877901?dopt=Abstract
9. Lewis, D., Yeager, C., Swica, Y., Pincus, J. and Lewis, M.
(1997). Objective documentation of child abuse and dissociation in 12
murderers with dissociative identity disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 154
(12):1703-10. "Signs and symptoms of dissociative identity disorder in
childhood and adulthood were corroborated independently and from
several sources in all 12 cases; objective evidence of severe abuse
was obtained in 11 cases. The subjects had amnesia for most of the
abuse and underreported it. Marked changes in writing style and/or
signatures were documented in 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study
establishes, once and for all, the linkage between early severe abuse
and dissociative identity disorder."
10. Gleaves, D.H.; May MC, Cardeña E (2001) An examination of the
diagnostic validity of dissociative identity disorder. 21(4) 577-608
http://leadershipcouncil.org/docs/gleaves2001.pdf
11. Ross, C.; Norton, G. & Fraser, G. (1989). Evidence against the
iatrogenesis of multiple personality disorder (PDF). Dissociation 2
(2): 61–65.
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1424/Diss_2_2_2_OCR.pdf?sequence=1
12. Rieber RW (2002). "The duality of the brain and the
multiplicity of minds: can you have it both ways?". History of
psychiatry 13 (49 Pt 1): 3–17. DOI:10.1177/0957154X0201304901. PMID
12094818. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12094818?dopt=Abstract
13. Borch-Jacobsen M, Brick D (2000). "How to predict the past:
from trauma to repression". History of Psychiatry 11: 15–35. DOI:
10.1177/0957154X0001104102.
14. Putnam, Frank W. (1989). Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple
Personality Disorder. New York: The Guilford Press, 351. ISBN
0-89862-177-1.
15 Birnbaum MH, Thomann K. Visual function in multiple personality
disorder. J Am Optom Assoc. 1996 Jun;67(6):327-34 "BACKGROUND:
Multiple personality disorder (MPD) is characterized by the existence
of two or more personality states that recurrently exchange control
over the behavior of the individual. Numerous reports indicate
physiological differences, including significant differences in ocular
and visual function, across alter personality states in MPD. METHODS:
The existing literature was reviewed to provide an overview of the
nature and characteristics of MPD, with emphasis on reported
physiologic and ocular differences across alter personalities. In
addition, a case is reported of an MPD patient seen over a 3-year
period. RESULTS: Physiologic differences across alter personality
states in MPD include differences in dominant handedness, response to
the same medication, allergic sensitivities, autonomic and endocrine
function, EEG, VEP, and regional cerebral blood flow. Differences in
visual function include variability in visual acuity, refraction,
oculomotor status, visual field, color vision, corneal curvature,
pupil size, and intraocular pressure in the various personality states
of MPD subjects as compared to single personality controls.
CONCLUSIONS: The possibility of MPDs should be considered in patients
who demonstrate unusual variability in ocular and visual findings,
particularly with a positive psychiatric history. The existence of
visual and other physiologic differences across alter personalities in
MPD offers a unique potential for the study of mind-body
relationships." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8888853
16 Miller SD. Optical differences in cases of multiple personality
disorder. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1989 Aug;177(8):480-6 "MPD subjects had
significantly more variability in visual functioning across alter
personalities than did control subjects." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2760599
17 Miller SD, Blackburn T, Scholes G, White GL, Mamalis N. Optical
differences in multiple personality disorder. A second look. J Nerv
Ment Dis. 1991 Mar;179(3):132-5. "In the present study, data from 20
patients diagnosed with MPD and 20 control subjects role playing MPD
were analyzed for statistical and clinical significance. The findings
from the present study appear to confirm results from the earlier
study that individuals with MPD experience differences in some aspects
of visual functioning between alter personalities. The results further
confirm that MPD subjects experience more differences across visual
measures than control subjects simulating the disorder."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1997659
18 Putnam FW, Zahn TP, Post RM. Psychiatry Res. 1990 Mar;31(3):
251-60.Differential autonomic nervous system activity in multiple
personality disorder. "Numerous clinical reports suggest that these
alter personality states exhibit distinct physiological differences.
We investigated differential autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity
across nine subjects with MPD and five controls, who produced "alter"
personality states by simulation and by hypnosis or deep relaxation.
