The Skeptical Psychologist

Investigating questionable, controversial, and novel claims in psychology.

Michael Jackson, Truth Serum, and False Memories

I do not know whether Michael Jackson ever molested a child. I do know, however, that recent press coverage of the sexual abuse charges against Jackson has typically omitted one crucial fact.   Read More

Michael Jackson, Truth Serum, and False Memories

Paragraph 4--"Truth extraction" or "Tooth extraction"?

thank you Sigmund

Many thanks to the alert reader for promptly and tactfully pointing out my Freudian slip (which has since been corrected). I'll leave it to the psychoanalysts in the audience to decode its hidden meaning...cheers....Scott

There is absolutely ZERO

There is absolutely ZERO evidence that Jordan Chandler's father gave him Sodium Amytal. There is no record of him or ANYONE in his office possessing the drug. The was a myth started by Mary Fischer in the forever tactless GQ magazine. Reporting tabloid lies as facts is very irresponsible of you and defamatory to the entire Chandler family. Shame on you!

Zero? You are ill informed.

Zero? You are ill informed. Evan Chandler, Jordan's father, admitted giving his son SA. He, nor anyone in his office possessed the drug. An anesthesiologist friend administered it. Important to note, Chandler also admitted to injecting Jackson with something that knocked him out. Chandler alleged that this happened at his home and he administered the drug to Jackson for a headache. Quite curious.

Did you get this from Wikipedia?

To my knowledge, there has only ever been one source to make the claim that sodium amytal was used to get the boy's admission: a mostly pro-Jackson biography that was first released in the early 90's and then re-released earlier this decade.

In an article by Maureen Orth of Vanity Fair, who covered the Jackson story at length, the District Attorney of Los Angeles referred to the sodium amytal story as garbage.

But because all Wikipedia needs is for someone to cite a source when information is given, the sodium amytal claim is a big part of the page that covers the 1993 allegations against Jackson. The aforementioned biography is listed as the source of the info.

That doesn't really make it credible, though.

Have you read “Was Michael

Have you read “Was Michael Jackson Framed” by Mary A Fischer? A solid indictment for extortion.

The official report stated that there were "some similarities" in the description and drawing of MJs genitals (which Evan drew) but was not an exact match. The most striking and relevant inaccuracy was Chandler's claim that MJ was circumcised. Woops. Guess daddy Chandler didn't know that he wasn't. How many times have I read salacious reports that it was an exact match. How has the media been allowed to report such vicious lies and inaccuracies? No one in history has been more attacked by Medialoid reporting (infiltration of tabloid sensationalism into mainstream journalism) than MJ.

In uncle Ray's book, nice side-run around the confidentiality agreement, he states that Evan opened the bedroom door to find MJ spooning with his son and had his hand on his son's crotch. He slowly closed the door and called an attorney. Excuse me? Those who don't have children may not realize this, but that is not what any parent would do. If it were true, after beating the crap out of him, he would've called the police. A few days later, perhaps an attorney. He could've snapped a picture, irrefutable proof?

I've seen other evaluations of the drug Chandler gave his son that were far more damning. Suggestions are remembered as the truth. Imagine the torment this child must have lived with. Part of his brain knowing nothing happened vs the part that had been convinced that something had.

And let us not forget, that young Chandler fled the country to avoid testifying in the '05 trial. MJs attorney, Mesereau had witnesses ready to testify that Jordan had told them his parents made him lie and that he'd never speak to them again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eSC997_HH0

In fact, he filed for emancipation, filed a restraining order against his father for spraying him with mace and hitting him in the head with a 12# dumbbell, and hadn't spoken to his mother since the ordeal, according to her testimony in the '05 trial.
Clearly extortion, as were the other 2 claims. People should do due diligence before speaking on subjects they are ill informed about. MJ doesn't deserve to have his legacy tarnished by the likes of the Chandlers, Francias and Arvizos.

I'd also like to remind all the armchair psychologists here to remember that a large percentage of abuse allegations are proven to be false. The allegation alone can destroy a person's reputation and career, as we saw with MJ and, anyone remember the McMartin case? Read about it. There are other books and papers published on how children are coaxed to fabricate elaborate lies, and get draw in to the plot for the attention and kuddos they are receiving. While we want to err on the side of caution, we also need to ensure that the accused is treated with the utmost respect until s/he is convicted by a jury of their peers. MJ was convicted in the Court of Public Opinion before his trail started due to biased Medialoid reporting.

In official documents it is stated that the insurance company made the decision to settle the Chandler case "against MJs wishes". It happens everyday and is not an admission of guilt, rather an attempt to avoid an expensive legal battle and preserve one's reputation. Reference Bill O'Reilly's sexual harrassment settlement.

As we know, MJ was subjected to an unprecedented investigation by LE and CPS. More resource thrown at the '05 case than any high-profile murder investigation. Following a grueling 5 month trial where his life was put under a high-powered microscope, the prosecution had to walk away without one conviction. Acquittals across the board. Ever wonder why? Read Aphrodite Jones's book, "The Michael Jackson Conspiracy". She flipped from anti-Jackson to pro-Jackson after being granted full access to the documents and evidence in the trail. This award-winning author of 7 real life murder mysteries, 3 made into films, could not get this book publish- NO pro-Jackson material was considered by her publishers. She had to self-publish the book.

Thanks you for attempting the set the record straight. Weak, but better than nothing.

Orth, Dimond, the DA totally

Orth, Dimond, the DA totally ignore that Chandler admitted giving his son Sodium Amytal. If Jordan was afraid of needles, why not Nitrous Oxide? Much safer and appropriate. The obvious conclusion, there was but only one reason to give this inappropriate drug for a dental procedure. Excerpt from "Was Michael Jackson Framed" by Mary A Fischer.

Before Chandler took control of his son, the only one making allegations against Jackson was Chandler himself -- the boy had never accused the singer of any wrongdoing. That changed one day in Chandler's Beverly Hills dental office.

In the presence of Chandler and Mark Torbiner, a dental anesthesiologist, the boy was administered the controversial drug sodium Amytal -- which some mistakenly believe is a truth serum.
And it was after this session that the boy first made his charges against Jackson.

A newsman at KCBS-TV, in L.A., reported on May 3 of this year that Chandler had used the drug on his son, but the dentist claimed he did so only to pull his son's tooth and that while under the drug's influence, the boy came out with allegations. Asked for this article about his use of the drug on the boy, Torbiner replied: "If I used it, it was for dental purposes."

Given the facts about sodium Amytal and a recent landmark case that involved the drug, the boy's allegations, say several medical experts, must be viewed as unreliable, if not highly questionable.

"It's a psychiatric medication that cannot be relied on to produce fact," says Dr. Resnick, the Cleveland psychiatrist. "People are very suggestible under it. People will say things under sodium Amytal that are blatantly untrue." Sodium Amytal is a barbiturate, an invasive drug that puts people in a hypnotic state when it's injected intravenously.

Primarily administered for the treatment of amnesia, it first came into use during World War II, on soldiers traumatized -- some into catatonic states -- by the horrors of war. Scientific studies done in 1952 debunked the drug as a truth serum and instead demonstrated its risks: False memories can be easily implanted in those under its influence. "It is quite possible to implant an idea through the mere asking of a question," says Resnick. But its effects are apparently even more insidious: "The idea can become their memory, and studies have shown that even when you tell them the truth, they will swear on a stack of Bibles that it happened," says Resnick.

As for Chandler's story about using the drug to sedate his son during a tooth extraction, that too seems dubious, in light of the drug's customary use. "It's absolutely a psychiatric drug," says Dr. Kenneth Gottlieb, a San Francisco psychiatrist who has administered sodium Amytal to amnesia patients. Dr. John Yagiela, the coordinator of the anesthesia and pain control department of UCLA's school of dentistry, adds, "It's unusual for it to be used [for pulling a tooth]. It makes no sense when better, safer alternatives are available. It would not be my choice."

Because of sodium Amytal's potential side effects, some doctors will administer it only in a hospital. "I would never want to use a drug that tampers with a person's unconscious unless there was no other drug available," says Gottlieb. "And I would not use it without resuscitating equipment, in case of allergic reaction, and only with an M.D. anesthesiologist present."

Chandler, it seems, did not follow these guidelines. He had the procedure performed on his son in his office, and he relied on the dental anesthesiologist Mark Torbiner for expertise. (It was Torbiner who'd introduced Chandler and Rothman in 1991, when Rothman needed dental work.) ~~~

Further
(Uncle) Ray Chandler’s website corroborate Fischer's report. A transcript from one of Jordan Chandler’s therapy sessions [Umm, wouldn't this be considered a violation of the confidentiality agreement between Jackson and Chandler?] describes the circumstances under which the boy first told his father about the alleged abuse. Jordan Chandler’s account of what happened is exactly consistent with Fischer's.

