Bibliography

Repressed or false memory

Davies, G; Dalgleish, T (eds).
Recovered memories: seeking the middle ground.
New York: John Wiley, 2001, 276p.

Included in this book are the following chapters covering the topic of recovered or repressed memory: 1. Socio-historical perspective by Tim Dalgleish and Nicola Morant. 2. Recovered memories: effects upon the family and community by Gisli H. Gudjonsson. 3. Recovered memories of abuse: effects on the individual by Adrian E.G. Skinner. 4. Recovered memories: the legal dilemmas by Eilis Magner and Patrick Parkinson. 5. The recovered memories controversy: where do we go from here? by D. Stephen Lindsay and J. Don Read. 6. Discovering fact and fiction: case-based analyses of authentic and fabricated discovered memories of abuse by Katharine K. Shobe and Jonathan W. Schooler. 7. Is it possible to discriminate true from false memories? by Graham M. Davies. 8. Therapeutic techniques, therapeutic contexts and memory by D.A. Bekerian and M.H. O'Neill. 9. Recovered memories in therapy: clinicians' beliefs and practices by Bernice Andrews. 10. Establishing practice-based guidelines for therapists by Noelle Robertson. 11. Psychogenic amnesias: functional memory loss by Michael Kopelman and John Morton. 12. Memories of abuse and alien abduction: close encounters of a therapeutic kind by M. J. Power.

Davis, Joseph E.
Memory wars.
In: Davis, Joseph E.
Accounts of innocence: sexual abuse, trauma, and the self.
Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago Press, c2005, pp 219-243.

In this chapter the author explores how the moral logic that infused the definition of the sexual abuse victim and the psychology of victim trauma has had unintended and unfortunate consequences. Some of these consequences bear on the specific issue of 'false memories'.

McKone, Elinor.
Distinguishing true from false memories via lexical decision as a perceptual implicit test.
Australian Journal of Psychology v.56 no.1 May 2004: 42-49, tables

Studying a list of associated words (holiday, beach, sun, etc.) produces true memory for on-list items (beach), but also false memory for a nonpresented lure (vacation). The author suggests that, because only the true item has been physically presented, true and false memories should be distinguishable if the retrieval task accesses purely perceptual information. This is supported using lexical decision as a perceptual implicit test: at a 3-10 min delay, repetition priming was found for physically-presented targets, but there was no semantic priming for lures. This was despite strong false memories for lures in explicit recognition. Given previous findings of lure priming in stem-completion, the author argues that to avoid false memories the task must be perceptual, implicit, and produce fast responses. (Journal abstract)

Available from: Australian Psychological Society, PO Box 38, Flinders Lane PO, Melbourne Vic 8009. Internet http://www.psychsociety.com.au/. Subscription: Taylor and Francis Ltd

Magner, E S.
An alternative view: recovered memories and the Australian Courts.
Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis v.28 no.1 May 2000: 30-41

In this critical analysis of the themes, context and undertone of Cam Perry's paper Vicissitudes of Memory: Falsification and False Memory Syndrome (Quadrant v.52 no.10 Oct 1998), this article discusses the following issues: law and sexual abuse; memory, suppression, repression and dissociation; the ethics of therapy; legal questions, including statutes of limitation, admitting testimony after therapy, admitting expert testimony, incidence of burden of proof, warnings required and appellate and prosecutorial powers; and disclosure obligations. It is argued that Perry's paper identifies some real problems but is based exclusively on a very limited view of American law. The situation in Australian courts is considered.

Sanderson, Christiane.
Working with child sexual abuse and memory.
In: Sanderson, Christiane.
Counselling adult survivors of child sexual abuse.
3rd ed.
London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2006, pp 206-267.

This chapter examines the controversy surrounding recalled memory and child sexual abuse. Most of the controversy has been focused on the accuracy of memory recall and whether it is possible to forget childhood events and then recover them later in life. Some processionals believe that memory, especially of trauma, is fallible and that memories can become inaccessible to recall. While others believe that recovered memories are false and are planted by unscrupulous therapists.

Sinclair, K.
Responding to abuse: a matter of perspective.
ISA Journal (Incest Survivors Association) Dec 1997: 23-49 (alternate pages), tables

This article attempts to highlight how people accused of the abuse of children are able to sway public opinion, just as public opinion was swayed because of media coverage in these cases. The author focuses on the most common form of reports in the media, usually those of child sexual abuse, where the views of those accused or suspected of abuse are portrayed. This article connects media reports about sexual abuse, false accusations of abuse and false memory with a counter movement to the child protection movement, commonly known as the the backlash.

Available from: Incest Survivors' Association, PO Box 8311, Perth Business Centre, Perth WA 6849

South Australia. Women's Health Statewide.
Childhood sexual abuse: annotated bibliography for workers.
North Adelaide, SA: Women's Health Statewide, 2006, 58p, Online (336K)
http://www.whs.sa.gov.au/pub/Worker_Bibliography_2006.pdf

This bibliography was developed to improve access by workers to resources beneficial to working with women who had been subjected to childhood sexual abuse. Inclusion of articles and resources within the Bibliography is based on feminist principles requiring that resources be non-pathologising, respectful to women, and address power and gender issues. Items are listed with annotations under the following headings: practice implications (therapeutic approaches, legal system, disclosure, vicarious traumatisation, community development/prevention programs); dominant social discourses (mother blame, forgiveness, false memory debate, masculinities); abuse sub-groups (institutional, ritual, sibling, men and boys, Indigenous, CALD background, elderly, disabled); perpetrators (tactics, female perperators, treatment/therapy of offenders); effects (self harm and disordered eating, mental health, medical/dental examinations, maternal health and wellbeing, intimate relationships, traumatic memory amd somatisation); resilience and coping; other (websites and miscellaneous).

Available from: Women's Health Statewide http://www.whs.sa.gov.au/

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