agency blames Casey Anthony for death, child abuse and ritual abuse newsletter

Fla. agency blames Casey Anthony for daughter’s death
Aug 11, 2011 By Michael Winter, USA TODAY

Nearly a month after Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering her daughter, Florida officials have blamed Caylee Marie’s death on her mother’s failure to protect her, according to a report released today.  The state Department of Children and Families concluded its nearly three-year investigation by declaring that Anthony “failed to protect her child from harm either through her actions or lack of actions, which tragically resulted in the child’s untimely death.”

The report cites three “maltreatments: death, failure to protect and threatened harm. The probe, the agency’s second since abuse allegations first surfaced in August 2008, was not a criminal investigation, a department spokeswoman told the Orlando Sentinel. Although the findings were sent to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, no new charges will be filed.
http://goo.gl/DaJY9

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/08/fla-agency-blames-casey-anthony-for-daughters-death/1 —-

The newest issue of the child abuse and ritual abuse newsletter is now online at:
http://goo.gl/VZnWt
http://ritualabuse.us/2011/08/issue-100-september-2011/

This issue contains information on Casey Anthony,  Irish Catholic clergy abuse,  Sugar Ray Leonard,  Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs convicted in child sexual assault case, US Government Experiments on Americans, dissociative identity disorder, traumatic memory and dissociation and recovered memory in Holocaust survivors.

Survivorship Ritual Abuse webinars – Journaling: Going Beyond the Book

Survivorship Ritual Abuse webinars – Journaling: Going Beyond the Book

Upcoming Webinar:

Saturday, August 27, 2011
noon Pacific Time

Flower
“Journaling: Going Beyond the Book”

Do you have a narrow view of journaling? Are you under the impression that there is only “one right way” to do it? Does the thought of journaling bore you to tears? Is it something you feel you need to do, but you have no idea where or how to start? Come to this Webinar and get some ideas for journaling that go beyond the traditional “book” idea.
Abigail, aka Flower, has done different types of journaling over the years and she would love to share with you some of the different things she has tried. Who knows? Perhaps you will find something that appeals to you!

Flower grew up in a generational SRA cult family, but was unaware of that until much later in life. She is a long time member of Survivorship and has done one other Webinar: How a Non-Artist Uses Art for Healing. She has a strong faith in her Creator and has known Yeshua/Jesus since she was a small child, which is reflected in her healing journey and many of her writings. One of her hobbies is taking photos and combining them with encouraging words.

Her love of writing is reflected in poetry, private journaling, and several blogs. One blog focuses specifically on her thoughts as a survivor and in another, she shares a lot of the artwork she has done as part of her healing journey (including the pieces she shared in her Webinar). In a third one, she is starting to put up her poetry. She also juggles being a wife and home educating mom.

REGISTRATION
Registration closes Thursday evening August 25, 2011

To reserve a space in the webinar, e-mail Shamai at shamai@survivorship.org  and give her this information:

1.Your name
2. The webinar you wish to attend: “Journaling: Going Beyond the Book”
3. Amount and method of payment  (check, PayPal, money order)
4. Your preferred e-mail address (so we can send you instructions)
5. The name you will be using for the webinar. (This does not have to be your real name or your message board screen name.)

You will receive a confirmation email immediately and a guide and instructions after the registration closes

COST
Webinars are on a sliding scale from $50.00 to full scholarship (Please remember to factor in the cost of the telephone call.)

The PayPal button is near the bottom of the page at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html

If you wish to pay by check please send it to: Survivorship, Family Justice Center, 470 27th Street, Oakland, CA 94612.

FUTURE WEBINARS
Saturday, September 17
noon Pacific Time
Memory & Survivors
Presenter: Alikina

Most survivors have questions about their memory processes at some time: ‘is it true, did it happen?’ or ‘why can’t I remember?’, or even ‘why do I keep having intrusive memories?’.  As we heal, we also become aware of times when our memories seem different than how we’ve been lead to believe ‘normal’ memory works.  We feel like we forget too much, or we have nearly perfect memories.  Often questions about memories of abuse are addressed in therapy, groups, books, etc; but questions about the everyday workings of memory, and how abuse may be affecting our brain function, stay unanswered.

This webinar will primarily focus on what current psychological science knows about basic memory processes, as well as issues unique to the survivor community, learning styles and how they affect memory, tricks to assist remembering, and plenty of Q & A time.

Alikina is a survivor of severe abuse and a current grad-school student halfway through her Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling.  She has presented articles and webinars for Survivorship in the past.  She has worked with abuse survivors through community support organizations and been in therapy as both the client and the therapist, and plans to work with abuse and trauma survivors as her career path.

Saturday, October 16
10 am Pacific Time (please note change of time)

Neil Brick
“Educating Others about Ritual Abuse”

Neil Brick is a survivor of ritual abuse. He founded S.M.A.R.T.  ( http://ritualabuse.us ) a ritual abuse educational research resource with a ritual abuse newsletter and annual conferences. He is a member of the Survivorship Board of Directors. He is an advocate for getting the truth about ritual abuse out to the general public.

The webinar focus will be on how survivors can safely empower themselves by getting the truth out about the reality of ritual abuse to other child abuse survivors and the general public. Different ways of reaching the public and the media will be discussed.

PAST WEBINARS
Survivorship members may listen to past webinars in the members’ section.
For information on joining Survivorship, go to http://www.survivorship.org/about/membership.html

Complete details on all our webinars are at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Shamai@survivorship.org

CD recordings now available from the 14th Annual Ritual Abuse Conference

forwarded with permission

Internet conference CD information: http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/

The conference was very successful this year. S.M.A.R.T. wants to thank all those that attended and participated in the conference, including the speakers, cosponsors, volunteers and those in the survivor community that helped us promote the conference.

CDs are now available of the conference speakers. Please print out the form below to order them. Information on ordering is below.

These CDs are educational and not intended as therapy or treatment. Statements made on these CDs are the speaker’s own statements only and don’t necessarily represent the policies or views of conference sponsors, cosponsor, speakers, exhibitors or organizers.

1) Neil Brick – Always Getting Stronger: Giving Survivors a Voice in the World

2) Janet Thomas – Writing Out Loud—The Power of Story to Save Our Lives and Change the World

3) Kristin Constance- Alleged ritual abuse by freemasons and order of the eastern star (co-freemasonry) in Australia.

