The Journal of Psychiatry & Law/Summer 1995 283 False memory syndrome vs. total repression BY STAN ABRAMS, PH.D. A major debate exists within the mental health field regarding the authenticity of recovered repressed memories involving childhood sexual abuse. Since it is difficult to document events that occurred years ago, a study was conducted in which polygraphy was utilized to test alleged child abusers accused on the basis of recovered memories versus those abusers whose purported victims experienced no repression. The former group was found to be deceptive in only 4% of the cases, in contrast to 78% for the latter subjects. These findings strongly argue against the validity of the concept of repression for acts that might have persisted for years. A major debate is occurring within the mental health community between those who accept the concept of the false memory syndrome and those who favor total repression. While the factions are not clearly delineated, many clinicians believe in the validity of the latter, while experimenters are more prone to support the idea that false memories are inadvertently or even deliberately being implanted in patients. © 1995 by Federal Legal Publications, Inc. 284 FALSE MEMORY VS. REPRESSION Repression is defined as the forcing of ideas, perceptions, or memories associated with psychic trauma from conscious awareness into the unconscious. Because repression is never complete, it has been assumed that a certain amount of leakage into awareness occurs, resulting in anxiety and other symptoms. The goal of some treatment techniques has been to uncover this repressed material and deal with it to the extent that the symptoms and anxiety are eliminated. The phrase "total repression" has more recently been coined to describe a repression that can incorporate years of a particular activity, such as occurs in childhood sexual abuse. It has been assumed by some clinicians that victims of this offense can develop an amnesia for these sexual acts that started in early childhood and continued into adolescence. In their opinion, this repression can persist well into adulthood, when its recall may be stimulated by a dream, by a similar experience, or as a result of therapy. To demonstrate the validity of total repression, Briere and Conte' evaluated the responses of many adults who had been sexually abused as children. When they were asked if there was ever a time between when the offenses occurred and their 18th birthday that they had no memory of the abuse, 59% responded in the affirmative. Briere' offered further evidence of total repression through findings obtained in both world wars. There were many reports of soldiers who had taken part in particular battles who had no memory at all of having been involved in them. In another study, by Williams,' of 100 women who had gone to an emergency room as children because of sexual abuse, 38% had no recall of it when they were questioned as adults. The opposing side is more likely to be composed of researchers. They question whether an individual could be sexually abused for years and have absolutely no memory of it. This group favors the concept of the "false memory syndrome," a term that was coined by individuals accused of sexual offenses that allegedly occurred years before. It is 285 their belief, and that of a number of scientists, that these are fictitious memories inadvertently or even deliberately suggested by mental health workers and strengthened by their roles as authority figures. In attempting to reach the core of their patients' problems, therapists might use hypnosis, visual imagery, dream analysis, or the so-called truth serums. It is quite conceivable that approaches of this nature could create in a patient an even greater suggestibility, thereby opening the door to incorporating fabricated memories into the mind. There is a wealth of data showing the impact that suggestions have on memory. Loftus," a psychologist specializing in memory, has demonstrated that based on the manner in which questions are asked, people will recall red lights that did not exist; alter their estimates of the speed of a car; and even remember a mild trauma, such as becoming lost as a child, that never occurred. The opponents of repression also emphasize the suggestive effects of literature such as The Courage to Heal, a book that is considered to be the Bible of the abused. The authors, Bass and Davis,' wrote, "If you feel something happened to you, it probably did . . . if you think you were abused and show symptoms, then you were." However, the symptoms enumerated by Bass and Davis are no different than those experienced by patients who have not been sexually abused. Writings by Fredrickson" stating that millions of people have repressed childhood traumas also are viewed by those who argue against the concept of total repression as playing a suggestive role in causing some individuals to falsely remember that they were abused as children. Weaknesses exist in any study, and each group minimizes the findings of the opposing side. Both groups feel that the role that the other group plays is destructive. Those who believe in total repression point out that the false-memory label weakens the position of those victims who are learning to deal with what occurred. Further, it inhibits others from bringing these memories out and coping with them. Those 286 FALSE MEMORY VS. REPRESSION who believe that the false memory syndrome exists are concerned because the alleged abusers become victims as the reported accusations impact on their reputations, their jobs, and their family relationships. Obviously, patients who are treated for a trauma that never occurred suffer needlessly. There is also concern because of the damage being done to the mental health profession in general and the negative picture being created of therapists and therapy. Writing in Time, Jaroff" stated: "Repressed