According to the boy: “[My father] had to pull my tooth out one time, like, while I was there. And I don't like pain, so I said, ‘could you put me to sleep?’ And he said sure. So his friend put me to sleep; he's an anesthesiologist. And um, when I woke up… my Dad said, ‘I just want you to let me know, did anything happen between you and Michael?’ And I said ‘Yes,’ and he gave me a big hug and that was it.”
http://jetzi-mjvideo.com/books2/unm/unm91.html

If Jordan Chandler was given sodium amytal before he accused Michael Jackson of sexual abuse, what implications does this have on the veracity of the boy's allegations? Might that be why Evan and Jordan declined to subject themselves to cross examination in a trial, and another reason Jordan refused to testify in the '05 trial?

Here's what appears to be truth: Everyone in this poor boy's life used him for their own gain. MJ was likely the only one who genuinely cared about his well-being. I hope Jordan has used some of his settlement proceeds to seek help de-programming himself.

Jackson was not found guilty

Jackson was not found guilty of a crime, and all the tabloid speculation should be left alone.

He did, however, squander hundreds of millions of dollars in a selfish super-consumer binge that indirectly has cost the lives of tens of thousands of people, and disproportionately contributed to the increasingly rapid failing of our biosphere. That isn't (yet) a crime, but should be.

Not guilty doesn't mean innocent

... particularly when you have money and power!

So you are saying law and 6

So you are saying law and 6 months court procedures were, ultimately, redundance? The truth was that Jackson were charged with 10 charges of child molestation and were acquitted in ALL of those.

Of course that was the second time he was claim to molest a child. The first time he settled out of court with advice from his family and his soon-to-be-marry Lisa Marie Presley, after deciding that MJ won't be able to endure the trial. People close to him like J. Randy Taraborrelli for example, outrage that he chose that path because people will always assume the fact the he settle out of court the prima facie evidence of child molestation.

MO, I thought it was very stupid to settle out of court because it will leave room for people think like you - money and power will prevail. But truth is the second time he stood the trial. It really killed him like people around him were feared though.

For those of you to care enough to read: J. Randy Taraborrelli articles

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1196188/Michael-Jacksons-li...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1196395/Lisa-Marie-Presley-sai...

Extortion

I think you may have over looked the fact that money and fame bring out the leaches. I as a parent would have turned in a police report then gone to Child Services and so on. What was Evan Chandler's first move? To go to the most cut throat "Hollywood" attorney in town. This after Michael declined to buy the Chandler family a new house or grant him a multi million dollar script deal so he could stay home, and write instead of going to work. Next step to go to a psychologist and have the story leaked, never making a report or filing on his own free will (sounds a little chicken to me). Then he files a civil law suite before a criminal case, this is backwards. Most attorneys’ worth their salt will tell you let the criminal charges and case be brought before a civil case is filed. What kind of parent wants money if their child were truly molested?
As for the Arvizo family don’t you find it more than a coincidence that they went to the same cut throat high profile attorney that Evan Chandler used? Michael was tired of being extorted by the claims of the most heinous acts known to most of our society.
This sexual assault or sexual molestation is the same ploy the Arvio’s used to extort money from J.C.Penny. Michael had enough and fought back, this time Michael walked away with a NOT GUILTY verdict while the Arvizo’s walked away empty handed.

great article btw = )

Evan Chandler invited MJ to

Evan Chandler invited MJ to spend the night in his son's bedroom on multiple occasions. Wouldn't a calculating man such as Evan thought at the time when he was plotting to extort money from Jackson to have some physical evidence available??? He easily could have saved the bedsheets for forensic DNA evidence which could have been found on them (the way Monica Lewinsky saved the blue dress). He also could have bugged the room with a tape recorder or a nanny cam. Evan recently committed suicide by blowing his brains out in Jersey City on Nov. 5, 2009. Makes you wonder... I wonder if either of the two kids that accused MJ will ever go public.

Evan Chandler invited MJ to

Evan Chandler invited MJ to spend the night in his son's bedroom on multiple occasions. Wouldn't a calculating man such as Evan thought at the time when he was plotting to extort money from Jackson to have some physical evidence available??? He easily could have saved the bedsheets for forensic DNA evidence which could have been found on them (the way Monica Lewinsky saved the blue dress). He also could have bugged the room with a tape recorder or a nanny cam. Evan recently committed suicide by blowing his brains out in Jersey City on Nov. 5, 2009. Makes you wonder... I wonder if either of the two kids that accused MJ will ever go public.

It's hard to say for sure how

It's hard to say for sure how much credence we should place in the sodium amytal story but even a cursory Google search turns up numerous pages that support it. It's not just Wikipedia. In the end, there really isn't enough evidence to prove the child abuse accusation. Not that Michael Jackson's detractors seem to care about that.

I didn't meant to imply...

...that Wikipedia is the only place that mentions it. But it's certainly going to be one of the major sources people get their information from. People look it up, read about the story, and then the claim pops up in numerous other places.

Few know or care enough about the complexity of the case to realize that the sodium amytal story -- again, to the best of my knowledge -- has only been mentioned in that one book. Nor do they know the DA has flatly denied it. The presentation of facts on Wikipedia would make it seem like the claim is a commonly established fact, when it's really anything but.

If anyone knows of another source for the sodium amytal claim other than the biography cited on Wikipedia, that would obviously put the issue to rest.

A MUST READ

In response to Dave. The sodium amytal theory was mentioned in a 1994 GQ article called the untold story written by Mary A. Fisher. http://floacist.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/gq-article-was-michael-jackson-... It is a very informative and fascinating article. The author looks to expose the accusers father as a money hungry liar. It features comments and insights from people who were close to the investigation. It is something that everyone should read. It will change your whole perspective of not only the case but Michael Jackson.

Romeo, there is tons of

Romeo, there is tons of evidence for an unfettered mind. Jackson was guilty. See my post below that gives "book, chapter & verse" proofs for this statement.

~Sky

Sodium Amytal Confession?

Please check molested 12 year old Jordan Chandler's statement against King of Pop here: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/mjdec4.html The patient manipulation of children by pedophiles together with the lurid details presented by Jordan Chandler in his SWORN statement above presents an absolutely CLASSIC CASE of pedophilia. That SWORN AFFIDAVIT didn't even shake hands with a vial of sodium amytal. WAKE UP! It's a classic case and this is why it doesn't take a court to tell unfettered people what we can otherwise be certain of. Juries notoriously find wrong verdicts because they no longer have the power to try the law, the facts and evidence as they were anciently supposed to. Those rights have long disappeared from the American Justice System, (see fija.org). Today's fettered juries can only try the facts which hang on the evidence, supported by law and controlled by a court! These trials are therefore court trials subjected to abuse of fame and money, and they are emphatically NOT jury trials.

Chandler has NEVER refuted his sworn testimony, and as I said, his SWORN statement is a CLASSIC EXAMPLE of pedophile manipulation of prepubescent children.

Finally, for those who give a whit about truth read Jordan's uncle's book, "All That Glitters: The Crime and Cover-up," by Raymond Chandler. He at least was not under the court's gag order and has told the world (that's listening), what happened. There's the TRUTH for you. Google for it and you can read the first chapter on Amazon which is enough again to give the TRUTH to anyone who really loves TRUTH.

Michael was a very, very talented man, and I love some of his songs, but he was worse than your neighborhood pedophile because he did not seek help for his problem, made it out to be okay, though he knew it was wrong, and therefore never wanted to learn how to control himself. The only difference between him and the one in your own neighborhood is that he was rich and famous, and the one in your neighborhood has statistically mastered his own problem. See http://www.ipce.info/newsletters/e_18/myths_facts_recidivism.htm. The TRUTH cannot help but be seen, by those interested in TRUTH, and those deifying and covering Michael up just now are as guilty as he was. He has now met his Maker and there is a court which is partial to neither money nor fame.

~Skyrider

@ Dave- we should take the

@ Dave- we should take the opinion of the DA over the father who admitted giving his son the drug, and the anesthesiologist's word who admitted administering it? The DA who fabricated evidence, which is exposed in court documents? If justice pervailed this man would be behind bars for malicous prosecution, fabricating evidence, not to mention costing the county over $2M attempting to settle a vendetta.

