(1995). Journal of American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 23:516-517 Going to court is difficult, exhausting business. This is particularly so when one's testimony pertains to whether a child patient has been sexually abused by the father, and the parents now embroiled in divorce proceedings. Are the child's accusations true or has the mother put the child up to it? Has the child related a lie, false memory (Loftus, 1993), a delusion in an atypical psychosis, or has memory been irretrievably altered by leading questions during prior sex-abuse inquiries? As Loftus notes, human memory is profoundly malleable at all ages but particularly so in young children being “treated” by a psychotherapist who suggests too much. In this situation one needs authoritative help Fortunately, such is to be found in Richard Gardner's True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse. Although in many circumstances it will never be possible to say with absolute certainty whether abuse took place, the author suggests that by using his rating scales and � [This is a summary or excerpt from the full text of the book or article. The full text of the document is available to subscribers.] |