4) deJoly LaBrier – The Challenges of Recovering From Extreme Abuse

5) Maria – Why I never married.

6) David Shurter – Looking Forward as We Embrace the Past

7) Alexandra – What I have learned so far

8.  Mary Keats – Continuing Hope and Healing

9) Carmen Yana Holiday – The Official Story vs. Reality: Survivors of Extreme Abuse as Whistleblowers

10) Dave – Finding Meaning

11) Neil Brick – The Myth of Panic – Theories Used to Cover Ritual Abuse Crimes

CDs are approximately 60 minutes long. CDs are $12 each.

Shipping and Handling charges on CDs are $1.50 (US) for the first CD, .50 for each additional. Canada $2.00 first CD, .75 each additional, rest of world, $3.00 first CD, $1.00 each additional.

Special price until 9/15/2011- all 11 CDs only $115 US, Canada $125.
This includes shipping and handling.

Normal price shipping and handling: US Price -all CDs – $130, Canada price – all CDs – $135

Please mail form below and checks (US Banks only, please), money orders (US) to
SMART P. O Box 1295, Easthampton, MA 01027-1295 USA E-mail: SMARTNEWS@AOL.COM

Please list all CDs wanted by number. Thank you.

Name:______________________________________________________

Street: ______________________________________________________

City: ____________________________State:____________

Country: ____________________

Zip:__________

E-mail address : (in case we have questions)_________________________

Memory disturbances and dissociative amnesia in Holocaust survivors

The excerpts below are from this website.
http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/scholarly-resources/holocaust/

The following articles provide compelling scientific evidence in support of the phenomena of dissociation and recovered memory in Holocaust survivors. In addition to supporting the phenomenon in general, these articles also counter the argument that recovered memory is (a) no more than a recent cultural “fad” and (b) specific to false accusers of sexual abuse.

DeWind, E. (1968). The confrontation with death. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 302-305. Excerpt: “Most former inmates of Nazi concentration camps could not remember anything of the first days of imprisonment because perception of reality was so overwhelming that it would lead to a mental chaos which implies a certain death.”

Durlacher, G. L. (1991). De zoektocht [The search]. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff.
Dutch sociologist Durlacher, a survivor of Birkenau, describes his search for and meetings with another 20 child survivors from this camp. Excerpt: “Misha…looks helplessly at me and admits hesitantly that the period in the camps is wiped out from his brain….With each question regarding the period between December 12, 1942 till May 7, 1945, he admits while feeling embarrassed that he cannot remember anything.”

Jaffe, R. (1968). Dissociative phenomena in former concentration camp inmates. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49(2), 310-312.
Case descriptions include amnesia for traumatic events and subsequent twilight states in which events would be relived without conscious awareness. Excerpt: “The dissociative phenomena described here turn out not to be rare, once one is on the look out for them.”

Keilson, H. (1992). Sequential traumatization in children. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. Amnesia in Jewish Dutch child survivors for the traumatic separation from their parents.

Krell, R. (1993). Child survivors of the Holocaust: Strategies of adaptation. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 384-389.
Excerpt: “The most pervasive preoccupation of child survivors is the continuing struggle with memory, whether there is too much or too little.”

Krystal, H., & Danieli, Y. (1994, Fall). Holocaust survivor studies in the context of PTSD. PTSD Research Quarterly, 5(4), 1-5.

Kuch, K., & Cox, B. J. (1992). Symptoms of PTSD in 124 survivors of the Holocaust. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 337-340.
Psychogenic amnesia was found in 3.2% of the totals sample, in 3.8 of the general concentration camp survivors, and in 10% of tattooed survivors of Auschwitz. 17.7% (N=22) of the total sample had received psychotherapy. The tattooed survivors had a higher number of PTSD symptoms overall.

Lagnado, L. M., & Dekel, S. C. (1991). Children of the flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the untold story of the twins of Auschwitz. New York: William and Morrow & Co.
Excerpt: “A few of the twins insisted that they had no memories of Auschwitz whatsoever.”

Laub, D., & Auerhahn, N. C. (1989). Failed empathy—A central theme in the survivor’s Holocaust experience. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 6(4), 377-400.
Excerpt: “Holocaust survivors remember their experiences through a prism of fragmentation and usually recount them only in fragments.”

Laub, D., & Auerhahn, N. C. (1993). Knowing and not knowing massive psychic trauma: Forms of traumatic memory. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 74, 287-302.
Excerpt: “Erecting barriers against knowing is often the first response to such trauma. Women in Nazi concentration camps dealt with difficult interrogation by the Gestapo by derealization, by asserting ‘I did not go through it. Somebody else went through the experience.’….Unintegrable memories endure as a split-off part, a cleavage in the ego…When the balance is such that the ego cannot deal with the experience, fragmentation occurs….Simply put, therapy with those impacted by trauma involves, in part, the reinstatement of the relationship between event, memory and personality.”

Marks, J. (1995). The hidden children: The secret survivors of the Holocaust. Toronto: Bantam Books.
Excerpt: “So much of my childhood between the ages of four and nine is blank….It’s almost as if my life was smashed into little pieces….The trouble is, when I try to remember, I come up with so little. This ability to forget was probably my way of surviving emotionally as a child.”

Mazor, A., Ganpel, Y., Enright, R. D., & Ornstein, R. (1990, January). Holocaust survivors: Coping with posttraumatic memories in childhood and 40 years later. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3(1), 11-14.

Modai, I. (1994). Forgetting childhood: A defense mechanism against psychosis in a Holocaust survivor. In T. L. Brink (Ed.), Holocaust survivors’ mental health. New York: Haworth Press.
In a debate about uncovering painful memories of the Holocaust, Modai’s case is of a 58 year old woman who is unable to remember her childhood.

Moskovitz, S., & Krell, R. (1990). Child survivors of the Holocaust: Psychological adaptations to survival. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Services, 27(2), 81-91.
Excerpt: “Whatever the memories, much is repressed as too fearful for recall, or suppressed by well-meaning caretakers wishing the child to forget.”

Musaph, H. (1993). Het post-concentratiekampsyndroom [The post-concentration camp syndrome]. Maandblad Geestelijke volksgezondheid [Dutch Journal of Mental Health], 28(5), 207-217.
Amnesia exists for certain Holocaust experiences, while other experiences are extremely well remembered.

Niederland, W. G. (1968). Clinical observations on the “survivor syndrome.” International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 313-315.
Discusses memory disturbances such as amnesia and hypermnesia.