@Skyrider- allegations are not proof. You have to look at all the evidence. Even the shrink who saw Jordan Chandler testified that Jackson wasn't a pedo.
As for Uncle Ray's book, another attempt by Chandler to get round the confidentiality clause. He went back to court to sue Jackson again and was asking for the right to publish a book. It was thrown out. The brothers had been estranged until the book deal, and became estranged again afterwards, over money. Did Ray not give Evan his cut? In this tell-all was printed the alleged private counseling sessions between young Chandler and the shrink. A clear violation of the boys rights and his privacy. Appalling, to say the least.

And Gutierrez, another who aided Evan in a go-round the confidentiality agreement. Jackson sued him into bankruptcy. He went into exile to avoid paying damages. His cohort Dimond would have been in the same boat if the 'evidence-fabricting' DA hadn't come to her rescue. None of the three can give their 'books' away.

In fact, Jackson was the only adult in Jordan's life who genuinely had his best interest at heart, or so it seems. Everyone from his mother, father, attorney, shrink, to the DA, had their own agendas.

Most damning of all. Jordan Chandler has had two opportunities to testify against Jackson. He declined both times. The DA didn't force Chandler's testimony in 05, despite having had the law changed following the 93 extortion, giving the state the power to force a 'victim' to testify.

Careful Who You Follow, Dimond will lead you down a twisted and distorted path, presenting rumors from unnamed 'sources' as fact. Those sources frequently are shown to be figments of her imagination.

sodium amytal

the use of Sodium-Pentathol which works similarly, simply relaxes a person so that eliciting responses is facilitated. The veracity of utterances under this drug can not be verified. But as responses are less inhibited ,the ease of suggestion is also facilitated, therefore you can get "Garbage in-garbage out"
what we can reasonably deduce is that Michael Jackson was a once in a lifetime talent- He apparently led a much misguided life off stage- but he should be thanked for the thousands of hours that we were pleased,excited and amazed by this incredible performer.

rebuttal to biased article on false memories and Jackson

Lilienfeld states "I do not know whether Michael Jackson ever molested a child. I suspect we will never know for sure (although if I were a betting man, I would bet against it)."

I would disagree. Here are the facts:

Here's information on the case from CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/13/jackson.trial/index.html
Jackson not guilty - Jurors acquit pop star of all molestation charges - Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Prosecutors had charged the singer with four counts of lewd conduct with a child younger than 14; one count of attempted lewd conduct; four counts of administering alcohol to facilitate child molestation; and one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment or extortion....In the program, Jackson was shown holding hands with the boy now accusing him of child molestation, and he defended as "loving" his practice of letting young boys sleep in his bed....Prosecution witnesses included the accuser's mother, who was on the stand for three days, and a former security guard who testified that he saw Jackson engaged in oral sex with another teenage boy. That boy received an out-of-court settlement in his family's molestation case against the pop star for an undisclosed amount. Jackson was not charged in that case and denied any wrongdoing.

Testimony in the trial closed with prosecutors showing a police videotape in which the accuser tells detectives the singer gave him wine and masturbated him as many as five times.

Lilienfeld himself has been critiqued by the ISST-D:.

Rebuttal to Brain stains article : November 30, 2007 - Scientific American, Inc. Attn: Editor and Chief 415 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10017

Dear Editor: Regrettably the authors of the article “Brain stains: Traumatic therapies can have longlasting effects on mental health,” Kelly Lambert and Scott O. Lilienfeld chose to provide a onesided, misleading and unscientific account of the dissociative disorders (DD), including dissociative identity disorder (DID). Although we will not comment on the specific case they present, we would like to correct some of their misleading statements and assumptions, and thereby give the reader a more accurate view of this field and of the overt and/or hidden family problems that most often contribute to the development of this kind of psychopathology. Readers may get the impression from the article that there is no research supporting the validity and reliability of DID when, in fact, various studies show that: - DID fulfills the same requirements for diagnostic validity as other psychiatric diagnoses (e.g., 1). - The validity of the DID diagnosis is further supported by cognitive (e.g., 2) and brainimaging research (e.g., 3-6). - Epidemiological studies have found DID in both Western and non-Western cultures, thus the suggestion that it is a Western “culture bound” syndrome contradicts the evidence (e.g., 7-8). - Dozens of studies using various methodologies, retrospective and prospective, support the reality of people forgetting and later recovering traumatic memories (e.g., e.g. 9-10). - Various studies (e.g. 11) have shown independent corroboration (e. g., through longterm scars, medical archives, etc.) of many DID patient accounts of earlier trauma. - Epidemiological studies show that the dissociative disorders, including DID, are not uncommon in both clinical and community samples from various cultures (e.g., 12-13).- Many individuals with DID were diagnosed by therapists who did not use hypnosis or initially believe in the diagnosis (e.g., 14-15). - The authors repeatedly talk about a “recovered memory therapy,” yet provide no evidence that such a therapy modality exists. We are not aware of any colleagues who have ever been trained in such a therapy, nor can we find evidence for that label in any of the training programs of which we are aware. The authors appear to be engaging in a straw-man argument here. The preceding is by no means an exhaustive list of the myriad ways in which the article ignores relevant literature. Although it may be true that a clinician could shape or exacerbate an individual’s symptoms, iatrogenic effects can occur in the treatment of any kind of condition, medical or psychological. Such a proposition does not invalidate the existence of patients suffering from true DID. The finding that many more patients are diagnosed with DID now than were decades ago may be consistent with an iatrogenic hypothesis, but an alternative — and perhaps more compelling — hypothesis would be that valid and reliable measures of DID have only recently been developed, available, and employed in this and other cultures. The fact that one of the authors of this article is an Associate Editor of Scientific American Mind makes these scholarship-related infractions especially problematic. The readership deserves much better than partisan, biased tracts. - from the President and Executive Council, International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation http://www.isst-d.org/education/sciamerican-ltr.pdf

Even Lilienfeld states:
At the time, the news media reported widely that Jordan Chandler accused Jackson of performing oral sex on him, and that Chandler provided law enforcement authorities with a description of Jackson's genitalia. Eventually, Jackson settled this case out of court for $22 million; some have argued that this settlement is prima facie evidence of his guilt, whereas others have argued that Jackson understandably wanted to avoid a prolonged and emotionally grueling civil trial.

Jackson paid a lot of money ($22 million) not to go to court. Even a former security guard testified he saw Jackson engaged in oral sex with another teenage boy.

I have heard it said that where there is smoke, there is fire. Lilienfeld's betting against the allegations against Jackson appear to be erroneous and incorrect.

Actually the settlement is

Actually the settlement is proof of his innocent. The settlement was only for the CIVIL CASE, not the CRIMINAL CASE. The settlement is available on the smoking gun. Show me where in the settlement does it say that the money is contingent on the accuser's failure to cooperate with the police. In fact, Jackson's lawyers claims he is innocent in the settlement and the accusers agree to sign it. The refusal of the family to testify after receiving the settlement is proof that their allegations were nothing more than a successful extortion attempt.

If what that former security guard said is true, he himself belongs in jail. How can he see something like that and not call the cops? He waits, until he was fired for stealing and ordered to pay back millions of dollars in legal fees after he lost a lawsuit against his former employer. Also, how do you explain the fact that the teenage boy who he claimed Jackson molested, refuted his testimony in court by claiming that Jackson never molested him?

Those allegations against Michael Jackson were based on words proven and admitted liars motivated by money.

This is Psychology Today

This is Psychology Today website, you'd expect rational discourse. Is logical deduction impossible when speaking of Jackson? The accusers built the fire and the media fanned the flames.

The '93 case was clearly extortion. Papa Chandler only took action when Jackson refused to finance his screenplays (ironically requested $20m) and build him a new house- a house that would include a wing for Jackson. One million wasn't enough, so he sued again for $60million and permission to publish the story as "EvanStory". It was thrown out of court. Is it really logical that Jackson was inappropriate with Jordan 3 times over a 3 year span and countless nights of sleeping in close proximity? Or is it that 3 memories was all Evan had time to plant while his son was under the influence? Let us not forget that Jordan's description of MJs genitals was not a match- MJ was not circumcised as claimed. And primarily why LE didn't move ahead with criminal charges. That, and Jordan refused to testify.

As for the '03 allegations. Does it make sense that MJ would be inappropriate with Arvizo just twice in all the time they spent together, and only AFTER an unprecedented investigation by CPS and LE and while still under extreme public scrutiny? Very doubtful. Sneddon should've been charged with Prosecutorial Misconduct. Traveled to several countries and spoke with every parent in Jackson's rolodex, and the Arvizo's was the best he could come up with.