Eight of the nine MPD subjects consistently manifested physiologically
distinct alter personality states." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2333357
19 Miller SD, Triggiano PJ. The psychophysiological investigation of
multiple personality disorder: review and update. Am J Clin Hypn. 1992
Jul;35(1):47-61. "psychophysiologic differences reported in the
literature include changes in cerebral electrical activity, cerebral
blood flow, galvanic skin response, skin temperature, event-related
potentials, neuroendocrine profiles, thyroid function, response to
medication, perception, visual functioning, visual evoked potentials,
and in voice, posture, and motor behavior." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1442640
20 Hughes JR, Kuhlman DT, Fichtner CG, Gruenfeld MJ. Brain mapping
in a case of multiple personality. Clin Electroencephalogr. 1990 Oct;21
(4):200-9. "Brain maps were recorded on a patient with a multiple
personality disorder (10 alternate personalities). Maps were recorded
with eyes open and eyes closed during 2 different sessions, 2 months
apart. Maps from each alternate personality were compared to those of
the basic personality "S", some maps were similar and some were
different, especially with eyes open. Findings that were replicated in
the second session showed differences from 4 personalities, especially
in theta and beta 2 frequencies on the left temporal and right
posterior regions." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2225470
21 Coons PM, Bowman ES, Milstein V. Multiple personality disorder. A
clinical investigation of 50 cases. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1988 Sep;176(9):
519-27. "50 consecutive patients with DSM-III multiple personality
disorder were assessed using clinical history, psychiatric interview,
neurological examination, electroencephalogram, MMPI, intelligence
testing, and a variety of psychiatric rating scales. Results revealed
that patients with multiple personality are usually women who present
with depression, suicide attempts, repeated amnesic episodes, and a
history of childhood trauma, particularly sexual abuse....These data
suggest that the etiology of multiple personality is strongly related
to childhood trauma rather than to an underlying electrophysiological
dysfunction." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3418321
Bibliography
* Baer, Richard A. (2007). Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing
Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities. [New York]: Crown.
ISBN 0307382664.
* Braun, B.G. (1989). Dissociation: Vol. 2, No. 2, p. 066-069:
Iatrophilia and Iatrophobia in the diagnosis and treatment of MPD
(PDF). https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1425/Diss_2_2_3_OCR.pdf?sequence=1
* Brown, D; Frischholz E, Scheflin A. (1999). "Iatrogenic
dissociative identity disorder - an evaluation of the scientific
evidence". The Journal of Psychiatry and Law XXVII No. 3-4 (Fall-
Winter 1999): 549–637.
* Gleaves, D. (July 1996). The sociocognitive model of
dissociative identity disorder: a reexamination of the evidence.
Psychological Bulletin 120 (1): 42–59. DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.120.1.42.
PMID 8711016. "Most recent research on the dissociative disorders does
not support (and in fact disconfirms) the sociocognitive model, and
many inferences drawn from previous research appear unwarranted. No
reason exists to doubt the connection between DID and childhood
trauma. Treatment recommendations that follow from the sociocognitive
model may be harmful because they involve ignoring the posttraumatic
symptomatology of persons with DID."
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=1996-01403-003
* Goettmann, B. A.; Greaves, B. G., Coons M. P. (1994).Multiple
personality and dissociation, 1791-1992: a complete bibliography.
Lutherville, MD: The Sidran Press, 85. ISBN 0-9629164-5-5.
http://boundless.uoregon.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/diss&CISOPTR=38
* Kluft, R.P. (1989). Iatrogenic creation of new alter
personalities (PDF). Dissociation 2 (2): 83–91.
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1428/Diss_2_2_6_OCR.pdf?sequence=1
* Underwood, Anne. Identity Crisis - What is it like to live with
17 alternate selves? A survivor of multiple personality disorder
discusses the disease and the painful integration process that made
her whole. Newsweek, October 22, 2007. http://www.newsweek.com/id/57861
External links
* International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation
http://www.isst-d.org/
* United States of Tara - Learn More About D.I.D. - Showtime
supports the awareness for Dissociative Identity Disorder
http://www.sho.com/site/video/brightcove/series/title.do?bcpid=1847322218&bclid=5253538001&bctid=6803420001
krp
"freedom" <about...@aboutISkenApangbornFRAUD.com> wrote in message
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>DAVEY DIPSHIT - you KNOW that wasn't Greg Hanson. YOU ARE A LIAR!'
>
> The quote in question indeed attributes to Greg. A court of law found
> this
> to be true.
As you KNOW - a court in Pennsylvania found that to be true about A
Gregory Hanson there. THIS Greg Hanson lives in IOWA. You KNOW that, and you
LIE your ass off, Moore. It is your signature in life.