The Development of False Memory Syndrome

The invention of the term False Memory Syndrome has been largely credited to Ralph Underwager, Ph.D, who together with Pamela Freyd, co-founded the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, Inc (FMSF) in March 1992 '... to aid victims, both primary and secondary, of False Memory Syndrome; to seek reasons for the spread of False Memory Syndrome'(1992). In reality, the FMSF is an adovcacy group for parents who claim to have been falsely accused of childhood sexual abuse by their adult children. Indeed, Pamela Freyd is just such a parent whose adult daughter, Jennifer, claims that her father Peter sexually abused her in childhood.
In contrast, Ralph Underwager's interest in co-founding the FMSF has rather more sinister connotations. A former Lutheran pastor, psychologist and co-author of Accusations of Child Sexual Abuse, who has testified as an expert witness in over 200 sexual abuse trials, Underwager has frequently been criticised for his lack of impartiality in abandoning objective, scientific criteria in his testimony which is invariably in favour of the defendant. More disturbingly, Underwager has clearly stated that he is permissive of, and indeed an advocate of paedophilia.
In an interview with the Dutch Journal of Paedophilia, Paidika, Underwager clearly states that paedophilia is a responsible choice for an individual that '... paedophilia is an acceptable expression of God's will for love and unity' (Paidika, 1993). Since giving this interview there has been much pressure on Underwager to resign from the FMSF Scientific Advisory Board, to which he has now acquiesced, although his wife still remains an active member.
To date the FMSF represent over 7500 families in the USA alone who claim that they are innocent victims of the sexual abuse industry, while in Britain the British False Memory Society (BFMS), which incorporates the helpline Adult Children Accusing Parents (ACAP), are currently involved with over 400 families. While these organisations gather copious data on denials of sexual abuse charges made by parents, they have no way of knowing, or indeed, establishing the truth or falsity of any reports they receive. In fact, as David Calof points out, the FMSF '... proceeds a priori from the assumption that the disputed memories are false' (Calof, 1993).
Both the FMSF and BFMS assert that memories of childhood sexual abuse have reached epidemic proportions which threaten to destroy thousands of families. Although they aknowledge that some child sexual abuse accusations are true, they imply that the majority are false, due to FMS. To substantiate these claims of false memory, they cite two main factors that contribute to this perceived epidemic. One is inferior science and the other is disreputable therapy. Both of these assertions have been used to discredit those individuals who believe they were sexually abused in childhood and to undermine the process of psychotherapy and therapists in general, and therefore deserve closer scrunity.

Uit het boek: Counselling Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse - Christiane Sanderson