Why the BFMS?

Why Now?

Over the past few years reports have increased about the dangers of recovered memory therapy leading to false memories of sexual abuse. Many mental health and welfare workers have become alarmed, because they have grown used to dealing with the aftermath of child sexual abuse in a sympathetic non-judgmental way. Treatment programmes have often included talking about the abusive experiences, including exercises designed to improve recall. These methods are recommended in textbooks as a way of coming to terms with and overcoming the effects of sexual abuse, and may form a core programme of individual and group therapy. This poses an acute ethical dilemma for professionals. On the one hand they fear aggravating suffering by failing to detect and treat victims, and risk the possibility of serious criminal offences going unchecked, and on the other hand they may be unwittingly encouraging people to believe in the reality of non-existent trauma - in the process causing suffering to innocent accused people, including implicating them in criminal proceedings.

This website is designed to address some of these problems by giving accurate information about the reliability of recovered memory, and the danger of false memories. It is not an attempt to deny the reality of the harm caused by child sexual abuse, or the need for allegations to be fully investigated. On the contrary, it is only by having accurate information that victims' needs can be met, and the perpetrators brought to justice. It should be read in conjunction with the "Brandon Report", the report of the Working Party of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which provides the most up-to-date authoritative review of recovered memory. Key extracts from the report can be viewed here, or downloaded for reading and reference off-line.

When did the problem of false memory begin?

The widespread use of recovered memory beliefs and techniques among therapists took off around 1990 in Britain. The British False Memory Society was formed in 1993 following reports by accused parents. Most of these families told a similar story of a well-educated adult daughter in her late twenties or early thirties suddenly making accusations of severe childhood sexual abuse after undergoing therapy. A similar pattern had emerged in the United States and throughout the English-speaking world. A key influence was the self-help book The Courage to Heal, published in 1988 in the United States and 1990 in Britain which encouraged people to believe that psychological problems were caused by unconscious memories of incest in childhood. Other self-help books and recovered memory survivor narratives fuelled belief. Television documentaries, films and chat shows reinforced popular belief in recovered memory. However, since recovered memory techniques have been used by some therapists and counsellors since the early 1980's or before, it is likely that some cases pre-dated this. In Louise Armstrong's 1978 compilation of first person incest histories, Kiss Daddy Goodnight, both Louise Armstrong and her main protagonist throughout the book were 'recovered memory' survivors. It is therefore likely that the incest survivor movement was unwittingly promoting 'false memory' histories in addition to genuine histories twenty years ago. If distorted and inaccurate information was being fed into the system at this time unchecked, then it is likely that the angle of distortion became wider as the years progressed.

Are only adults at risk?

The bulk of the claims after therapy were made by adults. But teenagers were also prone to making false allegations which thrived on encouragement. More recently, teenagers being treated for eating disorders appear prone to making false reports. Young children under pressure of repeated questioning and suggestion may come to believe abuse which did not happen, especially if asked to partake in symbolic play therapy.

What type of professionals are most at risk of creating or encouraging false memory?

The creation of false memory is strongly correlated with therapists who take a special interest in sexual abuse discovery and treatment. Some therapists take the view that sexual abuse underlies a multitude of social and psychological problems. They are inclined to interpret unhappiness as an indication of sexual abuse and because they are adept at 'reading between the lines' subtly convey their own belief to their clients. For this group of therapists, sexual abuse is a theory of meaning. A number of these therapists may claim to be recovered memory survivors themselves either as a prelude to being a therapist in the field, or as a consequence. Unfortunately, many of the books recommended in training for sexual abuse therapy recommended recovered memory techniques whether abuse was known or suspected. Many of the histories of abuse which act as a template for therapists' expectations are recovered memory histories. Consequently there is a real danger that therapists may operate according to false stereotypes of abuse when interviewing clients and their expectations may act as a subtle form of suggestion.

Is it credible that people would believe horrific abuse if it were not true?

The emotional dynamics of recovered memory are powerful forces which can give people a sense of meaning in life, however grotesque and unreal the beliefs. The belief in the abuse acts as a channel for pent-up emotional energy and this cathartic force may result in people feeling more alive. There are similarities with mediaeval mystics who experienced religious ecstasy through identifying with the passion story of Christ. Imagining the pain of the crucifixion, with the help of fasting and flagellation, would create a sense of heightened reality, which would reinforce faith. More recently, the Salem witch trials indicated the power of a collective delusion. The 'spectral' evidence of dreams, visions and hallucinations tendered in these and other witch trials of the 17th century was remarkably similar to recovered memory.

Has recovered memory formed the basis of criminal prosecutions?

People have been brought to trial on the basis of unreliable recovered memories and in some cases convicted. Many more have been prosecuted and have been acquitted. The criminal justice system treats these claims as delayed reports and there is no time limit for prosecuting alleged sexual abuse. Of course it is right that sexual abuse claims should be reported and investigated and where the evidence is sufficient, suspects should be charged. However, there are a disturbing number of cases which are not adequately investigated and where the evidence is unreliable. Sometimes the evidence of recovered memory is concealed and only emerges once the accused has been committed for trial. Thorough and informed investigation at an early stage could avoid the subsequent distress to all parties, the waste of public money, and the danger of wrongful conviction.

How can false memory be detected?

False memories may be created while the client is under a particular therapist, or they may already be in place when the client is first seen. Check out the source of abuse allegations by asking the client when s/he first told anybody and if there was a time when s/he did not remember being abused. Inviting doubt does not mean undermining support. While false memory victims are usually resilient to any questioning of the veracity of their memories, sometimes what they need is non-judgmental support with the opportunity to explore a defective process of reasoning. The genuine victim will not be upset by being asked questions because s/he is secure in the knowledge of what has happened.

How do you combat the problem?

Agencies should audit their services to find out whether recovered memory beliefs are held and techniques are operative. Training services should be reviewed. Supervisors' beliefs should be checked, to ensure that the supervision process is a safeguard rather than a reinforcement. In individual cases, false memories may whither if attention is diverted away from the subject of memory recovery and sexual abuse. The experience of falsely believing and accusing is a traumatic process with far-reaching consequences. Meeting other family members, including the accused, may help clarify the problem.

What are the legal implications of false memory?

The scientific evidence pointing to the danger of recovered memory therapy in creating false memory is now overwhelming. Victims of the process include clients, the wrongly accused, and therapists who have been wrongly informed. The damage caused may be long lasting and irreparable. There is a real danger that therapists and agencies espousing recovered memory beliefs and using memory recovery techniques will be sued for negligence. Successful actions have already been brought in the USA. Successful remedial action depends on routing the underlying belief system of recovered memory. Outlawing memory enhancement techniques will not it itself solve the problem, because a belief in recovered memory is a sufficient condition for the problem of false memory to develop. There is the possibility of actions by therapists and employees against supervisors, trainers and employers if they have been given false information and trained to use dangerous methods.