CHILD AND YOUTH SEXUAL ABUSE BY CLERGY:

THE ROLE OF RECOVERED MEMORIES

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Quotations:

Overview:

Major concern about abusive hebephiles and pedophiles in the Roman Catholic priesthood (and to a lesser degree among other clergy) surfaced in early 2002. As of 2002-MAY, new incidents are being featured almost daily on TV news broadcasts. Associated with this panic has been the revival of belief in the usefulness of Recovered Memory Therapy (RMT), and of belief in the reliability of recovered, long-repressed memories which it generates. Repressed memories are a.k.a. dissociative amnesia, traumatic amnesia, betrayal trauma, and by other names.

According to author Mike Pendergrast, "surveys that indicated [that] some 25% of American counselors specialized in recovered memory therapy at its height in the early 1990s." ₂ RMT had since been largely abandoned by mental health practitioners. It is now experiencing a comeback in connection with clergy abuse.

What is RMT?

RMT is a therapeutic technique which is based on the belief that many children repress all memory of severe sexual abuse. According to this belief, they may have been brutally raped many times a week over a period of five years; yet, as adults, they have no recollection of the attacks. In fact, they might believe that their childhood was quite happy. RMT therapists believe that symptoms of insomnia, depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, etc., often appear in adulthood because of these repressed memories. These therapists typically use some combination of suggestive techniques, like hypnotism, guided imagery and visualizations, dream therapy, age regression, automatic writing -- or even simply having the client imagine abuse that might have happened to them. After weeks or months of therapy, many client begin to recall what appear to be fractured images of abuse. These gradually coalesce into what feel like actual memories of sexual abuse.

RMT appears to be a mechanism by which the beliefs of the therapist produce what appear to be memories in their clients. Sometimes, these "memories" are of abuse on board UFOs, abuse during former lifetimes, or Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) by demon worshipers. A new theory is that memories of future events can be "recovered." Most people give such "memories" little credibility. But some believe that "memories" of childhood sexual abuse recovered by RMT are credible.

Some adults who have gone through RMT have recalled being sexually abused by clergy, and are launching law suits against priests, ministers and pastors. Some therapists, DA's and police investigators are accepting these "memories" as valid evidence of childhood abuse. Almost all memory researchers, all major professional mental health associations, and most therapists regard RMT as a dangerous, unproven therapy that often creates memories of events that never happened -- often called "false memories." Many hundreds of people have been unjustly convicted on the basis of false memories in the past. History may be repeating itself.

Types of memories:

Associated essay and menus on this web site:

References:

1. Jon Trott, "Are Controversial "Recovered Memories" about Pedophile Priests Trustworthy?" at: http://www.cornerstonemag.com/
2. Mark Pendergrast, "The bloated corpse," False Memory Syndrome Newsletter, Volume 11, #3, 2002-MAY/JUN, Pages 3 & 4. See also: Mark Pendergrast & Melody Gavigan, "Victims of Memory, Sex Abuse Accusations and Shattered Lives," Upper Access, (1996). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.
3. Chris Colin, "The ultimate weapon," Salon, 2002-MAY-22.
4. Ellen Bass & Laura Davis, "The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse", Harper Collins, (1992). P. 22. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.

5. Renee Fredrickson, "Repressed Memories: A journey to recovery from sexual abuse", (1992), Page 203. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.

6. J.G. Kennedy, delivered on 1962-JUN-11 at a Commencement Address at Yale University. Quoted by Biesterveld, Wisconsin Law Review, 2002.
7. "Reported Recovered Memories of Child Sexual Abuse," British Royal College of Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Bulletin, (1997), 21, Pages 663-665, 1997-OCT-1.

Copyright © 2002 & 2003 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2002-JUL-30
Latest update: 2003-OCT-15
Author: B.A. Robinson