WHEN the British Psychological Society released a survey of its members about recovered memories of sexual abuse this week it confronted an issue with the power to destroy lives, jail innocent people and let the guilty walk free.
Two questions lie at the heart of what has become one of the most controversial and difficult issues facing therapists worldwide. Can a victim block out an act as appalling as sexual abuse, only to remember it many years later? And if so, how can such memories be distinguished from false recollections implanted during therapy? The answer to the first question is now widely believed to be yes. Chris Brewin, professor of psychology at the University of London, says a working party of eminent British psychologists has backed the belief that memories can be fully or at least partially recovered after many years.
But the second is far more vexed. In Britain and the US victims have set up false memory societies and in the US a support group for accused parents who protest their innocence - the False Memory Syndrome Foundation - claims a membership of 2,300.
Members of such bodies have succeeded in convincing both therapists and courts that recollections of sexual abuse can be false - a stand backed by the British experts this week when they released guidelines aimed at preventing false recollections.
'We believe memory recovery is a real and important phenomenon, but that great care is needed not to distort the process,' Professor Brewin said. 'We agree with the false memory societies that incorrect therapy procedures can lead to the development of false memories and our guidelines are intended to make sure this does not happen.
In Australia, where the country's first trial based on repressed memories late last year resulted in a mix of acquittals and no verdicts (see panel), the Psychological Society stated its position in October: 'The available scientific and clinical evidence does not allow accurate, inaccurate and fabricated memories to be distinguished in the absence of independent corroboration.' It warned psychologists against jumping to conclusions. The British body has warned false memories can be created by 'making repeated and urgent requests to remember specific events, using a large number of leading questions and by making one-sided interpretations of what a person might be remembering'.