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Conference Papers

Recovered memories of child sexual abuse : fact or fantasy?

Dr Anne Cossins
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales

Presented at:
Paedophilia : Policy and Prevention
University of Sydney
14-15 April 1997

Abstract

In recent years, there has been widespread media attention given to the alleged "false memory syndrome" (FMS), a term coined by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation in America. The idea that a person could suddenly recall memories of being sexually abused as a child has been presented as incredible and either evidence of the suggestibility of women to other people's ideas, bad therapy or even a deliberate conspiracy between therapists and daughters to destroy previously happy families. Given the media coverage that has been devoted to the alleged false memory syndrome, there is likely to be a climate of disbelief which has influenced professionals, lawyers and laypeople to believe that it is impossible to recover memories of sexual abuse experienced during childhood.

However, because there has been a high degree of uncritical acceptance of the claims of FMS proponents within both the scientific and non-scientific communities, the purpose of this paper is to first, examine the empirical basis for the existence of the alleged false memory syndrome and, secondly, to examine the extensive body of scientific evidence which has studied the phenomenon of delayed recall of memories of child sexual abuse. The paper discusses the fact that delayed recall of traumatic events has been widely documented for almost one hundred years, is an accepted scientific phenomenon which only became controversial when associated with memories of child sexual abuse as opposed to memories of war or accidents, and that delayed recall of child sexual abuse has been verified by documented medical histories of child sexual abuse. Finally, the paper addresses the implications of this scientific evidence for the criminal justice system and the prosecution of child sex offenders.