The Security Guard who was allowed to provide 1108 evidence was part of the "Neverland 5". Google that term and read about these unscrupulous people. If they indeed observed what they claimed, despite the denials of the young men they claimed it happened to, then they should be charged with not reporting child sexual abuse, and instead, seeking financial gain for themselves. Their lawsuit against Jackson for wrongful dismissal was a failure, in fact they were required to pay restitution and damages in a countersuit.

People lie. Kids lie. Read the McMartin case. Watch this video of how Diane Dimond was tricked by a young man who was exponentially more convincing than either Chandler or Arvizo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3GbPkR-ne4&feature=related

It was open season on Jackson, and very few gave him the benefit of doubt, because he was "different", because he dared to challenge the status quo. People continue to pontificate and speculate, clearly without having conducted adequate research. He's free of the hate mongering, but someday his kids will read the disgusting crap written about him, and that is just wrong.

False Memory Syndrome Article - rebuttal to Lilienfeld

False Memory Syndrome Article - rebuttal to Lilienfeld

False Memory Syndrome From Child Abuse Wiki

copied with permission

http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=False_Memory_Syndrome

The term False Memory Syndrome was created in 1992 by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF)[1]. It has been called "a pseudoscientific syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child abuse."[1] The FMSF was created by parents who claimed to be falsely accused of child sexual abuse.[1] The False Memory Syndrome was described as "a widespread social phenomenon where misguided therapists cause patients to invent memories of sexual abuse."[1] Research has shown that most delayed memories of childhood abuse are true[2]. In general, it has been shown that false allegations of childhood sexual abuse are rare, with some studies showing rates as low as one percent[3][4] and some studies showing slightly higher rates[3]. It has been found that children tend to understate rather than overstate the extent of any abuse experienced[3]. It has been stated that misinformation on the topic of child sexual abuse is widespread and that the media have contributed to this problem by reporting favorably on unproven and controversial claims like the False Memory Syndrome[5].

Contents

* 1 Research on False Memory
* 2 Critiques of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and its theories
* 3 References
* 4 Bibliography
* 5 External Links

Research on False Memory

There is a great deal of evidence showing the existence of the phenomenon of recovered memory and the fairly high corroboration rates of these memories[6]. The base rates for memory commission errors have been shown to be quite low, at least in professional trauma treatment. The base rates in adult misinformation studies run between zero and 5 percent for adults and between 3 - 5 percent for children[7]. It has been shown that people who recover memories are a lot less suggestible than clinicians have been led to believe by false memory advocates[8]. It has been stated that false memories are rare[9] One research study showed the unlikelihood of being able to plant a false memory of a traumatic event[10]. Some have stated that the False Memory Syndrome is not a scientific syndrome[11].

Brown, Sheflin and Hammond stated "The hypothesis that false memories can easily be implanted in psychotherapy (Lindsay & Read, 1994; Loftus 1993; Loftus & Ketcham, 1994; Ofshe and Watters, 1993, 1994; Yapko, 1994a) seriously overstates the available data. Since no studies have been conducted on suggested effects in psychotherapy per se, the idea of iatrogenic suggestion of false memories remains an untested hypothesis.[12]

Elizabeth Loftus, a proponent of the theory of false memory, has been critiqued in several studies and papers[13][14][15][16].

Critiques of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and its theories

Members of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation have been critiqued for misrepresenting data and for their possible reasons for having created the idea of the syndrome.

In reply to a TV documentary about FMS, William Freyd, (Pamela Freyd's (one of the founders of the FMSF) step brother and sister-in-law) wrote "There is no doubt in my mind that there was severe abuse in the home of Peter and Pam. . . . The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a fraud designed to deny a reality that Peter and Pam have spent most of their lives trying to escape. There is no such things as a False Memory Syndrome."[2] "In addition, Peter Freyd's own mother (who is also Pamela's step-mother) and his only sibling, a brother, were also estranged from Pamela and Peter. It should be noted that these family members support Jennifer's side of the story."[1]

A co-founder of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, Ralph Underwager, has also had several critiques written about him[17]. In an interview in Amsterdam in June 1991 by “Paidika,” Editor-in-Chief, Joseph Geraci, Underwager replied to the question "Is choosing paedophilia for you a responsible choice for the individuals?" with "Certainly it is responsible. What I have been struck by as I have come to know more about and understand people who choose paedophilia is that they let themselves be too much defined by other people. That is usually an essentially negative definition. Paedophiles spend a lot of time and energy defending their choice. I don’t think that a paedophile needs to do that. Paedophiles can boldly and courageously affirm what they choose. They can say that what they want is to find the best way to love. I am also a theologian and as a theologian, I believe it is God’s will that there be closeness and intimacy, unity of the flesh, between people. A paedophile can say: “This closeness is possible for me within the choices that I’ve made."[18]

In a transcription of the TV show Witness for Mr. Bubbles from “Australia 60 Minutes,” Channel Nine Network (Aired on August 5, 1990 in Australia), researcher Anna Salter stated that Underwager "isn’t accurate. That what he says in court does not necessarily fairly represent the literature." That he frequently distorts facts and he sometimes he quotes specific studies, and he’s frequently wrong about what the studies say."[19]

It was stated in a court document that the two books that he and his wife Hollida Wakefield, wrote "Accusations of Child Sexual Abuse" (1988), and The Real World of Child Interrogations (1990) were not "well received in the medical and scientific press." It was also stated that "when they cannot use a quotation out of context from an article, they make unsupported statements, some of which are palpably untrue and others simply unprovable.” David L. Chadwick, Book Review, in 261 JAMA 3035 (May 26, 1989)." In the same document it was stated that "Both Salter and Toth came to believe that Underwager is a hired gun who makes a living by deceiving judges about the state of medical knowledge and thus assisting child molesters to evade punishment."[20]

Those that have examined or written about the False Memory Syndrome theories or foundation or its members have been subjected to harassment. This includes Anna Salter's analysis of her harassment by Ralph Underwager[21], David Calof, the former editor of Treating Abuse Today [22] and Jennifer Hoult [23].

Accusations have also been made about the accuracy of the False Memory Syndromes' proponents data and research. Salter has critiqued some of those that defend those accused of child sexual abuse. “The people who support and defend those accused of child sexual abuse indiscriminately, those who join organizations dedicated to defending people who are accused of child sexual abuse with no screening whatsoever to keep out those who are guilty as charged, are…not necessarily people engaged in an objective search for the truth. Some of them can and do use deceit, trickery, misstated research, harassment, intimidation, and charges of laundering federal money to silence their opponents.”[21]. Whitfield stated "Since at least 95 percent of child molesters initially deny their abusive behaviors, how can untrained lay people like Pamela Freyd and her staff “document” a real or “unreal” case of “FMS,” as appears to be the case with most of their communications, which usually occur over the telephone or by letter (p. 76)."[2]. Jennifer Freyd stated “Despite this documentation for both traumatic amnesia and essentially accurate delayed recall, memory science is often presented as if it supports the view that traumatic amnesia is very unlikely or perhaps impossible and that a great many, perhaps a majority, maybe even all, recovered memories of abuse are false…Yet no research supports such an implication…and a great deal of research supports the premise that forgetting sexual abuse is fairly common and that recovered memories are sometimes essentially true.” (p. 107) [24]

Proponents of false memory theories have also been accused of manipulating the media[25][26]. The theory of false memory has been used as a defense in court to try and negate "abusive, criminal behavior" and this defense is fraught with disinformation, smoke screens, and other untruths that are a distortion of what the available science of the psychology of trauma and memory shows.[27].

References

1. Dallam, S. (2002). "Crisis or Creation: A systematic examination of false memory claims". Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 9 (3/4): 9–36. doi:10.1300/J070v09n03_02. PMID 17521989. "A review of the relevant literature demonstrates that the existence of such a syndrome lacks general acceptance in the mental health field, and that the construct is based on a series of faulty assumptions, many of which have been scientifically disproven. There is a similar lack of empirical validation for claims of a "false memory" epidemic. It is concluded that in the absence of any substantive scientific support, "False Memory Syndrome" is best characterized as a pseudoscientific syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child abuse." http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/dallam/6.html

2. Whitfield M.D., Charles L. (1995). Memory and Abuse - Remembering and Healing the Effects of Trauma Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc. ISBN 1-55874-320-0.
http://books.google.com/books?id=z1LW3u1e04YC

3. Leadership Council - How often do children’s reports of abuse turn out to be false? "Jones and McGraw examined 576 consecutive referrals of child sexual abuse to the Denver Department of Social Services, and categorized the reports as either reliable or fictitious. In only 1% of the total cases were children judged to have advanced a fictitious allegation. Jones, D. P. H., and J. M. McGraw: Reliable and Fictitious Accounts of Sexual Abuse to Children.Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2, 27-45, 1987.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/csa-acc.html

4. False allegations of child sexual abuse by children are rare
http://ritualabuse.us/research/false-allegations-of-child-sexual-abuse-b...

