"Incest Craze" of the 1990's cause by culturally biased therapists
Pamela Freyd, Ph. D. | 15.04.2002 05:01
The "Incest Craze" of the late 1990's may have been caused by therapists who were projecting their cultural biases onto their patients, thus affecting the effectiveness of their treatment paradigms.
Everyone involved in family therapy or who had ever watched or listened to the highly popular syndicated show, "Love Line" remembers the "Sexual Abuse" craze that ran through theraputic circles in the 1990's. At that time and under those conditions anyone who expressed any kind of alternative sexuality, including homosexuality, was assumed to have been abused by a family member as a child. On the "Love Line" show in particular it became a sort of joke, with Adam Corolla proclaiming "Who Molested Ya?" every time he encountered a female who preferred multiple partner sex over monogamus relationships.
We now know that this is not true. The work that our foundation continues to do soundly debunks the idea that so many people were molested as children. While it certainly happens from time to time, the true number of these cases is actually quite small. What seems to have happened is that every time a therapist with a cultural bias against alternative sexuality ran into a patient, especially a female patient, who expressed themselves sexually in an open manner, there was a tendency for them to use questionable methods to "bring out" abuse memories in order to "explain" their sexual preference. This reminds me uncomfortably of the days when homosexuality was labelled a disease, and the medical model was applied to its treatment in hopes of bringing about a "cure". In point of fact, almost none of these people had actually been abused at all, except by therapists who perhaps did not understand that their own biased perceptions were affecting their treatment paradigm.
While no one at the False Memory Syndrome Foundation advocates unsafe sex, we also feel that the way in which an individual expresses their sexuality is nobodys buisness except their own as long as no one is being harmed. Multiple partner sex, sometimes known as polyamoury, when combined with awareness of and precaution against sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy can be a very fulfilling lifestyle for those who choose to practice it.
To see more of our work, please visit our website at FMSFOnline.org or feel free to call us at (215) 940-1040 or our toll-free 800 number 1-800 568-8882 Our fax number is (215) 940-1042 and our address is 1955 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19103-5766
Our E-mail address is
Mail@FMSFOnline.org
Pamela Freyd, Ph.D. Executive Director, False Memory Syndrome Foundation
We now know that this is not true. The work that our foundation continues to do soundly debunks the idea that so many people were molested as children. While it certainly happens from time to time, the true number of these cases is actually quite small. What seems to have happened is that every time a therapist with a cultural bias against alternative sexuality ran into a patient, especially a female patient, who expressed themselves sexually in an open manner, there was a tendency for them to use questionable methods to "bring out" abuse memories in order to "explain" their sexual preference. This reminds me uncomfortably of the days when homosexuality was labelled a disease, and the medical model was applied to its treatment in hopes of bringing about a "cure". In point of fact, almost none of these people had actually been abused at all, except by therapists who perhaps did not understand that their own biased perceptions were affecting their treatment paradigm.
While no one at the False Memory Syndrome Foundation advocates unsafe sex, we also feel that the way in which an individual expresses their sexuality is nobodys buisness except their own as long as no one is being harmed. Multiple partner sex, sometimes known as polyamoury, when combined with awareness of and precaution against sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy can be a very fulfilling lifestyle for those who choose to practice it.
To see more of our work, please visit our website at FMSFOnline.org or feel free to call us at (215) 940-1040 or our toll-free 800 number 1-800 568-8882 Our fax number is (215) 940-1042 and our address is 1955 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19103-5766
Our E-mail address is
Mail@FMSFOnline.org Pamela Freyd, Ph.D. Executive Director, False Memory Syndrome Foundation
Pamela Freyd, Ph. D.
e-mail:
Mail@FMSFOnline.org
Homepage:
http://www.FMSFOnline.org
Comments
Hide the following 5 comments
bullshit
15.04.2002 08:57
is part of a backlash toward people who have been sexually abused and have finally managed to let people know about it. Basically a lot of people didn't believe that folks could be molested in such numbers--but they can. How can a foundation decide how many people were molested as children and how many weren't? Especially since one of the things that happens after sexual abuse is that people start questioning their own judgement and whether or not it has happened to them.
Polyamoury is great but what the fuck do alternative models of sexuality have to do with a group that tells people who were molested that they made it up?
There is a serious problem of "hidden agendas" that plagues the effort to create a "controversy" around the issue of repressed and recovered memory and most of what passes for "scientific" evidence about the alleged unreliability of recovered memories is marked by obvious bias (often financial), shoddy "research," and serious lapses in reason and logic. This issue has succeeded in creating considerable confusion among the general populace and within the various institutions (legal, media, mental health, etc.) concerned with the issue of child abuse and its prosecution, not to mention the treatment of its survivors.
