November 2007, VOLUME 35, NUMBER 2, Abstract 1
Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Social Worker, Psychologist, and Psychiatrist Reports of Beliefs, Practices, and Cases
Ellen Legault, Canadian Correctional Services. Saskatchewan District Parole
Jean-Roch Laurence, Concordia University
Canadian psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers were surveyed regarding their endorsement of beliefs and techniques thought to be associated with cases of memory recovery of child sexual abuse (CSA) and regarding the number of CSA cases seen. Two hundred and twenty usable questionnaires (24%) were returned. Fifty-five percent of respondents reported at least one case of recovered memory. Therapists reported that 4.3% of clients recovered memories. Support for recovered memory validity was associated with use of more memory recovery techniques, including hypnosis and related techniques, and more reports of recovered memory. Psychiatrists were the most skeptical of recovered memory validity, and social workers the least. Professions did not differ on proportion of cases reported. The base rate of clients recovering memories was low, suggesting that there is not an epidemic of recovered memories of CSA. The reported rates are not negligible, however, and care must be exerted when exploring clients’ past history.