The Tide Has Turned for The Falsely Accused of Sexual Abuse: A Christian Perspective

Robert G. Huebner^*

Psychology Editors' Note: From the beginning, we have intended for the journal to be multidisciplinary and to present different perspectives from many scholarly disciplines.  Theology is a scholarly discipline that has relevance to many people.  Theologians can address any other discipline from within the framework of theology and assess its meaning from the theological viewpoint.  This article and the next one express a theological approach to the issues generated by claims of recovered memories of childhood abuse.

False accusations are a sad part of human history.  False accusations have destroyed the lives and reputations of millions.  Recall the Inquisition in Spain and in the Americas.  Remember the New England witchhunts with their divided villages and split families.  Recall more recently when parents tried to get back their children from communes that they were lured into through deception.

A new plague has emerged among the white, middle class in the developed world, which affects numerous families.  Distraught parents are now desperately trying to recover their daughters, who falsely accused them of sexual abuse.  More investigators are relating this new phenomenon to the aggressive feminist movement, which insists that there are many more sexually abused children than is generally admitted.

One hundred and thirty families in Colorado's front range, stretching from Port Collins to Pueblo, meet occasionally to encourage each other as they suffer a common plight of having been abandoned by their daughters who falsely accused one or both parents of sexual abuse.  A growing number of families have also been accused of practicing, even leading, satanic rites, including communal meals of sacrificed babies, which supposedly were procreated during the alleged sexual abuses.  These families have allowed me, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran foreign missionary, to accompany them in some meetings.  There I learned most of what I am sharing here.

In every case the accusers refuse to meet the accused after the accusation, thereby blocking any attempt for clarification and reconciliation.  Since incest is a criminal offense, to be accused of incest without recourse and to be forced to defend oneself in church or state is a very serious matter.  Each of the 130 families were crushed and utterly ashamed when accused.  They thought they were the only ones so horribly accused, the only ones bearing such a disgrace.  The media has been slow in picking up on this phenomenon; many of these families had not read or heard, either on TV or in the papers, of anything similar happening to others.

Since 1992 the False Memory Syndrome Foundation¹ in Philadelphia has been contacted by over 18,000 families who are in a similar plight of being accused without the recourse of dialogue with the accuser.  These families have thanked the Foundation for its help offered through a hot line and a monthly newsletter.

Although 18,000 families may sound like a small number, the accusation rips apart three generations of relatives, therefore, affecting between 60 to 100 family members.  Furthermore, considering the initial reaction of one feeling to be the only one so accused, one can reasonably suspect that there are many more desperate families in our churches, in our country and world.  The main reason for this article is to reach out in love toward those families who feel they are alone in their disgrace.  It is for those who have remained in the closet either for not knowing where to find help, or for fear it could mean job loss after losing their good name and the former happy family relationships.

Recent Changes

With several court decisions after years of disappointment, rays of hope have increased for all families falsely accused of sexual abuse.  In its December newsletter, the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF Newsletter, 1997) reported on its survey of 105 malpractice suits filed by former patients against their therapists which claimed that the use of suggestive recovered memory techniques led to the development of false memories.  Of these cases, 42 were settled out of court, 53 are still pending, 1 was dropped, and 9 went to trial.  Of those that went to trial, all have resulted in a verdict in favor of the former patient (plaintiff) against the defendant therapist.

The largest settlement, $10.6 million, was reached the first week of November, 1997, the day the trial was to begin, by Patricia Burgus of Lombard, IL, with Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, where Dr. Bennett Braun practiced experimental psychotherapy on Burgus.  According to the lawsuit, she was brainwashed into believing she was a satanic high priestess who engaged in cannibalism, ritual murders and abuse of her own children (Belleck, 1997; FMSF Newsletter, 1997).

This year, Bennett Braun, along with 17 other individual and corporate health care providers, will face a malpractice suit by Mary Shanley.  Shanley was diagnosed with MPD (multiple personality disorder) and persuaded that she, along with her husband and son, had been in a dangerous satanic cult.  She was isolated from the outside world because the therapists believed she and her family were in immediate danger from the cult, because she had divulged cult secrets during therapy.  Her son was also hospitalized and diagnosed with MPD (FMSF Newsletter, 1998).

