Book Reviews
A feminists clinician's guide to the memory debate
By Susan Contratto and M Janice Gutfreund
ISBN: 978-1560230854; 1996; 140 pages; Harrington Park Press, New York;
Reviewed by Fiona Ann Papps
School of Behavioural Sciences, Macquarie University
This book was originally published as Women & Therapy, Volume 19, Number 1,1996. It provides an insightful and thoughtful discussion of the issues surrounding the false memory debate and its context. Particular strengths of this edited collection are its utilisation of feminist theory in exploring the memory debate, including the clinical, psychological and ethical aspects of the memory debate In their introduction, the editors outline the goals of the work, including the need to empower feminists working in the area of recovered memory.
They believe that this can be achieved through the location of the memory debate in its socio-historical and political context, and by providing ethical guidelines for the treatment of child sexual abuse. Brief summaries of the chapters and common themes are provided. In the first article, BroWn outlines the historical and political context to the false memory debate, emphasising that child sexual abuse is essentially a political act. The theme of sexual abuse as an essentially political act is again promoted in the second chapter by Quirk and DePrince. A strength of this article is its investigation of the backlash movement against the adult survivors of child sexual abuse, and its discussion of the role of the media and judicial system in perpetuating this backlash.
In the third article, Hovdestad and Kristiansen take a more psychological approach to the issue of recovered memories of trauma, outlining a strong empirical base for the notion of recovered memory. The next offering is by Kristiansen, Felton and Hovdestad, who again point to the political context of the memory debate, but integrate this with the findings of social psychological research in this area. The writers provide a critique of the research on suggestibility, reinterpreting some of the findings in this area in terms of the notions of explicit and implicit memory discussed in the previous chapter.
This chapter is convincing in its argument that belief in the false memory syndrome is connected with a specific set of attitudes and beliefs. The fifth chapter, by Leary, uses tenets from postmodernism and constructivism to evaluate psychoanalytic arguments, psychological research, and popular cultural texts on false memory. While Leary in this chapter is careful to explain the aspects of postmodern constructivism that inform her analysis, a thorough understanding of constructivism is helpful for engaging with her analysis.
Carolyn Zerbe Enns, in the sixth chapter, has a focus on the clinical aspects of false memory, rather than on the political context of the debate, and offers numerous enlightening suggestions for feminist clinicians working with the survivors of sexual abuse. In the seventh chapter, Dorado uses research conducted in Michigan to demonstrate the difficulties that survivors of sexual abuse might experience in seeking legal recourse through a civil court. While much of this article has limited relevance to practitioners working within the Australian legal system (due to its specific focus), Dorado's suggestions for feminist practice with clients considering litigation remain highly pertinent and helpful.
The braiding of legal and clinical issues in the area of the memory debate is again evident in the eighth chapter by Feldman-Summers, who identifies how clinicians working with adult clients who first report memories of sexual abuse may become involved in litigation, and identifies techniques used by therapists working with survivors of child sexual abuse that may be particularly open to attack during litigation, leading to the questioning of the veracity of the client's reports of abuse.
A particular strength of her chapter for those working in an Australian setting is acknowledgment of policy statements issued by the Australian Psychological Society. In the ninth and final chapter, Pope draws together the themes of this collection. Through his exploration of research and case studies in seven areas that are critical to the memory debate, Pope concludes that it is not only meaningless, but potentially harmful, to clients, clinicians and society to take research findings, clinical interventions and public policy on the memory debate out of their social, historical and political contexts.
Overall, the book provides a clear and accessible discussion of the issues surrounding the memory debate. The diversity of disciplines that are represented in the collection makes this book essential and valuable reading not only for clinicians working with the survivors of child sexual abuse, but for academics, legal representatives and students who have an interest in the issues surrounding the memory debate, and in feminist perspectives on these issues.