Stein, A. (1994). Hidden children: Forgotten survivors of the Holocaust. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.
Excerpt: “Over the years I have been trying to re-experience those feelings, but they kept eluding me. I was cut off from most of my memories, and from relieving the anxiety of that time….I remember nothing about the time I spent with those people…not a face, not a voice, not a piece of furniture.”

van Ravesteijn, L. (1976). Gelaagdheid van herinneringen [Layering of memories]. Tijdschrift boor Psychotherapie, 5(1), 195-205.

Wagenaar, W. A., & Groeneweg, J. (1990). The memory of concentration camp survivors. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 4, 77-87.

Abstract: This study is concerned with the question whether extremely emotional experiences, such as being the victim of Nazi concentration camps, leave traces in memory that cannot be extinguished. Relevant data were obtained from testimony by 78 witnesses in a case against Marinus De Rijke, who was accused of Nazi crimes in Camp Erika in The Netherlands. The testimonies were collected in the periods 1943–1947 and 1984–1987. A comparison between these two periods reveals the amount of forgetting that occurred in 40 years. Results show that camp experiences were generally well-remembered, although specific but essential details were forgotten. Among these were forgetting being maltreated, forgetting names and appearance of the torturers, and forgetting being a witness to murder. Apparently intensity of experiences is not a sufficient safeguard against forgetting.”

Wilson, J., Harel, Z., & Kahana, B. (1988). Human adaptation to extreme stress: From the Holocaust to Vietnam. New York: Plenum Press.

Yehuda, R., Elkin, A., Binder-Brynes, K., Kahana, B., Southwick, S. M., Schmeidler, J., & Giller, E. R., Jr. (1996, July). Dissociation in aging Holocaust survivors. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153(7), 935-940.

Yehuda, R., Schmeidler, J., Siever, L. J., Binder-Brynes, K., & Elkin, A. (1997). Individual differences in posttraumatic stress disorder symptom profiles in Holocaust survivors in concentration camps or in hiding. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10, 453-465.
46% of 100 survivors report amnesia on PTSD measures.

http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/scholarly-resources/holocaust/

Traumatic memory: memory disturbances and dissociative amnesia

The following articles provide compelling scientific evidence in support of the phenomena of dissociation and recovered memory.

Included are cases involving survivors of childhood abuse, survivors of the Holocaust, and war veterans.

In addition to supporting the phenomenon in general, these articles also counter the argument that recovered memory is (a) no more than a recent cultural “fad” and (b) specific to false accusers of sexual abuse.

http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/scholarly-resources/traumatic-memory/

excerpts:
Bremner, J. D., Krystal, J. H., Charney, D. S., & Southwick, S. M. (1996). Neural mechanisms in dissociative amnesia for childhood abuse: Relevance to the current controversy surrounding the “false memory syndrome.” The American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 71-82.

….CONCLUSIONS: John Nemiah pointed out several years ago that alterations in memory in the form of dissociative amnesia are an important part of exposure to traumatic stressors, such as childhood abuse. The studies reviewed here show that extreme stress has long-term effects on memory. These findings may provide a model for understanding the mechanisms involved in dissociative amnesia, as well as a rationale for phenomena such as delayed recall of childhood abuse.

….Briere, J., & Conte, J. R. (1993, January). Self-reported amnesia for abuse in adults molested as children. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 6(1), 21-31.

….A sample of 450 adult clinical subjects reporting sexual abuse histories were studied regarding their repression of sexual abuse incidents. A total of 267 subjects (59.3%) identified some period in their lives, before age 18, when they had no memory of their abuse. Variables most predictive of abuse-related amnesia were greater current psychological symptoms, molestation at an early age, extended abuse, and variables reflecting especially violent abuse

….Chu, J. A., Frey, L. M., Ganzel, B. L., & Matthews, J. A. (1999, May). Memories of childhood abuse: Dissociation, amnesia, and corroboration. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 156(5), 749-755.

….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 strongly suggests that psychotherapy usually is not associated with memory recovery and that independent corroboration of recovered memories of abuse is often present.

….DeWind, E. (1968). The confrontation with death. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 302-305.

Excerpt: “Most former inmates of Nazi concentration camps could not remember anything of the first days of imprisonment because perception of reality was so overwhelming that it would lead to a mental chaos which implies a certain death.”

….Durlacher, G. L. (1991). De zoektocht [The search]. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff.

Dutch sociologist Durlacher, a survivor of Birkenau, describes his search for and meetings with another 20 child survivors from this camp. Excerpt: “Misha….looks helplessly at me and admits hesitantly that the period in the camps is wiped out from his brain….With each question regarding the period between December 12, 1942 till May 7, 1945, he admits while feeling embarrassed that he cannot remember anything….Jindra…had to admit that he remembers almost nothing from his years in the camps….From the winter months of 1944 until just before the liberation in April 1945, only two words stayed with him: Dora and Nordhausen

….Elliott, D. M., & Briere, J. (1995, October). Posttraumatic stress associated with delayed recall of sexual abuse: A general population study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8(4), 629-647. (Child Abuse Crisis Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA.)

Abstract: This study examined delayed recall of childhood sexual abuse in a stratified random sample of the general population (N = 505). Of participants who reported a history of sexual abuse, 42% described some period of time when they had less memory of the abuse than they did at the time of data collection. No demographic differences were found between subjects with continuous recall and those who reported delayed recall. However, delayed recall was associated with the use of threats at the time of the abuse.

….Feldman-Summers, S., Pope, K. S. (1994, June). The experience of “forgetting” childhood abuse: A national survey of psychologists. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62(3), 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 (1) both sexual and nonsexual abuse were subject to periods of forgetting; (2) the most frequently reported factor related to recall was being in therapy; (3) approximately one half of those who reported forgetting also reported corroboration of the abuse….

Herman, J. L., & Harvey, M. R. (1997). Adult memories of childhood trauma: a naturalistic clinical study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10(4), 557-571.

Abstract: The clinical evaluations of 77 adult psychiatric 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%).

….Krell, R. (1993). Child survivors of the Holocaust: Strategies of adaptation. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 384-389.

Excerpt: “The most pervasive preoccupation of child survivors is the continuing struggle with memory, whether there is too much or too little….For a child survivor today, an even more vexing problem is the intrusion of fragments of memory—most are emotionally powerful and painful but make no sense. They seem to become more frequent with time and are triggered by thousands of subtle or not so subtle events

….Kuch, K., & Cox, B. J. (1992). Symptoms of PTSD in 124 survivors of the Holocaust. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 337-340.