Nadean Cool, a nurse's aide from Appleton, Wisconsin, settled her suit with her psychiatrist, Dr. Carlson, for $2.4 million after 15 days of courtroom testimony.  Her suit alleged that Dr. Carlson misdiagnosed her with Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) and, through hypnosis, age regression, exorcism, and drugs, induced false memories of sexual and ritual abuse (FMSF Newsletter, 1997).  On November 30, 1997, CBS 60 Minutes carried a story where Cool said she supposedly had 126 personalities, one as satan's wife.  Four other women treated by Dr. Carlson were on the program who claimed to have gone through the same ordeal at great expense.

Two juries returned verdicts two years ago against Minnesota psychiatrist Diane Humenansky who was accused of planting false memories of sexual and ritual abuse in her former patients Vynnette Hamanne and Elizabeth Carlson.  The juries awarded Hamanne $2.67 million and Carlson $2.5 million for their ordeals (FMSF Newsletter, 1997).

There are apt to be many such women, if only they could be reached and informed.  Truly there are many more.  Beth Rutherford claimed that her clergyman father, Tom, had raped her from age 7 to 14, with her mother at times holding her down.  Under her therapist's guidance, Rutherford had memories of her father twice impregnating her and forcing her to abort the fetus with a coat hanger.  After recanting, a medical examination confirmed that Beth was still a virgin at age 22, and never had been pregnant.  Beth sued the therapist and won a one million dollar out-of-court settlement in 1996 (Davis, 1996; FMSF Newsletter, 1997).  Obviously, a medical exam could have checked out those claims much earlier, avoiding the family ordeal.  However, one soon learns that in this lucrative business, the therapist does not question recovered memories, neither does he/she attempt to verify any of the memories, but rather makes efforts to preserve the memory to enhance, to heighten and increase the memory.

Another encouragement is the action of The British Royal College of Psychiatrists, which recently issued recommendations on "Reported Recovered Memories of Child Sexual Abuse." A key paragraph:

Psychiatrists are advised to avoid engaging in any "memory recovery techniques" which are based upon the expectation of past sexual abuse of which the patient has no memory.  Such "memory recovery techniques" may include drug-medicated interviews, hypnosis, regression therapies, guided imagery, "body memories," literal dream interpretation and journaling.  There is no evidence that the use of consciousness-altering techniques, such as drug-medicated interviews of hypnosis, can reveal or accurately elaborate factual information about any past experiences including childhood sexual abuse.  Techniques of regression therapy including "age repression" and hypnotic regression are of unproven effectiveness (Working Group on Reported Recovered Memories of Child Sexual Abuse, 1997, p. 663).

Another indication the situation is changing is illustrated by the experiences of a psychologist, Paul Simpson (1997), who formerly practiced regression therapy, but who now admits having mislead clients.  He writes in the preface of his book, Second Thoughts: "Within these pages is my own story of deception, deliverance and redemption.  But more importantly this book reflects the quiet horror of thousands who have been swept into one of the greatest hysterias of this century, a magnitude not seen since the last cycles of the great Witch Hunts."  Since 1993, through Project Middle Ground, Simpson has been offering opportunities for guided dialogue between clients who have developed memories through recovered memory techniques and their estranged families.

Despite these encouraging developments, there is much left to be done.  In a recent article, Elizabeth Loftus (1998) notes:

There are elderly parents who have one wish left in life — simply to be reunited with their children.  There are talented mental health professionals who have found their profession tarred by the controversy.  And there are the genuinely abused patients who have felt their experiences trivialized by the recent sea of unsubstantiated, unrealistic, and bizarre accusations (p. 24).

Although the tide has turned, the most ardent opponents are those who claim to be protectors and helpers of the sexually abused.  They fear that if they acknowledge there are significant numbers of false accusations, the public will stop believing in sexual abuse.  How absurd.  Both are very real — those who are falsely accused of abusing and those who are abused.  Each case must stand on its own feet.  Each must be treated by society as a separate problem to be accepted and dealt with as each case warrants.