memory therapy is harming patients, devastating families, and intensifying a backlash against mental health practitioners." In response to the acceptance by many of the idea of total repression followed by recovered memory, at least 23 states have lifted their statute of limitations in civil cases and are now following the principle of delayed discovery. This means that victims are suing alleged perpetrators for acts that may or may not have been committed 10 to 30 years ago. However, some of those who have been accused are suing therapists for destroying their families and their reputations. There are also some victims who have recanted statements made during therapy, feeling that their recall of abuse in treatment was not real. Some of these individuals are also bringing legal action against their therapists. Because the accusations that are being made relate to experiences that reportedly occurred 10 to 30 years ago, it is almost impossible to document the accuracy of these memories. There is, however, a means of determining whether these abuses have actually occurred, and that is through the polygraph testing of the alleged perpetrators. Polygraphists are regularly requested to evaluate the authenticity of sexual abuse accusations. The vast majority of .these, however, are cases in which no repression or recovered memory is involved. In an attempt to ascertain the accuracy of recovered memories, a comparison was made of the truthfulness found in alleged sexual offenders accused on the basis of 287 recovered memories in contrast to those in cases in which repression and recovered memories were not an issue. Subjects Since there is a general feeling in polygraphy that confirmatory tests, such as the testing of victims, is a more complicated examination, the alleged offenders were studied rather than the victims. Because all of the individuals evaluated were being accused of sexual abuse, it was impossible to attempt a double blind study. Each examination was constructed knowing as much about the case as possible in order to devise appropriate questions. All of the subjects in both groups were similar in that they were referred for testing by their defense attorneys. Therefore they were all tested voluntarily, knowing that if they failed the test the results could not be used against them. If, however, they were found to be truthful, it was highly likely that the charges would be dropped. Because of that, there inevitably was considerable motivation to pass the test. The only difference between the control group (those alleged abusers for whom the accusation was not based on recovered memories) and the experimental group (those who were accused on a recovered-memory basis) was the time period between the alleged act and the accusation. For those in the control group, the act was relatively recent, within three or four years, while the experimental group was accused of acts that had occurred years before. To those without a clear understanding of polygraphy, it would seem as if the emotions and memories of the accused offenders could have been dulled over the years, causing them to be more likely to pass the test. In actuality, how long ago the crime occurred is of little significance. The ability of the polygraph procedure to detect truth and deception is based more on the fear of a lie being detected than on any other factor. The fear, of course, is 288 FALSE MEMORY VS. REPRESSION influenced by the threat of any punishments that could follow being found deceptive. Therefore, even if the act were to have been committed years ago, the possible punishment would be in the present, and so too would the fear of lies being detected. The fear of being detected in a lie activates the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in changes in blood volume, heart rate, electrodermal response, and rate and pattern of breathing. The polygraph test does not detect lies; rather, they are interpreted based on changes in physiologic responses." One final issue is that the study could not be carried out using only confirmed tests. Verification of polygraph results can be determined accurately only by admissions that are made. If an individual is found to be deceptive, there is a high likelihood of a confession being obtained, but for a truthful subject, it requires an admission by someone else. While this is a common occurrence when a case involves five suspects, it was not the case in this research. Polygraph testing is not infallible, and there is continued debate on the level of its validity. Both the use of this approach with criminal suspects and research into its accuracy have been going on for almost 100 years. Variations in the research results depend on the design used, the population tested, and how recently the study was conducted. There have been many improvements in instrumentation and technique in recent years, resulting in higher levels of accuracy. Some tendency to find higher levels of validity exists with the deceptive as compared with the truthful. Therefore more faith can be placed on truthful findings. A review of polygraph validity studies was carried out by the Office of Technology Assessment at the request of Congress." Their purpose was to determine the accuracy rate of employee polygraph screening tests. Because the findings indicated that in this realm of testing there was little research, testing in this area in the private sector was essentially eliminated. Regarding testing of criminal suspects, their review of 10 studies focused on occasional 289 low rates of accuracy on truthful subjects. This has resulted in a revision of testing technique, and a recent 10-year review of polygraph validity studies indicated an average accuracy of 98% for the deceptive and 97% for the truthful." Regardless of the accuracy of polygraph findings, it was believed that there would not be a significant difference in validity between