Post-traumatic stress disorder often leads to memories which are forgotten and then recalled. Amnesia for childhood sexual abuse is a condition. The existence of this condition is absolutely beyond dispute. Repression is merely one explanation – often a confusing and misleading one – for what causes the condition of amnesia. At least 10% of people sexually abused in childhood will have periods of complete amnesia for their abuse, followed by experiences of delayed recall. *THIS IS BASED ON PUBLISHED RESEARCH.*
The Summer 1996 volume of The Journal of Psychiatry and Law, published in February of 1997, is an indispensable resource. Its six articles include Scheflin and Brown's comprehensive review of scientific studies of recovered memories of sexual abuse, and Dalenberg's study of the accuracy of sexual abuse memories recovered in psychotherapy (she actually conducted interviews with both victims and perpetrators, some of whom confessed).
I haven't looked at the FMS site in a loooong time but when researching it ages ago realized that most people use the
methodology of the Poole, Lindsay et al. study which isn't scientifically accurate. They are are often cited to document claims regarding the frequency and potential risks of using so-called suggestive memory recovery techniques or memory recovery therapies. This study has also been used to document the alleged number of persuaded clients who have developed false memories of childhood abuse. The basis for these claims seems questionable when the Poole, Lindsay et al. study is examined carefully. Lack of operational definitions, flawed survey construction, lack of face validity, misclassification of techniques, and fallacious inferences about causality, such as mistaking correlation for causation, make it impossible to use these data to draw scientific conclusions about the nature and outcomes of clinicians' practices.
Blah. Pissed off that people still believe this shit.
yael
False memory bullshit
15.04.2002 10:18
I didn't recover memory after therapy or hypnosis which FMSF always suggests is the case. (My recovered memory was validated by other people reovering the same memories independently)
Campaigners against the sexual abuse of children include people of all sexualities and have never linked their campaign to opposition to non traditional sexual orientation or practices EXCEPT FOR SEX ABUSE OF CHILDREN BY ADULTS.
On the other hand subscribers to the belief in false memory syndrome and those who deny that children are sexually abused are also people who are often heterosexist e.g the catholic church.
The idea of false memory syndrome is part of a backlash in defence of the institution of the nuclear family in which most abuse takes place
abuse survivor
i did psych
15.04.2002 13:11
Nick the gothic
yeah, but
15.04.2002 15:13
me
sexual abuse, Polyfidelity, BPD
17.03.2004 15:18
>models of sexuality have to do with a group that tells
>people who were molested that they made it up?
A very large number of the people who practice polyamoury or polyfedelilty are survivors of sexual abuse. This has been debated a lot on poly discussion boars, but I see no reason to try and deny it. Sure, there are a lot of non-poly folks who were abused as well. I think that they were trying to "debuink" the idea of large scale sex abuse because "it's a scry thought" and they want to feel safe. I think the folks on the show they mentioned were acculty aware of the relationship between "poly" and sexual abuse.
Sexual abuse predisposes people to certain personality disorders. Most especially Borderline Personality Disorder and Narcisistic Personality Disorder. Borderlines and Narciocists tend to get into poly relationships in part (if they were abused) because of sexual abuse scripts that broke down their "boundaries".
In people with BPD boundaries are a huge deal. They expect things from people that are unreasonable. One moment you are their savior and the next you are horrible. They are often into cutting. Here is some other information on BPD.
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Miscellaneous attributes of people with BPD:
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* People with BPD are often bright, witty, funny, life of the party.
* They may have problems with object constancy. When a person leaves (even temporarily), they
* may have a problem recreating or remembering feelings of love that were present between themselves and the other. Often, BPD patients want to keep something belonging to the loved one around during separations.
* They frequently have difficulty tolerating aloneness, even for short periods of time.
Their lives may be a chaotic landscape of job losses, interrupted educational pursuits, broken engagements, hospitalizations.
* Many have a background of childhood physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or physical/emotional neglect.
................................................
and here is a list of symptoms
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Affect : chronic/major depression, helplessness, hopelessness, worthlessness, guilt, anger (including frequent expressions of anger), anxiety, loneliness,boredom, emptiness
Cognition : odd thinking, unusual perceptions, nondelusional paranoia, quasipsychosis
Impulse action patterns : substance abuse/dependence, sexual deviance, manipulative suicide, gestures, self injury (cutting), other impulsive behaviors
Interpersonal relationships : intolerance of aloneness, abandonment, engulfment, annihilation fears, counterdependency, stormy relationships, manipulativeness, dependency, devaluation, masochism/sadism, demandingness ,entitlement
................................................
ANd here is a web site (very pro poly) that says that people who are poly should avoid those with these disoders like the plague:
.......quoted material below.........
Oh, and in my experience, anyone who tells you they are poly, and is also dealing with Bi-polar, a history of depression, or any other kind of psychological disorder, for which they have not gone through YEARS of therapy and can demonstrate REAL progress, is someone to stay FAR away from if you want to maintain any kind of sanity. (And "acknowledging" the disorder isn't the same as having done the real work of healing.). I have learned the hard way that people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), make people around them crazy and are REALLY UNSAFE people to be involved with in ANY kind of relationship. Unfortunately, it seems that poly attracts BPD's (and those suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder) because they think they can get more of the attention they crave through multiple relationships.
........end quoted material........
Chemical Refugee