5. Whitfield, Charles L.; Joyanna L. Silberg, Paul Jay Fink (2001). Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors. Haworth Press. ISBN 0789019019.

6. Recovered Memories - Child Abuse Wiki http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories

7. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5

8. Leavitt, F. (March 1997) False attribution of suggestibility to explain recovered memory of childhood sexual abuse following extended amnesia Child Abuse & Neglect - 21, 3, P. 265-272 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-3SWV6NV-7...

9. Hall, J., Kondora, L. (2005) “True” and “False” Child Sexual Abuse Memories and Casey’s Phenomenological View of Remembering American Behavioral Scientist, 48, 10 p. 1339-1359 DOI: 10.1177/0002764205277012 "The notion of false accusation is often raised in cases where physical evidence is not available and a period of time has passed or when there has been a delay in recall of the events by a survivor of child sexual abuse. This is not to imply that false memories are not possible. This article outlines how rare they must be, however, based on historical factors and a phenomenological analysis of memory itself....Most scientists investigating traumatic memory doubt that memories of abuse could be planted."
http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/48/10/1339?ijkey=ciZjJlFifgYIY&keytyp...

10. Pezdek, Hodge, D. (1999) July-August Planting false childhood memories: The role of event plausibility Child Development 70(4) p.887-895 "One false event described the child lost in a mall while shopping (the plausible false event); the other false event described the child receiving a rectal enema (the implausible false event). The majority of the 39 children (54%) did not remember either false event. However, whereas 14 children recalled the plausible but not the implausible false event, only one child recalled the implausible but not the plausible false event; this difference was statistically significant." http://www.jstor.org/pss/1132249

11. Friesen, J. (1995) "The Truth About False Memory Syndrome, Huntington House Publisher ISBN: 1-56384-111-8 "The number of studies which have subjected false memory syndrome to scientific inquiry is zero. There is nothing scientific about it. There is nothing which defines it. There is no list of symptoms which describes it, nor is there anything which helps us distinguish it from other syndromes."

12. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5

13. Crook, L. (1999) "Lost in a Shopping Mall"—a Breach of Professional Ethics Ethics & Behavior, (9, 1) P. 39-50 "An analysis of the mall study shows that beyond the external misrepresentations, internal scientific methodological errors cast doubt on the validity of the claims that have been attributed to the mall study within scholarly and legal arenas. The minimal involvement or, in some cases, negative impact of collegial consultation, academic supervision, and peer review throughout the evolution of the mall study are reviewed."
http://users.owt.com/crook/memory/

14. Hopper, J. Elizabeth Loftus "Loftus is aware that those who study traumatic memory have for several years, based on a great deal of research and clinical experience, used the construct of dissociation to account for the majority of recovered memories. However, she continues to focus on and attack "repression" and "repressed memories," which has the effect of confusing and misleading many people." http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/#el

15. Pope, K. (1996) Memory, Abuse, and Science: Questioning Claims About the False Memory Syndrome Epidemic American Psychologist 51: 957. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.51.9.957 "Does the trauma specified in the lost-in-the-mall experiment seem comparable to the trauma forming the basis of false memory syndrome? Loftus (1993) described the implanted traumatic event in the shopping-mall experiment as follows: "Chris was convinced by his older brother Jim, that he had been lost in a shopping mall when he was five years old" (p. 532). Does this seem, for example, a reasonable analogy for a five-year-old girl being repeatedly raped by her father?....Is it possible that the findings are an artifact of this particular design, for example, that the older family member claims to have been present when the event occurred and to have witnessed it, a claim the therapist can never make? To date, replications and extensions of this study have tended to use a similar methodology; that is, either the older family member makes the suggestions in his or her role as the experimenter's confederate, or the experimenter presents the suggestion as being the report of an older family member, thus creating a surrogate confederate."
http://www.kspope.com/memory/memory.php

16. Hoult, J. (2005)"Remembering Dangerously" & Hoult v. Hoult: The Myth of Repressed Memory that Elizabeth Loftus
http://www.rememberingdangerously.com/

17. Information on Ralph Underwager
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/ralph-underwager/

18. PAIDIKA INTERVIEW:HOLLIDA WAKEFIELD AND RALPH UNDERWAGER Part I http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/Underwager2.html

19. Witness for Mr. Bubbles Transcribed from "Australia 60 Minutes," Channel Nine Network (Aired on August 5, 1990 in Australia) Produced by Anthony Mcclellan; Reported by Mike Munro
http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/MrBubbles.html

20. Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Anna Salter, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees. 22 F.3d 730 (7th Cir. 1994) Federal Circuits, 7th Cir. (April 25, 1994) Docket number: 93-2422
http://vlex.com/vid/36092881

21. Salter, A. (June 1998) Confessions of a Whistle-Blower: Lessons Learned Ethics & Behavior 8(2) p.115 - 124 DOI: 10.1207/s15327019eb0802_2 Abstract - In 1988 I began a report on the accuracy of expert testimony in child sexual abuse cases utilizing Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield as a case study (Wakefield & Underwager, 1988). In response, Underwager and Wakefield began a campaign of harassment and intimidation, which included multiple lawsuits; an ethics charge; phony (and secretly taped) phone calls; and ad hominem attacks, including one that I was laundering federal grant monies. The harassment and intimidation failed as the author refused demands to retract. In addition, the lawsuits and ethics charges were dismissed. Lessons learned from the experience are discussed.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/confessions-of-a-whistle-blowe...

22. Calof, D.L. (1998). Notes from a practice under siege: Harassment, defamation, and intimidation in the name of science Ethics and Behavior, 8(2) p. 161-187. "For over three years, however, a group of proponents of the false memory syndrome (FMS) hypothesis, including members, officials, and supporters of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, Inc., have waged a multi-modal campaign of harassment and defamation directed against me, my clinical clients, my staff, my family, and others connected to me. I have neither treated these harassers or their families, nor had any professional or personal dealings with any of them; I am not related in any way to the disclosures of memories of sexual abuse in these families. Nonetheless, this group disrupts my professional and personal life and threatens to drive me out of business. In this article, I describe practicing psychotherapy under a state of siege and places the campaign against me in the context of a much broader effort in the FMS movement to denigrate, defame, and harass clinicians, lecturers, writers, and researchers identified with the abuse and trauma treatment communities.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/notes-from-a-practice-under-si...

23. Hoult, J. (June 1998) The Politics of Discrediting Child Abuse Survivors Ethics & Behavior, 8(2), p. 125 - 140 "As a victim of child abuse who proved my claims in a landmark civil suit, there have been many attempts to silence and discredit me. This article provides an overview of my court case and its effects....I believe that published documents demonstrate how some members and supporters of false memory groups publish false statements that defame and intimidate victims of proven violence and their supporters. Such altered accounts are used to discredit others in court and in the press."
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402312~db

24. Freyd, J. (June 1998) Science in the Memory Debate Ethics & Behavior, 8(2), p. 101 - 113 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a784402310~db

25. Stanton, M. (July/August 1997) U-Turn on Memory Lane Columbia Journalism Review “Rarely has such a strange and little-understood organization had such a profound effect on media coverage of such a controversial matter. The foundation is an aggressive, well-financed p.r. machine adept at manipulating the press, harassing its critics, and mobilizing a diverse army of psychiatrists, outspoken academics, expert defense witnesses, litigious lawyers, Freud bashers, critics of psychotherapy, and devastated parents. With a budget of $750,000 a year from members and outside supporters, the foundation’s reach far exceeds its actual membership of about 3,000.” “As controversial memory cases arose around the country, FMSF boosters contacted journalists to pitch the false-memory argument, more and more reporters picked up on the issue, and the foundation became an overnight media darling. The story line that had dominated the press since the 1980s — an underreported toll of sexual abuse, including sympathetic stories of adult survivors resurrecting long-lost memories of it — was quickly turned around. The focus shifted to new tearful victims — respectable, elderly parents who could no longer see their children and grandchildren because of bad therapists who implanted memories."
http://web.archive.org/web/20071216011151/http://backissues.cjrarchives....