Potential subjects with confirmed or suspected organicity, bipolar or obsessive compulsive disorder were excluded. One group (N=78) had been detained in various concentration camps for greater than 1 month. A second group (N=20) had been detained in Auschwitz and had been tattooed. A third group (N=45) had not been in labor camps, ghettos, or had hidden in the illegal underground. Psychogenic amnesia was found in 3.2% of the totals sample, in 3.8 of the general concentration camp survivors, and in 10% of tattooed survivors of Auschwitz. 17.7% (N=22) of the total sample had received psychotherapy.

….Loftus, E. F., Polonsky, S., & Fullilove, M. T. (1994, March). Memories of childhood sexual abuse: Remembering and repressing. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18(1), 67-84. (University of Washington, Psychology Department, Seattle, WA.)

Abstract: Women involved in outpatient treatment for substance abuse were interviewed to examine their recollections of childhood sexual abuse. Overall, 54% of the 105 women reported a history of childhood sexual abuse. Of these, the majority (81%) remembered all or part of the abuse their whole lives; 19% reported they forgot the abuse for a period of time, and later the memory returned.

….Melchert, T. P. (1996, October). Childhood memory and a history of different forms of abuse. Professional Psychology: Research & Practice, 27(5), 438-446. (Texas Tech University, Department of Psychology, Lubbock, TX.)

Abstract: A widespread professional and public controversy has recently emerged regarding recovered memories of child sexual abuse, but the prevalence and nature of these memories have received limited empirical examination. This study (N = 553 nonclinical participants) found that very similar proportions of those with histories of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse reported that they had periods without memory of their abuse (21%, 18%, and 18%, respectively).

….Musaph, H. (1993). Het post-concentratiekampsyndroom [The post-concentration camp syndrome]. Maandblad Geestelijke volksgezondheid [Dutch Journal of Mental Health], 28(5), 207-217.

Amnesia exists for certain Holocaust experiences, while other experiences are extremely well remembered.

….van der Hart, O., Bolt, H., & van der Kolk, B. A. (2005). Memory fragmentation in dissociative identity disorder. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 6(1), 55-70. (Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.)

Abstract: This study examined the quality of self-reported memories of traumatic experiences in participants with dissociative identity disorder (DID) and compared them with their memories of non-traumatic, but emotionally significant life experiences. Systematic interview data were gathered from 30 DID patients in The Netherlands. All participants reported a history of severe childhood abuse; 93.3% reported some period of amnesia for the index traumatic event, and 33.3% reported periods of amnesia for significant non-traumatic childhood experiences. All participants who had been amnestic for their trauma reported that their memories were initially retrieved in the form of somatosensory flashbacks. This suggests that, like PTSD patients, DID patients at least initially recall their trauma not as a narrative, but as somatosensory re-experiencing.

….Wagenaar, W. A., & Groeneweg, J. (1990). The memory of concentration camp survivors. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 4, 77-87.

Abstract: This study is concerned with the question whether extremely emotional experiences, such as being the victim of Nazi concentration camps, leave traces in memory that cannot be extinguished. Relevant data were obtained from testimony by 78 witnesses in a case against Marinus De Rijke, who was accused of Nazi crimes in Camp Erika in The Netherlands. The testimonies were collected in the periods 1943–1947 and 1984–1987. A comparison between these two periods reveals the amount of forgetting that occurred in 40 years. Results show that camp experiences were generally well-remembered, although specific but essential details were forgotten. Among these were forgetting being maltreated, forgetting names and appearance of the torturers, and forgetting being a witness to murder.

….Williams, L. M. (1994, December). Recall of childhood trauma: A prospective study of women’s memories of child sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62(6), 1167-1176. (University of New Hampshire, Family Research Lab, Durham, NH.)

Abstract: 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.

….Yehuda, R., Schmeidler, J., Siever, L. J., Binder-Brynes, K., & Elkin, A. (1997). Individual differences in posttraumatic stress disorder symptom profiles in Holocaust survivors in concentration camps or in hiding. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10, 453-465.

46% of 100 survivors report amnesia on PTSD measures.
http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/scholarly-resources/traumatic-memory/

Questions and Answers Regarding Dissociative Amnesia

” Scientific evidence shows that it is not rare for traumatized people to experience amnesia or delayed recall for the trauma.

Amnesia has been reported in combat, for crimes, and for concentration camp experiences and torture. The more severe the trauma, the more likely it is to be forgotten.

Overall, a recovered memory is just as likely to be accurate as a continuously remembered one.”

The sociocognitive model of dissociative identity disorder: a reexamination of the evidence.
” No reason exists to doubt the connection between DID and childhood trauma.”

Questions and Answers Regarding Dissociative Amnesia
by Stephanie Dallam RN, MS, FNP

….there is near-universal scientific acceptance of the fact that the mind is capable of avoiding conscious recall of traumatic experiences.

….Is dissociation a rare phenomenon?
No. Scientific evidence shows that it is not rare for traumatized people to experience amnesia or delayed recall for the trauma. Amnesia has been reported in combat, for crimes, and for concentration camp experiences and torture. Evidence of this process can be found in the early literature on World War I and World War II.

….Carlson, E., & Rosser-Hogan, R. (April, 1993). Mental health status of Cambodian refugees ten years after leaving their homes. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 63 (2), 223-231.

Dissociation is also a frequent finding in survivors extreme terror. Between 1975 and 1979, an estimated one to three million of a population of seven million Cambodians were killed or died of starvation. Carlson, E., & Rosser-Hogan selected 50 subjects at random from a list of all refugees (~500) resettled by nonprofit organization between 1983 and 1985. None had any formal education and had lived in the US for a mean of 5 years. 86% met the criteria for PTSD. The mean number of traumatic experiences the refugees endorsed was 14 and “90% reported amnesia for upsetting events.”

….Krell, R. (1993). Child survivors of the Holocaust: Strategies of adaptation. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 38 , 384-389.

Krell reported on 22 Holocaust survivors who, as children, hid from the Nazis.
“As children they were encouraged not to tell, but to lead normal lives and forget the past . . .”
“The most pervasive preoccupation of child survivors is the continuing struggle with memory, whether there is too much or too little . . .”
“For a child survivor today, an even more vexing problem is the intrusion of fragments of memory – most are emotionally powerful and painful but make no sense. They seem to become more frequent with time and are triggered by thousands of subtle or not so subtle events . . .”

