ABSTRACT
Unlike the syndromes featuring in previous chapters, False Memory Syndrome has only very recently emerged. It has yet to gain an ‘official’ status within psychological or psychiatric discourse, such as entry into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual would bestow. It has, however, already become a very ‘real’ entity, in that it is a label increasingly used to describe and account for adult women’s recollection of sexual abuse committed against them during childhood. Supporters of this diagnostic category urge caution in accepting women’s allegations, particularly under the conditions where the abuse had been forgotten for some time. They charge that such memories can be implanted by therapists who employ improper techniques when helping the women to recover from alleged childhood trauma. The False Memory Syndrome movement, emerging only during the 1990s, now embraces a wide range of supporters, including academic psychologists, therapists, clients, journalists, authors, family members, and lawyers. Many of those involved in the debate pursue a distinctly populist path, harnessing the media and internet to promote their cause, while others contribute through conducting scientific research on the properties of memory. The emergence of False Memory Syndrome provides a prime illustration of the way in which psychological syndromes are culturally situated and politically inspired (Lee, forthcoming; Scott, 1990; Young, 1995). It is not therefore surprising to find the implicit relation already at work, even in the early stages of the growth of this syndrome.