26. Packard, N. (April, 2004) Battle Tactics of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation New School for Social Research, N.Y. History Matters Conference "Kondora’s and Beckett’s studies indicate that the Foundation has been successful in many of its efforts to manage public perception of child abuse victims, therapists and the people accused of child abuse. Kondora and Beckett show that not only has public perception of victimized children become skeptical, but in fact, the press often goes beyond the Victorian custom of neutrality on all fronts of the issue, to out-right sympathy for accused molesters."
http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/historymatters/papers/NoelPackard.pdf

27. Whitfield, C. L. (2001). The "false memory" defense: Using disinformation and junk science in and out of court. In Whitfield, C. L., Silberg, J. Fink, P. J. Eds. (2001). Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors New York: Hawthorn Press, Inc. (pp. 53 - 78) also in Haworth Press, Special Issue on Disinformation, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 9(3 & 4) "Attorneys for accused, convicted or found-responsible child molesters tend to use a superficially sophisticated argument, which can be described as the "false memory defense." This defense is fraught with disinformation, smoke screens, and other untruths that are a distortion of what the available science of the psychology of trauma and memory shows. In this article, this seemingly sophisticated, but actually mostly contrived and often erroneous defense, is described and it is compared in a brief review to what the science says about the effect of trauma on memory." "Abstract: This article describes a seemingly sophisticated, but mostly contrived and often erroneous "false memory" defense, and compares it in a brief review to what the science says about the effect of trauma on memory. Child sexual abuse is widespread and dissociative/traumatic amnesia for it is common. Accused, convicted and self-confessed child molesters and their advocates have crafted a strategy that tries to negate their abusive, criminal behavior, which we can call a "false memory" defense. Each of 22 of the more commonly used components of this defense is described and discussed with respect to what the science says about them. Armed with this knowledge, survivors, their clinicians, and their attorneys will be better able to refute this defense of disinformation."
http://childabuse.georgiacenter.uga.edu/both/whitfield/whitfield1.phtml

Bibliography

* Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5

* Freyd, Jennifer J. (1996). Betrayal Trauma - The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-06805-x.

* Knopp, Fay Honey (1996). A Primer on the Complexities of Traumatic Memory of Childhood Sexual Abuse - A Psychobiological Approach. Brandon, VT: Safer Society Press. ISBN 1-884444-20-2.

* Whitfield M.D., Charles L. (1995). Memory and Abuse - Remembering and Healing the Effects of Trauma. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc. ISBN 1-55874-320-0.

* Whitfield, Charles L.; Joyanna L. Silberg, Paul Jay Fink (2001). Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors. Haworth Press. ISBN 0789019019.

External Links

* Memory, Abuse, and Science: Questioning Claims about the False Memory Syndrome Epidemic http://www.kspope.com/memory/memory.php

* False Memory Syndrome A False Construct Feminista! v2, n10
http://web.archive.org/web/20030608221633/http://www.feminista.com/v1n9/...

* False memory syndrome proponents tactics "False memory syndrome proponents have done the following to try and ensure that only their point of view is in the public view." http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/false-memory-syndrome-proponen...

Michael Jackson, Truth Serum, False Memories

Thank you, Rebuttal to Lilienthal, for extensive and very valuable data concerning the "False Memory" theorists. It's certainly possible that followers of "False Memory" have their own agenda and exist in order to protect themselves.

Michael Jackson, Truth Serum, False Memories

My Goodness Dr. Lilienfeld. Interesting how you provide conjecture and ad homenem to prove a point you consider conjecture and ad homenen. So, "PREY" tell, what are you trying to cover obfuscate?

Recovered Memories - rebuttal to article

Recovered Memories From Child Abuse Wiki

http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories

copied with permission

Recovered memories have been defined as the phenomenon of partially or fully losing parts of memories of traumatic events, and then later recovering part or all of the memories into conscious awareness. They have also been defined as the recollections of memories that are believed to have been unavailable for a certain period of time[1]. There is very strong scientific evidence that recovered memories exist.[2] This has been shown in many scientific studies. The content of recovered memories have fairly high corroboration rates.

Contents
* 1 Scientific evidence
* 2 Corroboration rates
* 3 References
* 4 Bibliography
* 5 External Links

Scientific evidence

There are many studies that have proven that the recovered memories of traumatic events exist. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond found 43 studies that showed recovered memories for traumatic events[3]. The Recovered Memory Project has collected 101 corroborated cases of recovered memories[4]. Hopper's research shows that amnesia for childhood sexual abuse is "beyond dispute." He states that "at least 10% of people sexually abused in childhood will have periods of complete amnesia for their abuse, followed by experiences of delayed recall" [5] In one study of women with previously documented histories of sexual abuse, 38% of the women did not remember the abuse that had happened 17 years before.[6] Most recovered memories either precede therapy or the use of memory recovery techniques[7]. One studied showed that five out of 19 women with histories of familial sexual abuse either forgot specific details or had "blank periods" for these memories[8]. Another study showed that "40% reported a period of forgetting some or all of the abuse"[9]. Herman and Harvey's study showed that 16% of abuse survivors had "complete amnesia followed by delayed recall"[10]. Corwin's individual case study provides evidence of the existence of recovered memories on videotape[11].

Other researchers state:

Research has shown that traumatized individuals respond by using a variety of psychological mechanisms. One of the most common means of dealing with the pain is to try and push it out of awareness. Some label the phenomenon of the process whereby the mind avoids conscious acknowledgment of traumatic experiences as dissociative amnesia. Others use terms such as repression, dissociative state, traumatic amnesia, psychogenic shock, or motivated forgetting. Semantics aside, there is near-universal scientific acceptance of the fact that the mind is capable of avoiding conscious recall of traumatic experiences.[12]

A body of empirical evidence indicates that it is common for abused children to reach adulthood without conscious awareness of the trauma[13]

Corroboration rates

Many studies show high corroboration rates for recovered memories of traumatic events. These rates vary from 50 - 75%[14], 64%[13], 77%[15], 50%[16], 75%[17] 68%[18] 47%[9], and 70% [19]. One study showed amnesia in 12 murderers, with "objective evidence of severe abuse...obtained in 11 cases"[20]. There are also additional studies showing the corroboration of recovered memories[21][22][23][24].