Marks, J. (1995). The hidden children: The secret survivors of the Holocaust. Toronto : Bantam Books.

One holocaust survivor, Ava Landy, describes her amnesia:
“So much of my childhood between the ages of four and nine is blank….It’s almost as if my life was smashed into little pieces . . .
The trouble is, when I try to remember, I come up with so little. This ability to forget was probably my way of surviving emotionally as a child. Even now, whenever anything unpleasant happens to me, I have a mental garbage can in which I can put all the bad stuff and forget it . . . .
I’m still afraid of being hungry. . . . I never leave my house without some food….Again, I don’t remember being hungry. I asked my sister and she said that we were hungry. So I must have been! I just don’t remember.” (p. 188).

What types of traumas result in dissociative amnesia?
A review of 50 studies revealed that amnesia rates tend to increase with severity of trauma and is particularly high in victims of sex crimes….

What is the relation of memory recovery to psychotherapy?
Albach et al. studied 97 adult victims of extreme sexual abuse and a control group of 65 women, matched for age and education who reported on their memories of “ordinary unpleasant childhood experiences.”  The abuse survivors were broken into two groups.  One group had participated in psychotherapy while the other group had not. There was no significant differences in amnesia, memory recovery, or other memory phenomena between the survivors who participated in psychotherapy and those who did not.

…How accurate are recovered memories?
Dalenberg, C. J. (1996). Accuracy, timing and circumstances of disclosure in therapy of recovered and continuous memories of abuse. Journal of Psychiatry & Law,24 (2), 229-75.

Accuracy for Continuous Versus Recovered Memories
Percent with evidence supporting memory
Continuous  75%
Recovered   75%

Conclusion
Scientific evidence shows that it is not rare for traumatized people to experience amnesia or delayed recall for the trauma. Amnesia has been reported in combat, for crimes, and for concentration camp experiences and torture.
The more severe the trauma, the more likely it is to be forgotten.
Overall, a recovered memory is just as likely to be accurate as a continuously remembered one. However, recovered memories have a prominence of emotional and sensory-perceptual elements vs. declarative (verbal) elements. They are often fragmentary and incomplete and thus hard to make into coherent story.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/amnesia.html

The sociocognitive model of dissociative identity disorder: a reexamination of the evidence.
Gleaves DH.

According to the sociocognitive model of dissociative identity disorder (DID; formerly, multiple personality disorder), DID is not a valid psychiatric disorder of posttraumatic origin; rather, it is a creation of psychotherapy and the media. Support for the model was recently presented by N.P. Spanos (1994).

In this article, the author reexamines the evidence for the model and concludes that it is based on numerous false assumptions about the psychopathology, assessment, and treatment of DID. 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.

Psychol Bull. 1994 Jul;116(1):143-65.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8711016

Multiple Personalities Documentary, residents in dark about child abuse

Multiple Personalities Documentary
In early times, evil spirits were thought to possess people and make them act in strange and frightening ways. By the 1800′s, the study of this hysteria led some doctors to believe one person could have separately functioning personalities.

In this rare research film from the 1920′s, a woman has different personalities who believes they are separate people. One is a male that is not comfortable in women’s clothes. Another is a small child. The affliction has been known by different names, but recognized for centuries. Today it is called multiple personality disorder.

Why have they become tormented and broken into different personalities? What is the childhood pain that lies buried in the unknown depths of their mind? How can they search for the deadly memories that holds the secrets of their paths and the promise of their healing?  http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/multiple-personalities/

Gloucester residents in dark as child abuse came to light

By Joanne Kimberlin The Virginian-Pilot June 5, 2011
GLOUCESTER COUNTY

This rural community isn’t used to making headlines, especially the kind it’s had lately….perhaps the worst case of child abuse ever in these parts – one that speaks volumes about what can hide behind closed doors. On April 28, deputies checking a home for stolen goods discovered a naked, starving little girl inside a filthy, makeshift cage. Under a shed nearby, they found the remains of a baby….

Up until a few weeks ago, the trailer was home to Brian and Shannon Gore. Both have longtime roots in the area and no record of trouble with the law. Shannon, 25, worked at the Bojangles restaurant in nearby Yorktown. Brian, 29, listed his occupation as “HVAC Service Tech” on a Gloucester High School reunion website.

On a video posted to their Myspace pages, the Gores look like any other young couple. It was taken in 2008 on Shannon’s birthday, the day Brian got down on one knee and proposed to her in a crowded restaurant. Shannon beams, hugs Brian and admires her new ring. Family and friends ooh, ahh and applaud.

But behind that happy moment, the couple already had dark secrets: two children, both born at home, with no medical assistance. One was hidden away; the other was buried in the yard – dead from causes that, so far, remain a mystery.

Ron Smith, one of Shannon Gore’s attorneys, has told media that the couple concealed the pregnancies because they weren’t married, though no one has explained how they hid Shannon’s swollen belly in small-town Gloucester….

Edwards, who has three kids of her own, said the couple strolled the neighborhood with their new baby, who appeared well-cared for.

“I didn’t know either of them very well,” Edwards said, “but she sent over bottles and pacifiers when my baby was born, and I’d see him out cutting the grass. They seemed like nice people. I’d wave to them.”

Despite the thin walls and cramped space of trailer park living, “None of us knew they had a daughter,” Edwards said. “We never heard her cry or anything. Not even people who’ve been inside their house.”

