-Caveat Lector-
About Juanita: Firstly, I wasn't there when whatever happened between her
and Billio happened. Secondly, being "skeptical" does not automatically
mean "disbelieving", of or on either side. I am mostly skeptical about the
timing and the motivation, if timing WAS the motivation or the motivation
WAS timing (think about "DeLay").
So, I went (like the fellow in the bookstore who's part of the AT&T I-Net
commerical) searching and searching for information on "repressed
memories". And. Lo and behold, I found a bunch of stuff -- pro & con, for
youngsters & oldsters, this & that. Loftus plays big in this area of
concentration: Feminista (where the whole article is) discusses her as
does Al-Kurdi.
I included the reference to the religioustolerance.org for two reasons:
1) It had information on "repressed memories".
2) As they state, ""Some faith groups explain their own beliefs about
abortion, physician assisted suicide, and capital punishment. We explain
all sides."" I liked the "all sides" part.
So, the researching of someone else's recollections for the specificity of
information relating to certain events -- in the case of Juanita & Billio &
any others with whom I am NOT personally acquainted nor a witness to events
in and of their lives -- such researching is THEIR business. Except, of
course, for the odd case that everyone seems to be recollecting at about
the same time.
>From http://www.towardfreedom.com/may98/messing.htm
Messing with Our Minds
With links to CIA mind control experts and accused child abusers, the false
memory movement turns "blaming the victim" into a science
HUSAYN AL-KURDI
A quiet but brutal war is being waged on the victims of child abuse,
including sexual and even ritual abuse. The battlefields include academia,
the courts, professional groups, and society in general. In some cases, the
aggressors are the same people accused of perpetuating the violence.
They've banded together, forming networks and support groups, most notably
the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF), which discounts recollections
of abuse recovered in later years, making survivors look like complainers
and trauma therapists sound like quacks.
Unfortunately, the Foundation has many psychotherapists on the run. Several
lawsuits have already ended with judgments in favor of alleged
perpetrators, and the resulting chilling effect has dampened the
willingness of some mental health professionals to treat victims,
especially those claiming ritual abuse.
If you browse the Internet these days, you're apt to find regional or local
groups started by survivors of childhood torture and/or abuse. The list
includes the International Council on Cultism and Ritual Trauma, based in
Dallas, Texas; Mothers Against Sexual Abuse in Monrovia, California;
Survivors and Victims Empowered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and the San
Francisco-based Survivorship. Meanwhile, researchers such as Alex
Constantine, Walter H. Bowart, and Dick Farley conduct valuable research on
the FMSF. Despite such scrutiny and the seriousness of the problem,
however, advocates for false memory (also known as repressed memory)
syndrome dominate cyberspace and have received far more favorable coverage
in the mainstream media.
Ironically, it turns out that the Foundation itself has extensive
connections to another group that has indulged in extensive experimentation
on human beings - the Central Intelligence Agency. Although better known
for overseas operations that serve the interests of corporate and financial
elites - euphemistically described as protecting "national security" - the
Agency also has a sordid history of domestic mind control experimentation.
Its interest in this field runs parallel with elite concern about how to
control the thinking of US citizens. The fear among policymakers that we
might take control of our own destinies is almost as deep as their terror
that, without US intervention, people in other parts of the world might go
their own way.
It should come as no surprise, then, that long-time CIA and "intelligence
complex" operatives turn up on the FMSF Advisory Board. Perhaps the most
public member has been Dr. Louis Joylon "Jolly" West, a legendary figure in
CIA mind control circles operating out of UCLA. Another is Dr. Martin Orne,
an authority on torture who currently works at the University of
Pennsylvania's Experimental Psychiatry Lab. While studying the effects of
over 16 biochemical warfare agents until the early 1970s, Orne considered
the effectiveness of choking, blistering, and vomiting agents, toxins,
poison gas, and various incapacitating chemicals. During the same period,
he also worked with the Cornell University-based Human Ecology Fund,
sharing his findings with Dr. Even Cameron, who was then based at the
McGill University Allen Institute in Montreal. At Human Ecology,
electroshock, lobotomies, drugs, incapacitants, hypnosis, sleep
deprivation, and radio control of the brain were all specialties of the
house.
Still another false memory luminary is Margaret Singer, professor emeritus
in psychology at the University of California-Berkeley. Long in the
research loop of the "military-industrial-intelligence complex," Singer's
involvement dates back to her experiments on returning Korean War veterans.
Scrutinizing the behavior patterns of what were described as
"collaborators," "non-collaborators," and "active resisters," she noted
that the "collaborators showed more typical and humanly responsive
reactions" than the other groups, whose members "tended to be more
apathetic and emotionally barren and withdrawn."