The Nature of the Problem

There is a common scenario in families falsely accused of sexual abuse in our group:

A daughter phones home and says, "While in therapy, I suddenly remembered that, when I was a child, I was sexually abused."

The shocked mother asks, "Darling, by whom?"

The daughter's replies, "You know, Mother — both you and Father often sexually abused me!"

The mother questions, tries to reason, but the daughter retorts, "See Mother, just like the therapist told me, you are in denial.  I will not see you unless you and Father confess that you sexually abused me."

While remaining in an expensive program with therapists who reinforce her recovered memories, the daughter denies her parents any contact with herself and their grandchildren.

John F. Kihlstrom, professor of psychology at Yale University, has suggested the following definition of False Memory Syndrome:

A condition in which a person's identity and interpersonal relationships are centered around a memory of traumatic experience which is objectively false but in which the person strongly believes.  Note that the syndrome is not characterized by false memories as such.  We all have memories that are inaccurate.  Rather, the syndrome may be diagnosed when the memory is so deeply ingrained that it orients the individual's entire personality and lifestyle, in turn disrupting all sorts of other adaptive behaviors.  The analogy to personality disorder is intentional.  False Memory Syndrome is especially destructive because the person assiduously avoids confrontation with any evidence that might challenge the memory.  Thus it takes on a life of its own, encapsulated, and resistant to correction.  The person may become so focused on the memory that he or she may be effectively distracted from coping with the real problems in his or her life (FMSF, 1997, p.1).

Aside from the similarity of accusations, there are other common threads that bind these families.  Many are retired or close to retirement.  They are from all walks of life, although they tend to be white, educated, and middle class.  Many have strong religious ties, regularly attend worship services, and are active in their congregations.  They often report enjoying happy family ties until the day the accusations destroyed, literally smashed, previously harmonious relationships (Freyd, Roth, Wakefield, & Underwager, 1993).

I asked Pamela Freyd, the Executive Director of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, "How many Afro-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans are among the accused parents?"  Dr. Freyd replied, "The number of accused parents among those groups is extremely small.  The accusers and the accused seem to belong to the insured and economically protected groups in society."

The description of the accuser is common (Freyd, Roth, Wakefield, & Underwager, 1993; FMSF, 1997).  She (92% of the accusers in the FMSF family surveys are women) may seek therapy for a variety of problems, such as an eating disorder, depression, difficulties at work, or family strife with husband and/or children.  While in therapy she ends up "discovering" problems in her past she had never heard of, or knew of, or experienced before.  As a result of therapy, patients claim to have been sexually abused, to have multiple personalities, or to have practiced satanic rites where they participated in communal meals of sacrificed children born from sexual abuse.  Some have even come to believe they were abducted by space aliens or abused in past lives.

The Role of the Christian Churches

Another common denominator I have observed is that most of the families find their pastors know little about this relatively new malady.  Therefore, pastors and fellow church members are incapable of bringing together the accused with the accuser for reconciliation.  When both the accused and the accuser are members of the same congregation, pastors are in a quandary as to whom to believe.  But for the falsely accused, it is shattering when a church that claims to care appears not to care.

The problem involves not only two people, the accuser and the accused, but the larger family, which could mean 60 to 100 members of the same church.  Is it truly caring for the church member's welfare to allow an openly accused offender of incest to remain active in a congregation without dealing with him, and/or to harbor a member who has falsely accused another member of sexual abuse and remain active without church discipline?  Our God in Ezekiel 18:30-32 says:

Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign Lord.  Repent!  Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.  Rid yourselves of all offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.  Why will you die, O house of Israel?  For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord.  Repent and live!

A church that cares seeks and deals with sinners in its midst, so that he or she will not perish eternally.

When one asked the families, "what helped awaken these recovered memories?," the accused often mention a book, The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, written in 1988 by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis.  For many Christian therapists and patients, this book is the "bible" of recovered memory.  Bass and Davis are survivors of abusive relationships.  However, both admit being unaccredited counselors.

How many Christian therapists have denounced this book for promoting anti-biblical concepts and practices?  The authors say that anger is the backbone of healing, insist that to be restored to health the "abused" person needs to spew out everything at the "abuser, claim that a person is not more moral or courageous by forgiving, and believe that suing the accused is strength.  They maintain that demands for proof are unreasonable since the accuser is not responsible for proving abuse, and that if you feel the abuse happened, then it happened.