It all came to light when a burglary investigation led Gloucester detectives to the Gores’ trailer. Shannon Gore was suspected of selling about an ounce of stolen gold to an auction house – bars of bullion that had been swiped from a home in the county.
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/06/gloucester-residents-dark-child-abuse-came-light

Ritual abuse book articles

Ritual Abuse and Mind Control – The Manipulation of Attachment Needs

Cult and Ritual Abuse

Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse

Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century

Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse

Ritual Abuse and Mind Control – The Manipulation of Attachment Needs
Edited by Orit Badouk Epstein,  Joseph Schwartz,  Rachel Wingfield Schwartz
ISBN 978 1 85575 839 1
April 2011 Karnac Books

People who have survived ritual abuse or mind control experiments have often been silenced, accused of lying, mocked and disbelieved. Clinicians working with survivors often find themselves isolated, facing the same levels of disbelief and denial from other professionals within the mental health field. This report of a conference proceedings presents knowledge and experience from both clinicians and survivors to promote understanding and recovery from organized and ritual abuse, mind control and programming. The book combines clinical presentations, survivors’ voices, and research material to help address the ways in which we can work clinically with mind control and cult programming from the perspective of relational psychotherapy. http://karnac.styluspub.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=278462

google books http://books.google.com/books?id=xU6GZ28gGy4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

copied with permission

Cult and Ritual Abuse

Cult and ritual abuse discusses the idea that ritual abuse is an age-old phenomenon and it is found in many cultures throughout the world. It explores the many specific psychiatric symptoms caused by ritual abuse, including dissociative identity disorder. The book gives suggestions for effective ways to deal with the legal and social problems that can result from this severe form of abuse. A new diagnosis “Cult and ritual trauma disorder” is proposed in this edition. Cult and ritual abuse was first published in 1995 with a revised edition in 2000. [1]

The book was co-authored by James Randall Noblitt, a clinical psychologist and the executive director of a professional organization dedicated to treating survivors of cult and ritual abuse.[1] Noblitt is a professor and Director of the Psychology program at Alliant International University.  Contents *

1 Comments and critiques *

2 References *

3 Articles and Books *

4 External links

Comments and critiques

Kenneth E. Fletcher in a Psychiatric services review, discusses evidence of ritual abuse from the book and states that parts of the book are interesting and intriguing with uneven writing at times. Fletcher concludes that those interested in the topic of cult and ritual abuse will find it a worthwhile read.[2]  An article in the American Journal of Psychotherapy stated that “Whether or not one believes in MPD and/or Ritual Abuse, this book provides one with what is probably the most comprehensive and reasonable review of the subject that has appeared up to now.” [3]

References

1.Noblitt, J.R.; Perskin, P. Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America (2000) Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 269 ISBN 027596664X http://books.google.com/books?id=zJkTTpfyJ-8C

2. Fletcher, K., July 2001 Cult and ritual abuse: Its history, anthropology, and recent discovery in contemporary America, revised edition Psychiatric services Volume 52 p. 978-979 http://www.psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/52/7/978

3. Coomaraswamy, R. Summer 1996 Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America American Journal of Psychotherapy 50, 3 p. 383 http://www.ajp.org/

Articles and Books

* Noblitt, J.R. (1995). “Psychometric measures of trauma among psychiatric patients reporting ritual abuse”. Psychological Reports 77(3):743-747. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8559911

* Noblitt, R.; Perskin, P. Ritual abuse in the Twenty First Century (2008) Reed Publishers, Bandon, OR p. 552 ISBN 1-934759-12-0 http://www.rdrpublishers.com/catalog/item/6339393/5820690.htm

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://nonstatetorture.org/

* http://www.ra-info.org

* http://www.survivorship.org

* http://web.archive.org/web/20071218103952/http://www.aches-mc.org/

Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse

Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse discusses the clinical issues around the treatment of survivors of ritual Satanist abuse. Authors from the United States and the United Kingdom look at the historical foundations of ritual abuse and clinical accounts from children and adults. The book has definitions of ritual Satanist abuse. It discusses issues in psychotherapy involving clients suffering from ritual abuse.[1]  Valerie Sinason is the director of the Clinic for Dissociative Studies, London and a psychoanalyst and consultant research psychotherapist at the Psychiatry of Disability Department at St George’s Hospital Medical School, London.[2]  The book has been reviewed by the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis[3], the British Journal of Psychotherapy[4] and Survivors of Spiritual Abuse[5].

References

1. Sinason, V. Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse Routledge, New York 1994 ISBN 0-415-10543-9

2. Attachment, Trauma and Multiplicity Working with Dissociative Identity Disorder – Valerie Sinason (editor) (2002) Brunner-Routledge, Hove, East Sussex, UK ISBN: 041519556X

3. Johns, M. (1998) Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse. Edited by Valerie Sinason.: London: Routledge 1994. Pp. 320 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis Volume 79 p. 1255-1258 http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=IJP.079.1255A

4. Black, D. M. (Autumn 1995). “Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse edited by Valerie Sinason”. British Journal of Psychotherapy 12 (1): 119-131. “Most of the book is written by therapists who have lived through a very real trauma themselves: that of slowly coming to believe that the appalling stories they are hearing may be literally true. Some therapists have further paralleled their patients’ experience by meeting disbelief or dismissiveness in their professional colleagues. Far from an overeagerness to accept these stories, virtually every contributor describes initial extreme reluctance to believe them, only gradually overborne by the weight of the evidence….we also meet the courage and devotion of many impressive therapists, who have persevered and very often won through, and we are also, very practically, given a great deal of helpful and directly useful information: what to do and who to turn to if we think we may be faced with these issues. This book is not fun, but it is admirable and necessary.” http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119961579/abstract

5. Review of Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse edited by Valerie Sinason http://web.archive.org/web/20060925195442/http://www.sosa.org/treating.html

External Links

* Valerie Sinason’s web page for the Clinic for Dissociative Studies http://clinicds.com/

* Major publications by Valerie Sinason http://valeriesinason.co.uk/allpublications.html

* http://valeriesinason.co.uk/index.html

Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century

Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century contains articles from two dozen international authors who write about the psychological, forensic, social and political consequences and ramifications of ritual abuse in modern times.  The book explores cross-cultural reports of abusive ritual life-threatening ordeals. It includes information on diagnosis, controversy, cult brainwashing, satanic abuse, police and media handling, prayer, inner healing, patterns in mind control, and therapy. Its chapters discuss current issues including ritually based crime and civil suits involving allegations of ritual abuse. Ritual trauma for diagnostic and treatment applications are also discussed. [1]

References

1. Noblitt, R.; Perskin, P. Ritual abuse in the Twenty First Century (2008) Reed Publishers, Bandon, OR p. 552 ISBN 1-934759-12-0 http://www.rdrpublishers.com/catalog/item/6339393/5820690.htm

Books and Articles

* Noblitt, J.R.; Perskin, P. Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America (2000) Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 269 ISBN 027596664X http://books.google.com/books?id=zJkTTpfyJ-8C

* Noblitt, J.R. (1995). “Psychometric measures of trauma among psychiatric patients reporting ritual abuse”. Psychological Reports 77(3):743-747. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8559911

Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse

Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse: Recognizing and Recovering from the Hidden Trauma was written about satanic cult ritual abuse. It describes what it is, what its signs are, how survivors can recover from it, and work being done to fight this problem.[1] The book discusses mind control, torture and ritual abuse.[2]  Ryder was a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor and Licensed Social Worker who had worked with ritual abuse victims for many years. He stated that he had been an abuse victim in childhood and wanted to bring the reality of this abuse before the public.[1]  The book was reviewed in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.[3] The reviewer wrote “the book is worth owning.”