The latest concoction of this brain trust is false memory syndrome, a
highly ideological theory embraced by the Christian Right and other groups
that favor male supremacy, not to mention those accused of abusing and/or
sexually molesting women and children. Pedophiles and self-righteous
"Christians" often turn up in FMS circles.
The movement's official literature describes its so-called "syndrome" as a
"condition in which a person's identity and interpersonal relationships are
centered around a memory of traumatic experience which is objectively false
but in which the person strangely believes." It goes on to explain that,
when in the grip of a "false memory," a person "may become so focused on
the memory that he or she may be effectively distracted from coping with
the real problems in his or her life." Certainly, the movement's leaders
should know, since in the realm of memory manipulation they're the experts.
Inducing memory loss has long been a CIA obsession. The initial objectives
included closing the minds of agents - in case they were captured - and
making sure enemies who were interrogated wouldn't remember they'd been
questioned. While receiving CIA funds as part of the notorious MK-ULTRA
project, West, an expert in brainwashing, learned how to manipulate
memories in various subjects - inducing everything from total amnesia to
obsessive-compulsive fixations.
West's most notorious experiment, conducted while at the University of
Oklahoma, involved killing an elephant with LSD and tranquilizers. But he
also ran a secret CIA mind control lab and "treated" Jack Ruby after his
murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. Subsequently, he attempted to launch a Center
for the Study and Reduction of Violence in California, hoping to
incorporate treatments such as chemical castration, psychosurgery, and the
use of experimental drugs. But the Center was derailed once its methods
became public.
According to false memory proponents like West, the "syndrome" - an
iatrogenic (medically induced) malady - is reaching epidemic proportions.
But in reality, what has actually assumed such dimensions is the problem
the FMS movement seeks to discredit - sexual abuse of women and children.
According to recent research, more than one out of four women have been
raped. Statistics for incest are similar.
FMS activists crow about inducing those who recall abuse in therapy to
recant their "objectively false" recollections. Movement literature
perversely claims: "Many describe a sense of relief and comfort with their
decision that their memories were false and a sense of well-being that they
missed while entrenched in the memory recovery process." Thus, memories of
abuse are defined as invalid. But somehow retracted memories aren't.
According to the false memory movement, many victims are actually
"borderline" deviants, the sources of whatever "false" problems they may
have conjured up. And how could anyone disagree? After all, as FMSF
spokesperson Pamela Freyd explains, "We are a good-looking bunch of people:
graying hair, well-dressed, healthy, smiling ... about every person who has
attended [an FMSF meeting] is a person you would likely find interesting
and want to count as a friend."
Yet, Freyd and her husband Peter founded the movement after their daughter,
Jennifer, a Ph.D. psychologist, recalled a range of childhood sexual
abuses. Among other memories she recovered was one that involved Peter
forcing his little girls to dance around naked with Playboy bunny tails for
the amusement of his friends.
Ralph Underwager, an early member of the group's professional advisory
board, let the pedophile agenda slip when he told British reporters that,
according to so-called "scientific evidence," 60 percent of all women who
were molested as children believed the experience was "good for them." Both
he and another advisory board member, Holida Wakefield, have publicly
described pedophilia as a positive lifestyle choice. Another movement
activist, Dr. Richard Gardner, blames the syndrome on "zealots" who want to
"destroy every man in sight."
Supporters such as Gary Cooper, who promotes the Foundation via the
Internet, claim that "modern therapy is creating phony victims of child
abuse and destroying thousands of families." He describes most memories of
abuse as fantasies provoked by greedy therapists, who encourage their
patients "to break relationship with the family and work on these phony
issues."
Thus far, the Foundation claims to have won 14 court cases, largely through
the efforts of movement ideologue Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist and FMSF
advisory board member who garners large fees for testifying as an "expert
witness." Loftus has appeared on behalf of over 150 clients, most of them
accused pedophiles and murderers such as serial killer Ted Bundy. In that
case, a key aspect of her testimony was the inaccuracies in eyewitness
identification, similar to her criticism of the recollections of abuse
victims. But such inaccuracies don't necessarily mean that abuse didn't
happen.
In December 1995, two women filed an ethics complaint with the American
Psychological Association (APA) against Loftus, protesting her published
statements about two cases involving delayed memories of sexual abuse.
Although the APA declined to investigate, Loftus resigned from the
association a month later. One of the women who filed the complaint,
Jennifer Hoult, was awarded $500,000 for the suffering caused by her
father's incestuous abuse. During the case, her father joined the FMSF.
