Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the Law

by Brown, Daniel P., PhD; Hammond, D. Corydon; Scheflin, Alan W.

• ISBN13: 9780393702545
• ISBN10: 0393702545
• Edition: 00
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-01-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

The authors critically review memory research, trauma treatment, and legal cases pertaining to the false memory controversy. They discuss current memory science and research with both children and adults, pointing out where findings are and are not generalizable to trauma memories recovered in psychotherapy. The main issues in the recovered memory debate are covered, as well as research on emotion and memory, autobiographical memory, flashbulb memory, memory for trauma, and types of suggestions, such as misinformation suggestions, social persuasion, interrogatory suggestions, and brainwashing. Research on the reliability of memories recovered in hypnosis is reviewed and guidelines for using hypnosis with patients reporting no, partial, or full memory of having been sexually abused are outlined. The authors review the development and current practice of phase-oriented trauma treatment and present a standard of care that is effective and ethical. Their exploration of memory in the legal context includes a review of malpractice liability and current malpractice cases for allegedly implanting false memories in therapy, as well as the evolving law around legal actions by people who have recovered memories and around hypnosis and memory recovery. This is an essential reference on memory for all clinicians, researchers, attorneys, and judges.

Table of Contents

About the Authors	vii	(2)
Acknowledgments	ix
1. The False Memory Debate	1	(20)
2. The Contours of the False Memory Controversy	21	(45)
3. The Nature of Memory	66	(33)
4. Laboratory Simulation Studies on Memory for Negative Emotional Events	99	(17)
5. Personal Memories	116	(24)
6. Memory for Events of Impact	140	(14)
7. Trauma Memory	154	(58)
8. Misinformation Suggestibility	212	(40)
9. Interrogatory Suggestion and Coercive Persuasion	252	(34)
10. Hypnosis and Memory: Analysis and Critique of Research	286	(70)
11. A Critical Evaluation of Research on Emotion and Memory	356	(26)
12. The False Logic of the False Memory Controversy and the Irrational Element in Scientific Research on Memory	382	(54)
13. Phase-Oriented Trauma Treatment	436	(62)
14. Trauma Treatment and the Standard of Care	498	(26)
15. Suing Therapists	524	(54)
16. Repressed Memory and the Law	578	(35)
17. Distinguishing between True and False Memories	613	(22)
18. Hypnosis and the Law	635	(40)
Bibliography	675	(64)
Name Index	739	(20)
Subject Index	759