References

1. Ryder, CCDC, LSW, D. Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse: Recognizing and Recovering from the Hidden Trauma Compcare Pubs. Minneapolis 1992 p. 265 ISBN 0-89638-258-3

2. Excerpts from: Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse – Recognizing and Recovering From the Hidden Trauma http://mcrais.googlepages.com/ryder.htm

3. Riley, E.A. (1992) Breaking the circle of satanic ritual abuse: Recognizing and recovering from the hidden trauma Journal of Traumatic Stress 6(3) “Those of us who work with satanic ritual abuse (SRA) are grateful for any treatment oriented materials on the subject. There is so little available and a majority of those most experienced fail to speak frankly and openly for a variety of reasons. In this instance, since the author (not his real name) is both a survivor and a mental health professional, the expectations of insightful revelations are perhaps greater than they should be. He interviews a number of clinicians and quotes them liberally as to their own experience with SRA survivors. As a result, embedded throughout, are little gems of clinical technique and activity….In summary, the book is worth owning…” http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/112447634/abstract

External Links

Satanic Ritual Abuse: the Evidence Surfaces by Daniel Ryder, CCDC, LSW “my research shows it does exist. And indications are we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg of a social phenomenon that, when totally exposed, will rock the core of societal beliefs.” http://web.archive.org/web/20080125051057/http://home.mchsi.com/~ftio/ra-evidence-surfaces.htm

Why and how people forget sexual abuse. The Role of Traumatic Memories

includes:
Intergenerational associations between trauma and dissociation.
Dissociation in middle childhood among foster children with early maltreatment experiences.

Trauma Articles, Chapters, & Commentaries – Articles and commentaries on this site are all authored or co-authored by Jennifer J. Freyd.
http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/traumapapers.html

Becker-Blease, K.A., DePrince, A.P., & Freyd, J.J. (2011). Why and how people forget sexual abuse.  The Role of Traumatic Memories  In V. Ardino (Ed.),Posttraumatic Syndromes in Children and Adolescents. (pp 135-155)  West Sussex, UK:  Wiley/Blackwell.
http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/articles/bbdf2011.pdf

Hulette, A.C., Kaehler, L.A., & Freyd, J.J. (2011).  Intergenerational associations between trauma and dissociation.  Journal of Family Violence, 26, 217-225.

Abstract. The purpose of this study was to investigate intergenerational relationships between trauma and dissociation. Short and long term consequences of betrayal trauma (i.e., trauma perpetrated by someone with whom the victim is very close) on dissociation were examined in a sample of 67 mother-child dyads using group comparison and regression strategies. Experiences of high betrayal trauma were found to be related to higher levels of dissociation in both children and mothers.

Furthermore, mothers who experienced high betrayal trauma in childhood and were subsequently interpersonally revictimized in adulthood were shown to have higher levels of dissociation than non-revictimized mothers. Maternal revictimization status was associated with child interpersonal trauma history. These results suggest that dissociation from a history of childhood betrayal trauma may involve a persistent unawareness of future threats to both self and children.

….Betrayal Trauma Theory (Freyd 1994, 1996) posits that dissociation is most likely to occur when a trauma is perpetrated by someone with whom the victim has a close relationship. Research has shown that exposure to traumas high in betrayal is significantly associated with dissociation
(e.g., DePrince 2005; Freyd et al. 2001, 2005). In the case of child maltreatment, betrayal trauma theory suggests that a child who is dependent on his/her parent learns to dissociate the experience of parental betrayal and abuse from conscious awareness, in order to maintain an attachment to that parent.

Several studies have identified a link between the experience of maltreatment and heightened dissociation in children (Becker-Blease et al. 2004; Hulette et al. 2008a, b; Macfie et al. 2001a, b; Ogawa et al. 1997). For example, Hulette and colleagues (2008a, b) found that maltreated
preschool-age children in foster care had a significantly higher mean level of dissociation than non-maltreated children.

Children who experienced multiple forms of maltreatment were the most highly dissociative.  These findings are in accord with betrayal trauma theory (Freyd 1996), as children experiencing different kinds of abuse may have a greater need to be dissociative in order to preserve a relationship with caregivers.

Betrayal trauma seems to have long-term effects on  dissociation as well. In a prospective longitudinal study, Ogawa et al. (1997) found that maltreatment predicted dissociation across developmental
periods (i.e., infancy, preschool, elementary school, adolescence, and young adulthood). Dissociation is also present in adult survivors of childhood betrayal trauma (Coons et al. 1988; Loewenstein and Putnam 1990; Putnam 1997; Putnam et al. 1986; Ross et al. 1991)….
http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/articles/hkf2011.pdf

Hulette, A.C., Freyd, J.J., & Fisher, P. A. (2011). Dissociation in middle childhood among foster children with early maltreatment experiences. Child Abuse & Neglect, 35, 123-126. Dissociation, defined as “a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), has been hypothesized to develop in response to caregiver maltreatment and betrayal (e.g., Briere & Runtz, 1988; Chu & Dill, 1990; Freyd, 1994; Hornstein & Putnam, 1992; Liotti, 1999; Putnam, 1993; Sanders&Giolas, 1991; Terr, 1991).

Further, researchers have recently identified a link between maltreatment and the experience of high dissociation in early childhood (Becker-Blease, Freyd, & Pears, 2004; Hulette, Fisher, Kim, Ganger, & Landsverk, 2008; Hulette, Freyd, et al., 2008; Macfie, Cicchetti, & Toth, 2001a; Macfie, Cicchetti, & Toth, 2001b; Ogawa, Sroufe, Weinfeld, Carlson, & Egeland, 1997). Macfie et al. (2001a) found a significant increase in dissociation in preschoolaged children over a 1-year period, suggesting that early maltreatment has long-term effects on dissociation.