The movement has been defeated in court more often and more significantly
than it cares to admit. Despite its efforts to discredit therapists and
blame victims, many people have won civil cases against their parents and
other family members on the basis of memories recovered in therapy. In
addition, Doctor Charles Whitfield has successfully fought a civil suit
brought by the Freyds, who were stung by his commentary on their theories
and activities.
Research has proven that people who suffer severe abuse often "forget" it.
In a "fight or flight" mode, the body produces high levels of
neurochemicals that can obliterate conscious memory. While at the Allen
Institute, Ewen Cameron looked into "psychic driving" as another way to
accomplish the same thing.
Under high stress, the hippocampus becomes inactive and misses its chance
to place a memory in the person's timeline or "memory bank." Instead, it's
recorded elsewhere or "dissociated." According to Dr. Lenore Terr of the
University of California's Medical School in San Francisco, "Survivors -
especially those who were repeatedly hurt by people they love - frequently
repress the agonizing memories until they are grown up and safely away from
home."
In a very real sense, domestic survivors of CIA experimental abuse have
much in common with the millions who have suffered what no child or other
human being should have to endure. And this is exactly what worries the
false memory movement. Fearing imminent exposure, the CIA was forced to
abandon the MK-ULTRA project in the 60s. But the effort to manipulate minds
and blame the victims didn't end; it simply moved from public institutions
to cults and private foundations, facades less open to public scrutiny. As
a result, the Human Ecology Fund has been replaced by groups such as the
Human Potential Foundation in Falls Church, Virginia, founded by Sen.
Claiborne Pell and lavishly funded by Laurence Rockefeller. In short, the
patriarchal old boys network remains intact, just one more aspect of the
backlash against women and children.
To be continued.
Husayn Al-Kurdi is a TF contributing writer and President of News
International. Part two of this series will examine the connections between
the CIA and various "unsafe sects."
~~~~~~~~~~~
>From http://www.feminista.com/v1n9/false-memory.html
Excerpt from False Memory Syndrome: A False Construct
Julliette Cutler Page
""In recent years, one of the most controversial concepts in psychology has
been that of "recovered memory". Many therapists have become wary of
treating clients who appear to have recovered memories of abuse after a
long period of forgetting. Among the reasons for this concern are extremely
vocal organizations that have come forward in support of accused abusers,
claiming that there is no such thing as "recovered memory", and often
stating that not only are therapists who treat such clients negligent, but
that therapists are in fact themselves creating these memories in their
clients. This article will discuss the origins and methods of the primary
such organization (the False Memory Syndrome Foundation), and in so doing,
address relevant issues of memory and the experience of abuse.""
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From http://advicom.net/~fitz/fmsf/aboutFMS.html
False Memory Syndrome
When the memory is distorted, or confabulated, the result can be what has
been called the False Memory Syndrome: a condition in which a person's
identity and interpersonal relationships are centered around a memory of
traumatic experience which is objectively false but in which the person
strongly believes. Note that the syndrome is not characterized by false
memories as such. We all have memories that are inaccurate. Rather, the
syndrome may be diagnosed when the memory is so deeply ingrained that it
orients the individual's entire personality and lifestyle, in turn
disrupting all sorts of other adaptive behaviors. The analogy to
personality disorder is intentional. False memory syndrome is especially
destructive because the person assiduously avoids confrontation with any
evidence that might challenge the memory. Thus it takes on a life of its
own, encapsulated, and resistant to correction. The person may become so
focused on the memory that he or she may be effectively distracted from
coping with the real problems in his or her life.
-- John F. Kihlstrom, Ph.D.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From
StopBadTherapy.com
To protect consumers and reform the mental health industry by requiring
informed consent for mental therapies.
"Yes the kids did see handcuffs. They did see a gun. But it was for
therapeutic reasons."
-- Bennett Braun, M.D.
Are you, a friend, or a loved one in therapy or considering it? Are you
concerned about your or a friend's therapy? (If so, take our online test
for evaluating therapy!) Do you know someone who is at a vulnerable point
in their life, suffering from a death in the family, post-partum
depression, the loss of a job or a friend, or other problems? Is someone
you know reading The Courage to Heal or "recovering repressed memories"?
Have you been falsely accused of abuse on the basis of "repressed memories"
which were supposedly "recovered" during therapy? Are you going through a
contested divorce or a custody dispute and vulnerable to a false
accusation? Do you care about justice and human rights?
Then email your elected officials to demand reform of the mental health
industry. Did you know that ...
