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19 Psych., Crime & L. 1 (2013)

handle is hein.journals/pcyceadl19 and id is 1 raw text is: Psychology, Crime & Law Routledge Vol. 19, No. 1, January 2013, 1-19 - Taylor&FrncisGroup Recovered memories, satanic abuse, Dissociative Identity Disorder and false memories in the UK: a survey of Clinical Psychologists and Hypnotherapists James Osta*, Dan B. Wrightb, Simon Eastona, Lorraine Hopea and Christopher C. Frenche aDepartment of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK, bFlorida International University, Psychology, Miami, USA; Goldsmiths College, University of London, Psychology, London, UK (Received 25 August 2010; final version received 15 June 2011) An online survey was conducted to examine psychological therapists' experiences of, and beliefs about, cases of recovered memory, satanic/ritualistic abuse, Multiple Personality Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder, and false memory. Chartered Clinical Psychologists (n =183) and Hypnotherapists (n =119) re- sponded. In terms of their experiences, Chartered Clinical Psychologists reported seeing more cases of satanic/ritualistic abuse compared to Hypnotherapists who, in turn, reported encountering more cases of childhood sexual abuse recovered for the first time in therapy, and more cases of suspected false memory. Chartered Clinical Psychologists were more likely to rate the essential accuracy of reports of satanic/ritualistic abuse as higher than Hypnotherapists. Belief in the accuracy of satanic/ritualistic abuse and Multiple Personality Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder reports correlated negatively with the belief that false memories were possible. Keywords: recovered memory; false memory; sexual abuse; therapy; beliefs Introduction The last 15 years have witnessed one of the most contentious debates in the history of psychology (Brainerd & Reyna, 2005). This debate, referred to by some as the 'memory wars' (Crews, 1995; McHugh, 2008), centred on the validity of claims made by adults that they had recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse that they had previously been unable to recall (Davies & Dalgleish, 2001; Geraerts, Raymaekers, & Merckelbach, 2008; McNally, 2003; Read & Lindsay, 1997). While the majority opinion was that the sexual abuse of children was more prevalent than had previously been thought, psychological opinion concerning the validity of claims based on recovered memories was divided on two key points. The first was whether individuals cope with traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse by blocking out conscious memory of the abuse (see Brown, Scheflin, & Hammond, 1998; see also Erdelyi, 2006, and commentaries; cf. McNally, 2003; Piper, Lillevik, & Kritzer, 2008). The second was whether certain therapeutic techniques might contribute to an individual developing a belief, or apparent memory, about having been sexually *Corresponding author. Email: james.ost@port.ac.uk ISSN 1068-316X print/ISSN 1477-2744 © 2013 Taylor & Francis http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2011.598157 http://www.tandfonline.com

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