They also found that severity and chronicity of maltreatment were associated with dissociation and that physical abuse was associated with dissociation in the clinical range (Macfie et al., 2001b). Hulette, Freyd, et al. (2008) examined dissociation with the children in the current sample when they were preschool aged. In addition to the finding that maltreated preschool-aged foster children had significantly higher mean levels of dissociation than nonmaltreated children, they found the highest levels of dissociation in children who had experienced moderate–high physical abuse with emotional maltreatment and neglect.

In another sample of preschool-aged children, Hulette, Fisher, et al. (2008) found that children who had experienced multiple forms of maltreatment (i.e., neglect, and physical, sexual, and emotional abuse) showed the highest dissociation….In this study, we examined dissociation in school-aged foster children who had been maltreated in early childhood.

The finding that foster children continue to be highly dissociative years after maltreatment experiences supports previous research findings….

Summary – The findings from the current study suggest that the experiences of early maltreatment and foster care are related to later dissociative symptoms in school-aged children, and that girls are more susceptible to dissociative symptoms. It is important for practitioners to consider these factors to prevent pathological problems that could negatively impact other areas of such children’s lives.
http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/articles/hff2011.pdf

Elizabeth Loftus – critiques of her research

The accuracy of Elizabeth Loftus’ research and its ethics have been critiqued by several people over the last two decades.  Below is a brief synopsis of some of this research.

“Lost in a Shopping Mall” A Breach of Professional Ethics
Lynn S. Crook  ETHICS & BEHAVIOR, vol. 9, #1, pp. 39-50
The “lost in a shopping mall” study has been cited to support claims that psychotherapists can implant memories of false autobiographical information of childhood trauma in their patients. The mall study originated in 1991 as 5 pilot experiments involving 3 children and 2 adult participants. The University of Washington Human Subjects Committee granted approval for the mall study on August 10, 1992. The preliminary results with the 5 pilot subjects were announced 4 days later. 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/

Elizabeth Loftus (from jimhopper.com)
Unfortunately, thus far reporters and journalists have almost completely failed to critically evaluate her claims. Nor have they addressed three crucial facts about her work:

1) Loftus herself conducted and published a study in which nearly one in five women who reported childhood sexual abuse also reported completely forgetting the abuse for some period of time and recovering the memory of it later.
….

3) 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

Consider the Evidence for Elizabeth Loftus’
Scholarship and Accuracy. “Remembering Dangerously” & Hoult v. Hoult: The Myth of Repressed Memory that Elizabeth Loftus Created
by Jennifer Hoult, Esq.
http://www.rememberingdangerously.com/

Elizabeth Loftus herself has published studies showing evidence of recovered memory. The 4 January 1996 issue of Accuracy About Abuse notes: Elizabeth Loftus, high profile FMSF advocate, published a paper with colleagues on Remembering and Repressing in 1994. In a study of 105 women outpatients in a substance abuse clinic 54 % reported a history of childhood sexual abuse. 81% remembered all or part of the abuse. 19% reported they forgot the abuse for a period of time and later the memory returned. Women who remembered the abuse their whole lives reported a clearer memory, with a more detailed picture. Women who remembered the abuse their whole lives did not differ from others in terms of the violence of the abuse or whether the violence was incestuous. [Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18 (1994) 67-84.]

Loftus has also discussed “motivated forgetting”, and has presented the documented study of a college professor who became unable to remember a series of traumas, but after some time was able to recover those memories. Loftus remarked “after such an enormously stressful experience, many individuals wish to forget… And often their wish is granted.” (Loftus, 1980/1988, p. 73)” http://web.archive.org/web/20030608221633/http://www.feminista.com/v1n9/false-memory.html

“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. (Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (D. Corydon) 1998, W. W. Norton 0-393-70254-5)

Memory, Abuse, and Science: Questioning Claims About the False Memory Syndrome Epidemic Pope, K. (1996)
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? Pezdek (1995; see also Pezdek, Finger, & Hodge, 1996) has suggested that this may not be the case. In attempting to arrive at a more analogous situation-that of a suggested false memory of a rectal enema-her experimental attempts at implantation of a suggestion had a 0% success rate.

What is the impact of the potentially confounding variables in claiming the shopping-mall experiment to be a convincing analogue of therapy (Loftus, 1993; Loftus & Ketcham, 1994)? 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.

Has this line of research assumed that verbal reports provided to researchers are the equivalent of actual memories? Spanos (1994) suggested that changes in report in suggestibility research may represent compliance with social demand conditions of the research design rather than actual changes in what is recalled. In what ways were the measures to demonstrate actual changes or creations of memory representations validated and confounding variables (e.g., demand characteristics) excluded? Given that being lost while out shopping is apparently a common childhood experience, how is the determination made that the lost-in-the-mall memory is not substantially correct? What supports the claim that “Chris had remembered a traumatic episode that never occurred” (Garry & Loftus, 1994, p. 83). That is, is there any possibility that Chris’s family had forgotten an actual event of this type?

If the experiment is assumed for heuristic reasons to demonstrate that an older family member can extensively rewrite a younger relative’s memory in regard to a trauma at which the older relative was present, why have false memory syndrome proponents presented this research as applying to the dynamics of therapy (e.g., Loftus, 1993; Loftus & Ketcham, 1994) but not to the dynamics of families, particularly those in which parents or other relatives may be exerting pressure on an adult to retract reports of delayed recall? Is it possible that older family members can rewrite younger relatives’ memories in regard to traumatic events at which they were present? Might this occur in the context of sexual abuse when the repeated suggestion is made by a perpetrator that “nothing happened” and that any subsequent awareness of the abuse constitutes a false memory?
http://www.kspope.com/memory/memory.php

Quotes: Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D.
http://bit.ly/hxkUbT

A Brief History of the False Memory Research of Elizabeth Loftus
“The lost- in- a-shopping-mall study (Loftus and Pickrell, 1995) provided  initial   scientific support for the claim that child sexual abuse accusations are false memories planted by therapists.  However, the mall study researchers faced a problem early on—the participants could tell the difference between the true and false memories.”  http://bit.ly/dH9uST

The Alleged Ethical Violations of Elizabeth Loftus in the Case of Jane Doe “In conclusion, I believe Loftus made several ethical breaches during her research and when publishing her study. The right to freedom of speech and academic debate does not allow for the kind of ethical breaches that were made. The violating of Jane Doe’s confidentiality without her written consent around such a sensitive issue appears to have been unnecessary and inappropriate.”
http://bit.ly/6bbAW6