References

1. What about Recovered Memories? Jennifer J. Freyd, University of Oregon http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/whatabout.html
2. Research discussing corroboration and accuracy of recovered memories: An Annotated Bibliography by Lynn Crook http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/suggestedrefs.html
3. Brown, Scheflin, & Whitfield. (1999). Recovered Memories: The Current Weight of the Evidence in Science and in the Courts Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 27, 5-156. "Brown, Scheflin and Hammond reviewed 43 studies relevant to the subject of traumatic memory and found that every study that examined the question of dissociative amnesia in traumatized populations demonstrated that a substantial minority partially or completely forget the traumatic event experienced, and later recover memories of the event. By 1999, over 68 studies had been published that document dissociative amnesia after childhood sexual abuse. In fact, no study that has looked for evidence of traumatic or dissociative amnesia after child sexual abuse has failed to find it." http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/prev.html
4. The Recovered Memory Project http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/Recovmem/index.html
5. Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse - Scientific Research & Scholarly Resources by Jim Hopper “Amnesia for childhood sexual abuse is a condition. The existence of this condition is beyond dispute. Repression is merely one explanation - often a confusing and misleading one - for what causes the condition of amnesia. At least 10% of people sexually abused in childhood will have periods of complete amnesia for their abuse, followed by experiences of delayed recall.” http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/
6. Williams LM (1994). Recall of childhood trauma: a prospective study of women’s memories of child sexual abuse. J Consult Clin Psychol 62: 1167–76. PMID 7860814. "One hundred twenty-nine women with previously documented histories of sexual victimization in childhood were interviewed and asked detailed questions about their abuse histories to answer the question “Do people actually forget traumatic events such as child sexual abuse, and if so, how common is such forgetting?” A large proportion of the women (38%) did not recall the abuse that had been reported 17 years earlier." http://www.hss.caltech.edu/courses/2004-05/winter/psy130/Debate2Williams...
7. Andrews, B., Brewin, C., Ochera, J., Morton, J., Bekerian, D., Davies, G., and Mollon, P. (1999). Characteristics, context and consequences of memory recovery among adults in therapy. Brit J Psychiatry 175:141-146. "Of a total of 690 clients, therapists reported that 65% recalled child sexual abuse and 35% recalled other traumas, 32% started recovering memories before entering therapy. According to therapists’ accounts, among the 236 detailed client cases, very few appeared improbable and corroboration was reported in 41%. Most (78%) of the clients’ initial recovered memories either preceded therapy or preceded the use of memory recovery techniques used by the respondents. Techniques seemed to be used more to help the clients to elaborate the memories than to facilitate their initial recovery. Clients with whom techniques had been used before the first reported memory recovery were no less likely to have found corroborating evidence than clients with whom no techniques had been used before memory recovery."
8. Bagley, C. (1995). The prevalence and mental health sequels of child sexual abuse in community sample of women aged 18 to 27. Child sexual abuse and mental health in adolescents and adults. Aldershot: Avebury. "Study of women 18-24 years who had been removed from home 10 years previously by social services due to intrafamilial sexual abuse. Of the 19 women for whom there was evidence of serious sexual abuse, 14 remembered events corresponding to their records. Two remembered that abuse had taken place but could recall no specific details, and three had no memory. Two of the last three described long blank periods for the memory of childhood corresponding to the age when abuse had taken place.
9. Feldman-Summers, S., & Pope, K. S. (1994). The experience of forgetting childhood abuse: A national survey of psychologists. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 636-639. "A national sample of psychologists were asked whether they had been abused as children and, if so, whether they had ever forgotten some or all of the abuse. Almost a quarter of the sample (23.9%) reported childhood abuse, and of those, approximately 40% reported a period of forgetting some or all of the abuse....Of those abused, 40% did not remember at some time. 47% had corroboration. 56% said psychotherapy aided in recall. Differences between those who first recalled abuse in therapy and those who recalled it elsewhere were not significant.
10. Herman, J. L., & Harvey, M. R. (1997). Adult memories of childhood trauma: A naturalistic clinical study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10, 557-571. "Roughly half (53%) said they had never forgotten the traumatic events. Two smaller groups described a mixture of continuous and delayed recall (17%) or a period of complete amnesia followed by delayed recall (16%). Patients with and without delayed recall did not differ significantly in the proportions reporting corroboration of their memories from other sources."
11. Corwin, D.; Olafson E. (1997). Videotaped Discovery of a Reportedly Unrecallable Memory of Child Sexual Abuse:Comparison with a Childhood Interview Videotaped 11 Years Before Child Maltreatment 2 (2): 91–112. doi:10.1177/1077559597002002001 http://cmx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/2/2/91
12. The Leadership Council - Trauma and Memory http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/tm.html
13. “True” and “False” Child Sexual Abuse Memories and Casey’s Phenomenological View of Remembering Joanne M. Hall, Lori L. Kondora - American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 48, No. 10, 1339-1359 (2005) DOI: 10.1177/0002764205277012 "Research shows that 64% of adult women childhood sexual abuse survivors had some degree of amnesia regarding the trauma; but in the majority of cases, corroboration was available to verify that abuse had occurred (Herman & Schatzow, 1987). Of 129 women with recorded histories of childhood sexual abuse, 38% did not recall the abuse that had been clearly verified and documented decades earlier. This lack of recall was especially likely among those abused at younger ages and among those whose perpetrators were known by them at the time of the abuse (L.Williams, 1994). In fact, a body of empirical evidence indicates that it is common for abused children to reach adulthood without conscious awareness of the trauma (Briere, 1992; Herman, 1992; Schetky, 1990; van der Kolk et al., 1996)." http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/48/10/1339?ijkey=ciZjJlFifgYIY&keytyp...
14. Corroboration of Child Abuse Memories "Studies vary in frequency. Between 31 and 64 percent of abuse survivors in six major studies reported that they forgot “some of the abuse.” Numbers reporting severe amnesia ranged from under 12% to 59%....Studies report 50-75% of abuse survivors corroborating the facts of their abuse through an outside source." http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/abuse/a/cooroborate.htm
15. van der Kolk, BA & R Fisler (1995), “Dissociation and the fragmentary nature of traumatic memories: Overview and exploratory study”, J Traumatic Stress 8: 505–25 "a systematic exploratory study of 46 subjects with PTSD which indicates that traumatic memories are retrieved, at least initially, in the form of dissociated mental imprints of sensory and affective elements of the traumatic experience: as visual, olfactory, affective, auditory and kinesthetic experiences. Over time, subjects reported the gradual emergence of a personal narrative that some believe can be properly referred to as “explicit memory”....Of the 35 subjects with childhood trauma, 15 (43%) had suffered significant, or total amnesia for their trauma at some time of their lives. Twenty seven of the 35 subjects with childhood trauma (77%) reported confirmation of their childhood trauma." http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk2.php
16. “Recovered memories of abuse among therapy patients: A national survey.” Pope, Kenneth S.; Tabachnick, Barbara G. Independent practice, Norwalk, CT, US Ethics & Behavior 1995 Vol 5(3) 237-248 "about 50% of the patients who claimed to have recovered the memories had found external validation, a percentage that coincides with that obtained in the Feldman-Summers & Pope, 1994 study"
17. Herman, J L.; Schatzow E (1987). Recovery and verification of memories of childhood sexual trauma. Psychoanalytic Psychol 4. “Three out of four patients were able to validate their memories by obtaining corroborating evidence from other sources” http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=ppsy.004.0001a
18. Kluft, RP (1995). The confirmation and disconfirmation of memories of abuse in Dissociative Identity Disorder patients: A naturalistic study. Dissociation 8: 253-8. "Nineteen, or 56%, had instances of the confirmation of recalled abuses. Ten of the 19, or 53%, had always recalled the abuses that were confirmed. However, 13 of the 19, or 68%, obtained documentation of events that were recovered in the course of therapy, usually with the use of hypnosis. Three patients, or 9%, had instances in which the inaccuracy of their recollection could be demonstrated." https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1155/Dis_8_...
19. Westerhof, Y., Woertman, L. Van der Hart, O., & Nijenhuis, E.R.S. (2000). Forgetting child abuse: Feldman-Summers and Pope’s (1994) study replicated among Dutch psychologists. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 7, 220-229. "In a replication of Feldman-Summers and Pope’s (1994) national survey of American psychologists on ‘forgetting’ childhood abuse, a Dutch sample of 500 members of the Netherlands Institute of Psychologists (NIP) were asked if they had been abused as children and, if so, whether they had ever forgotten some or all of the abuse for some significant period of time. As compared to the 23.9% in the original study, 13.3% reported childhood abuse. Of that subgroup, 39% (as compared to 40% in the original study) reported a period of forgetting some or all of the abuse for a period of time. Both sexual and non-sexual physical abuse were subject to forgetting, which in 70% of cases was reversed while being in therapy. Almost 70% of those who reported forgetting also reported corroboration of the abuse."
20. Lewis, D., Yeager, C., Swica, Y., Pincus, J. and Lewis, M. (1997). Objective documentation of child abuse and dissociation in 12 murderers with dissociative identity disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 154(12):1703-10. "Signs and symptoms of dissociative identity disorder in childhood and adulthood were corroborated independently and from several sources in all 12 cases; objective evidence of severe abuse was obtained in 11 cases. The subjects had amnesia for most of the abuse and underreported it. Marked changes in writing style and/or signatures were documented in 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study establishes, once and for all, the linkage between early severe abuse and dissociative identity disorder."
21. Martinez-Taboas, A. (1996). Repressed memories: Some clinical data contributing toward its elucidation. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 50(2), 217-30. "the author presents two well documented and corroborated cases of dissociated or delayed memories of child sexual abuse in patients with a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). The patients had absolutely no conscious memory of their childhood abusive experiences and in both cases the author obtained definite and clear cut independent corroboration of the realities of the abuse. The amnesia was documented and memories were recovered in the course of treatment."
22. Viederman M. (1995). The reconstruction of a repressed sexual molestation fifty years later. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 43(4): 1169-1219. Reconstruction of a previously completely repressed memory of sexual molestation. Six years following termination of analysis, the patient wrote a letter describing a confirmation of the event, now sixty years past, from the sole other survivor of the period who had knowledge of what had happened.
23. Bull, D. (1999). A verified case of recovered memories of sexual abuse. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 53(2), 221-224. "a 40-year-old woman with no history of mental illness and ten years of exemplary professional work, recovers memories of childhood sexual abuse by her father through a call from her youth pastor in whom she had confided as an adolescent."
24. Dahlenberg, C. (1996, Summer) Accuracy, timing and circumstances of disclosure in therapy of recovered and continuous memories of abuse. The Journal of Psychiatry and Law. "Seventeen patients who had recovered memories of abuse in therapy participated in a search for evidence confirming or refuting these memories. Memories of abuse were found to be equally accurate whether recovered or continuously remembered."

