On memories of childhood abuse: a phenomenological study

Objective: To explore the phenomenon of memories and reported recovered memories of childhood abuse, and to examine ways in which clients and therapists assess the veridicality of such memories. Method: Qualitative methodology utilizing phenomenological inquiry. Within the context of a wider study exploring perceptions of helpful and unhelpful factors in the therapeutic process, a sub-sample of 36 in-depth interviews with clients, therapists, and therapists who considered themselves to have been abused as children included a focus on abuse-memory experiences. Data were analyzed according to Grounded Theory principles. Results: Participants described six types of abuse-memory experiences. The most frequently reported type was where abuse was known about but kept “out of mind.” The six types can be collapsed into three main categories: (1) continual knowledge of abuse (69.5%); (2) unexpected abuse-memories recovered from a prior state of partial knowledge of abuse (16.5%); and (3) abuse-memories recovered from a prior state of no knowledge of abuse (30%). Independent corroboration of recovered memories was rare; and criteria which were reportedly used to assess the veridicality of such memories were problematic when viewed in the light of cognitive psychology research on memory processes. Conclusion: It seems that most people who were abused as children have always had continual knowledge of this, although it is often only much later that many connect problems in adult life with the consequences of such abuse. People also experience the recovery of memories of abuse about which they were previously unaware. There is a danger that the specific controversy surrounding “false memories” may become over-generalized contributing to increased public scepticism about the prevalence and negative impact of child abuse, and the potential effectiveness of appropriate therapeutic services. Objectif: Explorer les phénomènes de souvenirs et de souvenirs retrouvés et signalés d’abus au cours de l’enfance et examiner les façons dont les clients et les thérapeutes évaluent la véracité de tels souvenirs. Méthode: Une méthodologie qualitative utilisant l’enquěte phénoménologique. Trente-six anamnèses ont été menées en profondeur et particulièrement centrées sur les expériences de souvenirs d’abus avec des clients, de thérapeutes et des thérapeutes, se considérant eux-měmes comme ayant é maltraités au cours de l’enfance dans le cadre d’une étude plus large explorant les percepti