Repressed Memories of Abuse Prove That Abuse Is Widespread (From Child Abuse: Opposing Viewpoints, P 64-72, 1994, David Bender and Bruno Leone, eds. -- See NCJ-159823)

• NCJ Number: 159830
• Author(s): E Bass; L Davis
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Greenhaven Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Opposing Viewpoints Series

Annotation

Child sexual abuse is only beginning to emerge from the shadows, in part because children are at a disadvantage as witnesses, and recent findings of repressed memories in adults indicate that many more children may have been sexually abused than statistics show.

Abstract

For many abuse survivors, remembering is the first step in healing, and remembering is different for every survivor. The process of storing memories is complex because people store different experiences in the right and left halves of the brain. The left brain stores sequential, logical, language-oriented experiences, while the right brain stores perceptual, spatial experiences. Remembering is often difficult because what an individual is trying to remember happened a long time ago. Further, recovering occluded memories is not like remembering with the conscious mind. Often, these memories are vague and come in bits and pieces. In flashbacks, individuals re-experience the original abuse, and flashbacks are frequently visual. In some instances, remembering occurs in response to media coverage of sexual abuse cases. Few abuse survivors feel they have control over their memories and sometimes question if abuse actually occurred.