Hi Allen- I believe an early example of what you are looking for is the Ramona case. He was a vineyard exec in California who was accused by his daughter of childhood sexual abuse after she "recovered" memories with the help of a social worker "therapist" and a psychiatrist. He won a fairly large judgement (I believe it was 1.5 million). At that time the daughter was still adamant that her memories were true. Since she was supported in this by her mother I think that the probability of a reversal is unlikely. This case is well documented in the PBS video, "A House Divided". I used to use it in class as it nicely articulates the "repressed memory/false memory" issue.
-Don. ----- Original Message ----- From: Allen Esterson <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, January 29, 2011 9:35 am Subject: Re: [tips] Recovered memory therapy in court To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> > Stephen wrote: > >Allen Esterson asked: > >>Is this a first? I can't recall any previous such case where the > >>patient has not repudiated the supposed "memories" > > >No, my understanding is that some repudiate, some do not. > >The False Memory Foundation calls those who repudiate > >"retractors". A recent book by a retractor, "My Lie: A True > >Story of False Memory" has been receiving attention lately > >(see http://tinyurl.com/4ncvymj ). > > By "any previous such case" I meant one in which damages were > awarded > to the accused, although the accuser did not withdraw her allegations. > > Allen Esterson > Former lecturer, Science Department > Southwark College, London > [email protected] > http://www.esterson.org > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > Re: [tips] Recovered memory therapy in court > sblack > Sat, 29 Jan 2011 07:53:16 -0800 > On 29 Jan 2011 at 8:50, William Scott wrote: > > > This is a local case where I live here in Wisconsin. Of particular > > interest is the fact that the patient and therapists claim > that the > > patient arrived in therapy with the memory of abuse and that the > > therapists claimed that they "challenged" the memory (although > clearly> ineffectively). No "recovered memory" techniques were > used. The > > therapists did, of course, facilitate the accusations and family > > destruction that insued and were found liable by the jury. > > >From what I've seen by browsing, including in records of previous > court decisions in this case available on the web, a significant > factor was that the patient admittted (to a friend) that she had > received hypnosis during therapy, a discredited technique which is > part of recovered memory therapy. In addition, the therapists were > found not to have provided an adequate "standard of care" which would > have included a duty to inform their patient that the memories might > be false. The patient also admitted to owning a copy of the > mendacious "Courage to Heal" although she claimed not to have read > it! > > A relevant section from an earlier court judgement is this one. I > believe "waiver" refers to the issue of waiving therapist-patient > confidentiality of records. Opening these records proved crucial in > the case. > > "143 Given all this information, the grounds for waiver may > be summarized as follows: (1) Charlotte disclosed that she > entered therapy due to an eating disorder and alcohol abuse > before ever having a flashback; (2) she underwent psychotherapy; > (3) she was the subject of hypnosis as part of her therapy; (4) > she experienced flashbacks and body memories of childhood abuse; > (5) she purchased The Courage to Heal, the "Bible" of repressed > memory therapy; (6) she "confronted" her parents during therapy > sessions; (7) she kept a journal and did artwork detailing her > experiences; (8) she filed a restraining order against her > parents and cut off all contact with them; (9) she changed her > name; and (10) she threatened to file a civil lawsuit against > her parents, and as part of that threat, her attorney referenced > repressed memories. Reference to the literature discussed above > reveals that all these events are hallmarks of recovered memory > therapy." > > In my previous post I had noted: > > >The daughter apparently still has these beliefs [memories of > > abuse, including rape by her father at age 3], has > >had no contact with her parents for the past 18 years, > >and opposed the lawsuit. > > Allen Esterson asked: > > > Is this a first? I can't recall any previous such case where the > > patient has not repudiated the supposed "memories" > > No, my understanding is that some repudiate, some do not. The False > Memory Foundation calls those who repudiate "retractors". A recent > book by a retractor, "My Lie: A True Story of False Memory" has been > receiving attention lately (see http://tinyurl.com/4ncvymj ). > > One case I know of of an individual who has not retracted is > ironically, that of the daughter of the founders of the False Memory > Foundation, Peter and Pamela Freyd. They started this > organization in > response to the accusations of childhood sexual abuse by their > daughter, and the organization has been highly influential in > combatting the spread of recovered memory therapy. Yet their daughter > Jennifer never retracted, and has instead founded an academic career > based on her beliefs. You could look her up in Wiki. > > Stephen > > -------------------------------------------- > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology, Emeritus > Bishop's University > Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada > e-mail: sblack at > ubishops.ca > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13157.966b795bc7f3ccb35e3da08aebe98f18&n=T&l=tips&o=8235or > send a blank email to > leave-8235-13157.966b795bc7f3ccb35e3da08aebe98...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > Don Allen Retired professor Langara College --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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