the two groups. Therefore verification of the results was not considered. Although the testing of alleged sexual offenders is probably one of the most commonly administered polygraph examinations, only rarely are the accusations based on recovered repressed memories. To accumulate a sufficiently large sample, statistics had to be drawn from the files of a total of five examiners. Forty-eight subjects in the experimental group were obtained, which was the total tested by all five examiners. Two of these, however, were inconclusive, reducing the number of subjects to 46. They were compared with a total of 300 subjects chosen randomly from each of the five polygraphists' files. Method A Pearson Chi square test was utilized to measure the statistical significance of the results. Results A comparison of the two groups of alleged sexual abusers was made, with the results shown in the following table. The 46 alleged offenders who had been accused because of the recovery of repressed memories (experimental group) were found to be truthful in 96% of the cases and deceptive in 4%. In contrast to that, for those 300 alleged abusers in whose cases no repressed memory was involved, 22% were found to tv \0 o A comparison of polygraph findings for those alleged perpetrators accused by victims with and without repressed memory -n >- l' CIl Repressed Memory (46 Subjects) Findings Number of SUbjects Deceptive Non-Deceptive Non-Repressed Memory (300 SUbjects) Deceptive Non-Deceptive t'I1 s:t'I1 s:o ;:tl ><: < CIl 2 44 234 66 ;:tl t'I1 ;g Percentage of SUbjects t'I1 4% 96% 78% 22% CIl CIl o Z 291 be truthful and 78% were deceptive. The statistical analysis employed with the Pearson Chi square test with one degree of freedom demonstrated that the probability of this finding having occurred by chance was at the 0.000 level. Discussion The dramatic findings in this study have strong implications for the fields of both law and mental health. They cast strong doubts on the validity of the concept of total repression, indicating that it occurs at the most in only a small percentage of those who have made these accusations. They imply further that the impact of suggestion on these individuals, whether it be through the literature to which they have been exposed or through therapy, has played havoc with their emotional states. In many instances they have been treated for years for problems that did not exist, which undoubtedly has added to their difficulties. For those who have been accused based on these false memories, accusations of this nature could have destroyed their families and their reputations. All of this too has resulted in a crisscrossing of litigation of victims suing alleged abusers who in turn are suing therapists. These findings also argue against the inappropriate use of such therapeutic tools as hypnosis, visual imagery, truth serums, and even dream interpretation. It can be assumed that the therapists believed the abuse existed and utilized these techniques to search out this repressed material. Believing in its validity, they found more and more data to support it, until both the patient and the therapist were convinced of its reality. Another finding of this study provided some estimate as to the degree that false reporting occurs among accusations that are made in which no repression is involved. There has been great variability in the estimates of false reporting, but early figures were placed at 10%. Most polygraphists have noted 292 FALSE MEMORY VS. REPRESSION that in the beginning of the awareness of sexual abuse, a very small percentage of the alleged offenders were found to be truthful. Now this is a more common finding. This study of the 300 subjects suggests that false reporting is in the area of 20%. It is certainly conceivable that the rate has increased along with a greater awareness of the existence of child sexual abuse. Some adolescents could be using this as a means for being removed from the home or to cause the removal of a parent or stepparent. Certainly it also could be a device for getting revenge. In custody cases one must also be wary of the accuracy of the accusations that are made. Because this is the first study of this kind, these results should be viewed as preliminary findings. The author has already initiated a plan toward replicating this study. Although it will be rather difficult, an attempt is also being made to compare accuracy rates of nonsexual crimes committed years ago in contrast to recent crimes. In the meantime, the extreme differences found in the two groups examined suggest that one must be concerned about the accuracy of charges when repression and recovered memory are involved. Notes 1. l. Briere and I. Conte, "Self-Reported Amnesia for Abuse in Adults Molested as Children," The Journal of Traumatic Stress, in press. 2. 1. Briere, "Repressed Memory Controversy and Sex Abuse." Debate at the IOI st annual convention of the American Psychological Association, 1993, Toronto, Canada. 3. L.M. Williams, "Adult Memories of Childhood Abuse: Preliminary Findings from a Longitudinal Study," The Advisor, 1992, Vol. V, 1920. 4. E.F. Loftus, "The Reality of Repressed Memories," American Psychologist, 1993, Vol. XLVIII, 518-537. 5. E. Bass and L. Davis, The Courage to Heal (New York: Harper & Row, 1988). 6. R. Fredrickson, Repressed Memories: A Journey to Recovering from Sexual Abuse (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992). 7. L. laroff, "Lies of the Mind," Time, Nov. 29, 1993,52-59. 293 8. S. Abrams, The Complete Polygraph Handbook (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1989). 9. Scientific Validity of Polygraph Testing. A Research Review and Evaluation, A Technical Memorandum (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, OTA-TM-H-15, Nov. 1983). 10. N. Ansley, "The Validity and Reliability of Polygraph Decisions in Real Cases," Polygraph, 1990, Vol. XIX, 169-181.