What do the Holy Scriptures say about anger?

In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (Eph 4:26)

But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander ... (Col 3:8)

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, first go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Mt 5:23, 24)

If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.  If he listens to you, you have won over your brother ... (Mt 18:15-17.)

Every passage above shows that reconciliation, a united life with Christ and with the neighbor, is God's objective.  God is against strife and irreconcilable condemnation which provokes more division, wrath and anger.

Listen to Jesus's words in Matthew 12: 34-37:

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?  For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.  But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

Satanic Ritual Abuse Allegations

Many accusers have described satanic sacrifices of babies and multi-generational communal meals under satan's influence.  The last two families that joined our group were so ashamed and shocked by these accusations that they had avoided persons for fear of being rebuffed.

A leader of our group had the following experience.  A local church threatened to excommunicate a member if the daughter's accusation of her practicing satanic rituals and communal sacrificial meals proved to be true.  Her church bought the empty property which the accusing daughter claimed was the site of satanic rites.  The church then asked civil authorities to check rooms for blood stains where the accuser claimed sacrifices had taken place.  They dug up the back yard for the remains of sacrificed children, where the daughter claimed they had been buried.  No blood or traces of remains were found.  In fact, it must be understood that when government officials have investigated such claims, no evidence of multigenerational cult ritual sacrifices or cannibalism has been verified (Bottoms, Shaver, & Goodman, 1996; La Fontaine, 1994; Lanning, 1992).

Despite this, not only do many Christian counselors but some church authorities appear to believe in the reality of such unverified satanic cult activity.  This is not limited to fundamentalist, new age, or fringe groups.  For example, the United Methodist Church has a task force on ritual abuse that sponsored a retreat for clergy on how to respond to ritual abuse when encountered in their churches (Task Force on Ritual Abuse, 1997).  Continuing education credits were given to the clergy for their participation in this event.  A complaint to church authorities about this was responded to with the claim that the 1996 General Conference of the United Methodist Church had issued a mandate to the church to "develop training opportunities and other educational resources" on ritual abuse (Wakefield, 1997).

What Does Christian Theology Say?

Our experience suggests that most Christian therapists and psychologists lack a clear understanding of God's Law.  The Law expresses God's requirements and demands of every person.  God says in Holy Scriptures: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Luther explains in his Large Catechism: "Besides our own body, our wife or husband, and our temporal property, we have one more treasure which is indispensable to us, namely, our honor and good name, for it is intolerable to live among men in public disgrace and contempt.  Therefore, God will not have our neighbor deprived of his reputation, honor, and character any more than his money and possessions.

To falsely accuse a parent of sexual abuse is to rob father or mother of their reputation, honor, and character — their most valuable possession.

But, there is another commandment: "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you."  Luther writes in the Large Catechism: "To fatherhood and motherhood God has given the special distinction, above all estates that are beneath it, that he commands us not simply to love our parents but to honor them."  Thus he distinguishes father and mother above all other persons on earth, and places them next to himself.  For it is much greater to honor than to love.  When someone falsely accuses a parent of sexual abuse, one is really accusing God, for a parent is declared by God to be His representative here on earth.

This commandment is the only one with a promise to those who honor father and mother.  The promise is a long life and well being.  The commandment does not say what the punishment will be if one dishonors father and mother.  But any reasoning person who thinks that it matters little if one despises father and mother, does not know our loving yet righteous God.

All of these couples I have dealt with recognize they were not perfect, holy, without sin in their childhood, youth and adulthood.  However, they did their best as humans to live according to God's will, and they raised their children in the knowledge of God and His gracious ways.  To be repaid by daughters and sons with a despicable accusation of sexual abuse is destroying well-meaning, hard-working people, who in their golden years instead of rest and service in church and community are tormented day and night by accusations of horrible things they did not do.

