Introduction

Psychoanalysis was founded on theories of memory. These theories can be extremely painful to consider. Additionally, these adults claiming abuse are mainly women in their 20s, and it is largely their fathers who say that they have a “false memory”. There are cases where women who have left difficult homes with no intention of suing or seeking publicity have been pursued by fathers who have not accepted their right to leave. This is not to deny that it is possible to implant a pseudomemory in someone. Brainwashing is a known and feared phenomenon. However, the memory of abusers is far less accurate. Of one series of 98 children diagnosed sexually abused, 75% of their abusers denied that the abuse had occurred, and Trepper and Barrett refer to a true absence of conscious memory of abusing in some.