Bibliography

1. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (D. Corydon), 1998, "Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law" W. W. Norton (0-393-70254-5)
2. Knopp, F. H. & Benson, A. R. (1996) A primer on the complexities of traumatic memory childhood sexual abuse; a psychobiological approach. Brandon, VT : Safer Society Press
3. Leavitt, Ph.D., F. Manufactured Memory, Altered Belief and Self Report Mirage: The Alleged False Memory of Jean Piaget. Child Abuse & Neglect, 1999, 23, No. 12, pp. 1221-1224. [1]
4. van der Kolk, B. A. (1994). The body keeps the score: Memory and the evolving psychobiology of post traumatic stress. http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk4.php
5. van der Kolk, B. A. & Fisler, R. (1995) Dissociation and the fragmentary nature of traumatic memories: Overview and exploratory study. http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk2.php
6. Whitfield M.D.,C. Memory and Abuse - Remembering and Healing the Effects of Trauma Health Communications, Inc 3201 SW 15th St, Deerfield Beach, FL.33442-8190.
7. Whitfield M.D.,C. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 4, 2, 1997, Brunner/Mazel.Inc. c 1997, Traumatic Amnesia: The Evolution of Our Understanding From a Clinical and Legal Perspective
8. Whitfield M.D., C. Traumatic Amnesia: The Evolution of Our Understanding From A Clinical and Legal Perspective(Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, 4(2), 3-34, 1997)
9. Whitfield M.D., C. Trauma and Memory: Clinical & legal understanding of traumatic amnesia (Chapter 12) in Burgess, Ann W. (ed): Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing. Appleton & Lange, Stamford, Ct., 1998, pp 171-186.
10. Widom, C. and Shepard, R. (1996). Accuracy of adult recollections of childhood victimization: Part 1. Psychological Assessment, 8(4), 412-421. "accuracy of adult recollections of childhood physical abuse was assessed. Two hour in-person interviews were conducted in young adulthood with 1,196 of the original 1,575 participants. Two measures (including the Conflict Tactics Scale) were used to assess histories of childhood physical abuse. Results indicate good discriminant validity and predictive efficiency of the self-report measures, despite substantial underreporting by physically abused respondents."
11. Widom, C. and Shepard, R. (1997). Accuracy of adult recollections of childhood victimization. Part 2. Childhood sexual abuse. Psychological Assessment 9: 34-46. "A prospective study in which abused and neglected children (court substantiated) [N=1,114] were matched with non-abused and neglected children and followed into adulthood. There was substantial underreporting of sexual abuse, when compared to court and medical records. Victimization recall was checked by comparing crimes disclosed in victimization surveys found in police records."

External Links

1. Recovered Memory Data http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-data/
2. Recovered memory corroboration rates http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-corroboration...

Comment on Recovered Memories rebuttal

I just wanted to comment that all of your references and bibliographic entries but one are at least ten years old. The one exception (reference 24) dates from 2000, but concerns a study from 1994.

I find this to be telling.

A MUST READ

In response to Dave. The sodium amytal theory was mentioned in a 1994 GQ article called the untold story written by Mary A. Fisher. http://floacist.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/gq-article-was-michael-jackson-... It is a very informative and fascinating article. The author looks to expose the accusers father as a money hungry liar. It features comments and insights from people who were close to the investigation. It is something that everyone should read. It will change your whole perspective of not only the case but Michael Jackson.

Silly post

Are you seriously suggesting that Jordan Chandler had the following memories implanted in his mind. Where is the proof that you can implant such detailed, recent activities with such clarity ANYWHERE!

Other than the Mary Fischer article in GQ, which has since been pulled by the website and is no longer available, what is your source for the sodium amytal theory? The father accused of this act wasn't involved in the boys life enough to know his schedule with Jackson.

As a psychology professor do you find it odd that a grown man sleep night after night with prepubescent boys? In Jordan Chandler's case, Michael would go to the boys house and sleep with him and leave when the child went to school. When the boy went to New York for a family wedding, again 35 year old Michael paid for the hotel and showed up two days later to sleep with the 13 year old.

Lets tale a close look at Jordan Chandler's statement and tell me if you can possibly call this a false memory or a case of molestation by a manipulating pedophile.

Shame Professor.
Declaration of J. Chandler

I, J. Chandler declare:

1. I am the plaintiff in this lawsuit against Michael Jackson. I was born on January 111980 and I am 13 years old. I am currently in the 8th grade. I first met Michael Jackson when I was 5 years old at a restaurant that my mother, step-father and I often went to.

2. In May 1992, I met Michael Jackson again at my stepfather's car rental business, Rent-a-Wreck. My stepfather called me and told me that Michael Jackson was at Rent-a-Wreck and that I should come down and see him. Later I learned from my stepfather that Michael Jackson's car had broken down and that he was at Rent-a-Wreck to get another car while his was being repaired.

3. After I met Michael Jackson at Rent-a-Wreck he began calling me on the telephone. From about May of 1992 until about February 1993 (When I first spent the weekend with Michael Jackson at Neverland), I received many telephone calls from Michael Jackson. For at least part of this time Michael Jackson was on tour and he would be calling me from various places throughout the world. On occasion these telephone conversations lasted as long as three hours. Michael Jackson and I talked about video games, the Neverland Ranch, water fights, and famous people that he knew.

4. In about February 1993, my mother, Lily (my half sister), and I went to Neverland at the invitation of Michael Jackson. The three of us stayed together in the guest area. I did not spend the night with Michael Jackson. This was a weekend trip.

5. I spent the entire weekend with Michael Jackson. We went on jet skis in a small lake he had, saw the animals that he kept at Neverland, played video games and went on golf cart rides. One evening he took Lily and me to Toys R Us and we were allowed to get anything we wanted. Although the store was closed, it was opened just for our visit.

6. In late March 1993, my mother, Lily and I went to Las Vegas as a guest of Michael Jackson. We flew on a private airplane. We stayed at a large suite at the Mirage Hotel. My mother and Lily shared a bedroom. We stayed at the Mirage Hotel about a week. One night Michael Jackson and I watched the Exorcist in Michael Jackson's bedroom. When the movie was over, I was scared. Michael Jackson suggested that I spend the night with him, which I did. Although we slept in the same bed there was no physical contact.

7. From that time, whenever Michael Jackson and I were together we slept in the same bed. We spent two or three additional nights in the same bed at Las Vegas. Again, there was no physical contact.

8. After I returned from the Las Vegas trip, my friendship with Michael Jackson became much closer. My mother, Lily and I started making frequent trips to Neverland. At Neverland I would always sleep in bed with Michael Jackson. I also slept in bed with Michael Jackson at my house and at hotels in New York, Florida and Europe. We were together until our relationship ended in 1993. During our relationship Michael Jackson had sexual contact with me on many occasions.

9. Physical contact between Michael Jackson and Myself increased gradually. The first step was simply Michael Jackson hugging me. The next step was for him to give me a brief kiss on the cheek. He then started kissing me on the lips, first briefly and then for longer periods of time. He would kiss me while we were in bed together.

10. The next step was when Michael Jackson put his tongue in my mouth. I told him I did not like that. Michael Jackson started crying. He said there was nothing wrong with it. He said that just because most people believe something is wrong, doesn't make it so.
Chandler Statement

11 Michael Jackson told me that another of his young friends would kiss him with an open mouth and would let Michael Jackson put his tongue in his mouth. Michael Jackson said that I did not love him as much as this other friend.

12. The next step was when Michael Jackson rubbed up against me in bed. The next step was when we would lie on top of each other with erections.

13. During May of 1993, My mother, Lily and I went with Michael Jackson to Monaco in Europe. Michael Jackson and I both had colds so we stayed in the room all day while my mother and Lily were out. That's when the whole thing really got out of hand. We took a bath together. This was the first time that we had seen each other naked. Michael Jackson named certain of his children friends that masterbated in front of him.

14. Michael Jackson then masterbated in front of me. He told me that when I was ready, he would do it for me. While we were in bed, Michael Jackson put his hand underneath my under pants. He then masterbated me to a climax. After that Michael Jackson masterbated me many times both with his hand and with his mouth.

15. Michael Jackson had me suck one nipple and twist the other nipple while Michael Jackson Masterbated. On one occassion while Michael Jackson and I were in bed together Michael Jackson grabbed my buttock and kissed me while he put his tongue in my ear. I told him I didn't like that. Michael Jackson started to cry.

16. Michael Jackson told me that I should not tell anyone what had happened. He said this was a secret.

17. My relationship ended when my father obtained custody of me in July 1993 and I started living permanently at my father's house.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on December 28, 1993, at Santa Monica, California.

J. Chandler

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Scott Lilienfeld is a psychology professor at Emory University in Atlanta and co-author of several books on pseudoscience in psychology.

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