Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1996, page 41
abuse by incestuous fathers are most common among this totally amnesic group. The most
troubling aspects are MPD and early incestuous abuse. We will discuss MPD later. For now
let us turn to the question of the incestuous abuse of young children.
While SRA would seem to be obvious fantasy, the early incestuous abuse reported as
common in the totally amnesic patients and seen as likely to be concealed by the spotty
amnesia of the second group (Harvey &Herman, 1994) raises questions. The literature
suggests that father-daughter incest is most likely to take place after a child begins to show
secondary sexual characteristics, that is, age 9 or 10 at the earliest (Gebhard, Gagnon,
Pomeroy, &Christenson, 1965). Pedophilia, on the other hand, may involve children as
young as 2 or 3, but the data suggest that parents seldom engage in sexual relations with
their own children at an early age. Pedophilia tends to be perpetrated by adults who are
familiar to the child, but not by the young child‟s parents (Davison &Neale, 1974, 1994).
Recent research supports this view. For example, Marshall, Barabee, and Christophe (1986)
used a penile plethysmograph to measure erectile responses among nonfamilial molesters
and incestuous males exposed to photographs of both nude children and adult heterosexual
behavior. The incestuous molesters were aroused by the adult heterosexual stimuli, while
the nonfamilial molesters were more aroused by the photographs of nude children.
A second rationale employed to make early ICA by parents believable, the popular notion
that those persons who have been sexually abused as children become pedophiles in their
turn, has little support from relevant research (Freund, Watson, &Dickey, 1990 Hindman,
1988). So the notion that abused parents will in turn abuse their children seems
inconsistent with the literature. The sexual abuse of children has negative consequences for
many victims, but not a one-to-one simplistic relationship with pedophilia. Taken together,
if early sexual abuse does not tend to involve parents, and abused parents are not likely to
be exceptions to this rule, the evidence would suggest that early father-daughter incest is
extremely rare and such memories are likely to be an iatrogenic fantasy.
Diagnosing Relatively Rare Conditions with Fuzzy Boundaries: The Problem of
False Positives
As noted above, even Herman and her colleagues now view total amnesia as the least
frequent type of response to childhood abuse. This view is consistent with the work of
Femina, Yeager, and Lewis (1990), who found little evidence for total amnesia among abuse
survivors. Additionally, Williams (1994) interviewed 129 women 17 years after an episode in
which they had been reported to be victims of child sexual abuse. In a 3-hour interview, 49
of the 129 victims (39%) did not report the abuse, and 15 victims (12%) denied ever
having been sexually abused during childhood. While there are a number of ways to
interpret these data (e.g., second interviews are frequently able to elicit reports of abuse
consciously withheld at an initial interview), the fact that only 12% of these women denied
any sexual abuse at a first interview suggests that total amnesia for ICA is not common,
although specific instances may be forgotten.
As Lindsay and Read (1994) note, much of what is identified as psychogenic amnesia is
ordinary infantile and childhood amnesia, the loss of detail for a single event when similar
instances recur, and simple forgetting. All of these instances are normal, not pathognomic.
In the present authors‟ experience, the remainder of what at first appears to be psychogenic
amnesia almost always involves one of three factors: (1) alcohol or other intoxicating drugs,
(2) trauma to the brain based on accidental injury, and (3) a conscious choice to refuse to
think about ego-dystonic or otherwise extremely unpleasant memories. In fact, the major
problem with traumatic memories in general is not that they are repressed and forgotten.
More often they are remembered all too well (Christianson, 1992). This is not to say that
psychogenic amnesia never occurs. However, it well may be more limited and far less
frequent than most ICA-related reports have suggested.
abuse by incestuous fathers are most common among this totally amnesic group. The most
troubling aspects are MPD and early incestuous abuse. We will discuss MPD later. For now
let us turn to the question of the incestuous abuse of young children.
While SRA would seem to be obvious fantasy, the early incestuous abuse reported as
common in the totally amnesic patients and seen as likely to be concealed by the spotty
amnesia of the second group (Harvey &Herman, 1994) raises questions. The literature
suggests that father-daughter incest is most likely to take place after a child begins to show
secondary sexual characteristics, that is, age 9 or 10 at the earliest (Gebhard, Gagnon,
Pomeroy, &Christenson, 1965). Pedophilia, on the other hand, may involve children as
young as 2 or 3, but the data suggest that parents seldom engage in sexual relations with
their own children at an early age. Pedophilia tends to be perpetrated by adults who are
familiar to the child, but not by the young child‟s parents (Davison &Neale, 1974, 1994).
Recent research supports this view. For example, Marshall, Barabee, and Christophe (1986)
used a penile plethysmograph to measure erectile responses among nonfamilial molesters
and incestuous males exposed to photographs of both nude children and adult heterosexual
behavior. The incestuous molesters were aroused by the adult heterosexual stimuli, while
the nonfamilial molesters were more aroused by the photographs of nude children.
A second rationale employed to make early ICA by parents believable, the popular notion
that those persons who have been sexually abused as children become pedophiles in their
turn, has little support from relevant research (Freund, Watson, &Dickey, 1990 Hindman,
1988). So the notion that abused parents will in turn abuse their children seems
inconsistent with the literature. The sexual abuse of children has negative consequences for
many victims, but not a one-to-one simplistic relationship with pedophilia. Taken together,
if early sexual abuse does not tend to involve parents, and abused parents are not likely to
be exceptions to this rule, the evidence would suggest that early father-daughter incest is
extremely rare and such memories are likely to be an iatrogenic fantasy.
Diagnosing Relatively Rare Conditions with Fuzzy Boundaries: The Problem of
False Positives
As noted above, even Herman and her colleagues now view total amnesia as the least
frequent type of response to childhood abuse. This view is consistent with the work of
Femina, Yeager, and Lewis (1990), who found little evidence for total amnesia among abuse
survivors. Additionally, Williams (1994) interviewed 129 women 17 years after an episode in
which they had been reported to be victims of child sexual abuse. In a 3-hour interview, 49
of the 129 victims (39%) did not report the abuse, and 15 victims (12%) denied ever
having been sexually abused during childhood. While there are a number of ways to
interpret these data (e.g., second interviews are frequently able to elicit reports of abuse
consciously withheld at an initial interview), the fact that only 12% of these women denied
any sexual abuse at a first interview suggests that total amnesia for ICA is not common,
although specific instances may be forgotten.
As Lindsay and Read (1994) note, much of what is identified as psychogenic amnesia is
ordinary infantile and childhood amnesia, the loss of detail for a single event when similar
instances recur, and simple forgetting. All of these instances are normal, not pathognomic.
In the present authors‟ experience, the remainder of what at first appears to be psychogenic
amnesia almost always involves one of three factors: (1) alcohol or other intoxicating drugs,
(2) trauma to the brain based on accidental injury, and (3) a conscious choice to refuse to
think about ego-dystonic or otherwise extremely unpleasant memories. In fact, the major
problem with traumatic memories in general is not that they are repressed and forgotten.
More often they are remembered all too well (Christianson, 1992). This is not to say that
psychogenic amnesia never occurs. However, it well may be more limited and far less
frequent than most ICA-related reports have suggested.
