The Accuracy And Validity Of Autobiographical Memory Among Individuals Who Have Experienced Childhood Sexual Abuse ( Csa )

Studies have shown a clear correlation between childhood sexual assault (CSA) and negative sexual experiences later in life. Of relevance to the criminal justice system, these later forms of sexual victimization include sexual assault and sex work. The relationship between CSA and adverse sexual development is a correlation between two things, not a direct pathway from cause to effect. While survivors of sexual assault are at a higher risk of experiencing these later forms of victimization, this correlation represents a highly complex process involving a wide range of mediating factors and the intersections between them. Any experience of sexual assault is highly traumatic. Survivors of CSA, however, represent a unique population, because their trauma occurs near the start of the human developmental process and therefore alters all development thereafter.

Avoidant behavior among victims of sexual abuse may be understood as attempts to cope with the chronic trauma. Among the dysfunctional activities associated with avoidance of abuse-specific memories and feelings are dissociation, substance abuse and various tension-reducing activities. Unfortunately, although sometimes immediately effective in reducing distress, avoidance and self-destructive methods of coping with child abuse experiences may lead ultimately to higher levels of lower self-esteem and greater feelings of guilt and anger.

The sudden recovery of repressed memories from a traumatic event such as childhood sexual abuse can be both validating and confusing for clients that are seeking help with various problems. These new memories might be able to help client identify the cause of their feelings and issues that are affecting their life. However for others it can be a very difficult time because of the conflicting emotions about the abuser. Worst of all when dealing with the recovery of repressed memories they may be all together false. The accuracy of recovered memories in regards to sexual abuse is low and can come with significant consequences. These false memories can be very harmful to the client as

Frequently, as humans, we are faced with traumatic memories and experiences that prove to

Your past affects your future, that is one idea that most people can agree upon. Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse develop symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and are unable to form positive working relationships. Often times the effects of CSA are not fully manifested until later in life. According to Doctor Judith Worell’s Encyclopedia of Women and Gender, nearly 50 percent of Childhood Sexual Abuse reported in 1997 involved victims seven years and younger with the remaining half being split 22 percent between ages eight and eleven, and 25 percent between age twelve and eighteen. Some may argue that at young ages children may forget what has happened to them therefore it will not affect them in the future, although this may be possible,

This paper reviews several articles that discuss the lasting effects that sexual abuse can have on a child into their adult years. The articles agree that victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) will most likely suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or experience revictimization. This paper will also address the common forms of coping that victims of child sexual abuse take part in. Some research will touch on proper healing techniques for victims of CSA to receive.

An estimated 39 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse exist in America today (Darness2Light, 2009a ). This figure continues to grow daily as perpetrators of this crime continue in this destructive path. The definition of child sexual abuse is the force, coercion, or cajoling of children into sexual activities by a dominant adult or adolescent. Sexual abuse of children includes touching (physical) sexually including: fondling; penetration (vaginal or anal using fingers, foreign objects or offenders organs; oral sex, or non-physical contact including: sexual comments; indecent exposures; masturbating in a child’s presence; child prostitution or child pornography (Child Welfare, 2009a).

Memory is essential in how society operates, learned behavior relies heavily on memory, and these memories can often be negative. Learned negative behaviors such as abuse are directly related to events in a person’s life, these memories will manifest into behaviors. Verbal abuse is one of the easiest and common forms of abuse that stem from the environment. Whether a person consciously remembers these abuses is not always significant but it has a large impact on the behaviors of a person. I have executed an assignment on verbal abuse, and what I have learned is that memory can be tricky. A

Teaching About Repressed Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse - This article describes an undergrad 3 credit hour course taught in the fall at Rollins College. It examines human memory and its role in two applied issues which include repressed memory of childhood sexual abuse and eye witness testimony. The course content includes four components: 1) the instructor introduces students to the subject matter, 2) students review the nature of science, 3) learn about the extensive literature on the nature of human memory, and 4) learn about the anecdotal and scientific literature (for and against) on repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse and the literature on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and identification. Freud and the notion of repression is discussed both in this article and in

There are multiple reasons believed to cause repressed memories. A very publicized one is sexual assault. Many victims of this awful crime fail to recall what happened to them, some for a decade or two, but then can recall, sometimes in vivid detail, what happened to them.

The need for understanding the phenomenon of repressed memories is also very important from a legal standpoint. In recent years there has been numerous cases of people suing their parents or other authority figures for abuse that has been recalled many years after the abuse was said to have occurred. The rulings in these cases have often been controversial considering there is often not enough concrete or collaborative evidence to prove the accused to be guilty or innocent. The judge and jury are often forced to make a ruling that relies heavily on the testimonial of the accuser. This is very contentious considering there is not an accurate and reliable test to determine the validity of the accuser.

In "The Reality of Repressed Memories", Elizabeth F. Loftus analyzes several ideas regarding repressed memories. This article examines past legal cases, commonality, juror reactions, authenticity, and accuracy of repressed memories. She also delves into sources that could affect memories, both real and implanted, such as therapist’s suggestions and popular writings like The Courage to Heal, which is often suggested reading by therapists for women who have survived childhood sexual abuse. Finally, the author brings up some interesting points regarding the need for renewed efforts on research and more effective treatment strategies.

This stance on repressed memory supports that sexual abuse taken place during childhood can’t be recalled at a later time. “During therapy, some psychotherapists may repeatedly suggest to clients that they might have been sexually abused during childhood. This suggestion could be blended with reality to create a false memory” (Matlin, 183). Thus, as we are socially pressured to create these scenarios, we will tie certain situations in our life with the suggested event to create our own perspective of this memory. As Geraerts and Smeets state “A number of psychologists have questioned the existence of repressed and recovered memories of trauma because of the lack of solid evidence for such memories” (1130). Furthermore, as these memories are created in our mind, we do not have witnesses or physical proof to support that this type of sexual abuse has actually happened to the child in

3Holmes (1990) was a sceptical psychologist known for his literature reviews on memory repression and memory recollection of childhood abuse. His reviews explore as well as criticize the authenticity of recovered memories from the past. “Holmes (1990) argues that laboratory studies have failed to produce clear evidence for repression, despite more than 60 years of attempts to do so.”4 Hence, he might agree that Eileen’s memories of her best friend’s murder are false, as she cannot scientifically prove them. Though this does not necessarily mean they are. There is some evidence that proves what she stated she witnessed to be reliable. “Media reports from 20 years before–December 1969, when the body was found–were filled with some of these

Judith Lewis Herman’s Trauma and Recovery provides not only greater understanding of how a traumatic event may defined but also the ways in which the effects of the experience may have a significantly repressing effect on the present and future self. Traumatic events are impressing on the self because they overwhelm the conventional emotional and physical perceptions that humanity has adjusted and modified their selves to. As traumatic events generally involve threats to the emotional and physical self, they differ from common misfortunes as they confront the victim with the feeling of extreme terror and helplessness that in result causes the individual to perceive the experience as one that was out of their control. As Herman reiterates, according to the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, “The common denominator of psychological trauma is a feeling of “intense fear, helplessness, loss of control, and threat of annihilation” (Herman 104). However, it is the response to the traumatic event in the emotional or conscious self that may differ from one another as there are three differing reactions to the terror factor of trauma: hyper-arousal, intrusion, and disconnection. Throughout this essay the work of Judith Lewis Herman’s Trauma and Recovery as well as Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower will be utilized to illustrated the compromising effects a traumatic experience such as childhood sexual abuse may have on the development of a young teen and the ways in