•your taxpayer dollars are being spent today on fraudulent techniques such
as "memory recovery therapy" which have never been tested for safety and
effectiveness and which actually harm the patient?
•mental health providers can do almost anything they want at taxpayer and
health insurer expense (including showing handcuffs and guns to children)
so long as they call it "therapy"?
•psychiatrists who have actually done these things are still practicing
medicine?
•unlike drugs, therapies need not be tested for safety and effectiveness
before they are used on patients at taxpayer and health insurer expense?
•innocent parents and day care providers have been imprisoned based solely
on "repressed memories" which developed in therapy and on the testimony of
therapists?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From http://www.religioustolerance.org/rmt_wha.htm
WE ARE NOT YOUR TYPICAL RELIGIOUS WEB SITE!
Range of religious thought: Some Internet sites present their own faith in
glowing but often inaccurate terms; other sites attack religions with
hatred and misinformation. We describe dozens of faith groups as accurately
as we can, from Asatru to Christianity to Zoroastrianism.
Some faith groups explain their own beliefs about abortion, physician
assisted suicide, and capital punishment. We explain all sides.
Some denominations use the Bible as a scientific text and teach creation
science. Evolution has been accepted and integrated into other faiths. We
explain both.
WHAT IS RECOVERED MEMORY THERAPY (RMT)
<Picture>
RMT is a series of methods that therpists use to attempt to recover long
forgotten or repressed memories. It is often used by therapists when a
client is suspected to have been abused many years ago, but has no memories
of it as an adult. RMT is a hotly debated topic within the mental health
community:
<Picture>Most memory researchers believe that any serious abuse after the
age of about 4 will be remembered into adulthood - whether it was a single
event or oft-repeated. <Picture>Many therapists believe that it is
extremely common for a person to actively repress memories of abuse and
store them what they call "traumatic memory". According to this belief
system, an adult could have been sexually abused as a child hundreds (or
even thousands) of times and have no current memory of any of the events,
even though the adult could recall other memories of mundane childhood
activities from the same years. The survivors might not even have a vague
recollection that something dreadful happened during their childhood. The
more serious the abuse and the more frequent the abuse, the more likely the
memories will be repressed.
Although most memories are recovered during counseling with a therapist,
some individuals have recovered memories outside of formal therapy.
Frequently, self-help books like The Courage to Heal are involved. The
techniques are the same; they are simply self-administered. Mutual support
group for survivors of sexual abuse are another environment in which
memories are often recovered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From http://weber.u.washington.edu/~eloftus/Articles/Imagine.htm
Via http://weber.u.washington.edu/~eloftus/
Excerpt from
Imagination Inflation: Imagining a Childhood Event Inflates Confidence that
it Occurred
Maryanne Garry, Charles G. Manning, Elizabeth F. Loftus
University of Washington
Steven J. Sherman
Indiana University
""People often imagine the past as being different from what it really was.
Many investigators have argued that people spontaneously imagine
alternatives to real events more in some settings than in others. These
mental musings, called counterfactual thinking, have far reaching
implications. They influence, for example, judgments of regret, perceived
happiness, and causality (Kahneman & Tversky, 1982). For example, in one
study subjects assigned more blame to an individual for a bad outcome when
counterfactual thoughts--thoughts of what might have been done
instead--would have undone the bad outcome ( Wells & Gavanski,1989). The
question we ask here is whether these counterfactual imaginings also affect
a person's memory for the past. For example, suppose you imagined stumbling
on something in your house, and before you realize what is happening you've
shattered a window with your hand. Would you later be more likely to claim
that this unfortunate event had happened to you? ""
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From http://weber.u.washington.edu/~eloftus/Articles/price.htm
Excerpt from The Price of Bad Memories
Elizabeth F. Loftus
(In Skeptical Inquirer 1998, 22, 23-24
Copyright 1998 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the
Paranormal)
""The problems that our society has had to face over the repressed memory
controversy have changed to some extent, but they are still not over.
Compared to the early 1990s, there are fewer cases of people suing
individuals based on claims of massive repression and recovery of abuse.
There are more cases of people suing their former therapists for planting
false memories. There is the prospect of criminal prosecution based upon
fraudulent practices. But can we walk away from this controversy now? There
are still hundreds, perhaps thousands of families who have been devastated
by repressed memory accusations. There are elderly parents who have one
wish left in life - simply to be reunited with their children. There are
talented mental health professionals who have found their profession tarred
by the controversy. And there are the genuinely abused patients who have
felt their experiences trivialized by the recent sea of unsubstantiated,
unrealistic, and bizarre accusations. ""
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A<>E<>R
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new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
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