The pain does not diminish with the passage of time.  Those who accuse, backed by their therapists, claim they need space, time to heal.  But the length of healing time seems to have no limit — 5 years, 10, 15 — maybe forever.  Meanwhile the accused, in their anguish, grow older, suffer deteriorating health, experience depression, and eventually die of broken hearts.  Parents agonize over thoughts of disowning their daughters or writing them out of their will.  They daily relive the accusations, hoping the daughter will return, wondering in their grief what they did wrong — how could such a thing have happened in their family?

It is even sadder when reputed Christian therapists appear not to understand or to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Christ Jesus, true God from all eternity, became our brother, born of the Virgin Mary.  He lived a perfect life, He fulfilled in our stead God's commandments, all of which we cannot keep.  He died on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, He rose on the third day victor over sin, the fear of death, and the power of the old evil foe.

Yes, "the old evil foe" exists and works.  After his defeat by Christ's resurrection he works even harder.  He prowls around to see whom he can devour.  But the devil does not rule the world.  He can affect believers in Christ, but only when a believer opens a door to him.  As Luther wrote, we cannot keep the birds from flying over our heads or keep the devil from tempting us, but we can keep a bird from building a nest in our hair and the devil from building a room in our heart.  Lying and slandering continue to be the devil's most dangerous work.  It is he who moves the accusers to slander and falsely accuse innocent parents of sexual abuse.  It was the devil that tempted our Lord when the Holy Spirit led him out in the wilderness.  One fine Baptist preacher, however, said many years ago: The Lord took the devil very seriously.  He knew he was cunning and powerful.  But he entered the ring and in three rounds knocked him out.

It was the devil who filled people's hearts with hatred when he preached to the world regarding sin, repentance, and forgiveness through the love of God in Christ Jesus.  It was lies and false accusations that led to Jesus's arrest.  More false accusations during his trial led to his execution.  Thus, Our Lord knows what it means to be falsely accused.  He can understand the pain that anyone bears who has been falsely accused.  But more important is to remember that Christ's suffering as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world means that he now reaches out to both — to the accuser and the falsely accused —  offering help and salvation to each.

In Christ's trial, the High Priest said it was better for one man to suffer than the whole people.  So it is today.  There is a basic argument that children do not lie, must be believed as all accusations are true.  If an adult feels there was childhood abuse and recovers memories, it is true and must not be challenged.  If you make a few mistakes and condemn innocent people, that is the price that must be paid to protect the children.  The flaw in this reasoning is that children are not protected by having a society with an unjust and oppressive justice system.  Children are not protected by having a society where the family as an institution is under attack and can be destroyed by error and falsehood.  Children are best protected by having a society where families are strong and cohesive and where all persons are treated with fairness and justice.  It is the truth that sets us free, not error.

The devil knows he is defeated, but he still manages to promote today's greatest lie — that he is the ruler of the world.  The increased abandonment of Christian doctrine and values and acceptance of secularism and humanism leaves an open field for the devil to continue his lies.  However, if anyone accepts that the devil has uncontested power in the world and worships him — that is the great denial of the One True God, the Father-Creator, the Son-Redeemer and the Holy Spirit-Sanctifier and Comforter.  "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked." (Galatians 6:7).

What Christian Churches Can Do

When a society gets on a wrong track and begins to accept error and produce unjust policies and practices, the only institution that has the charge from God, therefore, the authority to resist, challenge the state, call for change and a return to justice, is the church.  This requires courage and conviction by leaders and members of the church as the church history of the last 80 years demonstrates.  It is easy for the church to follow a long and play the role of supporter of injustice and preservation of the status quo.  In the issues raised by the recovered memory phenomenon, the church must acquire the courage to go against the politically correct dogmas and the pseudoscience that may bolster them.  The church must stand for truth and accuracy in science as well as in faith and values.

If the church does this, it is then able to speak with firmness and boldness to individuals who are caught up in the errors.  The ministry of the church can then confront the mistakes, the false witness, the masking of rage and anger as therapy, the divisiveness of vengeance, and the ripping apart of families.  The final step in the church's ministry is to bring about healing, reconciliation, and a restoration of family unity.

The FMS Foundation July/August Newsletter offers 58 titles of books on the subject.  All have been published since 1992.  These books offer descriptions of research studies that can help anyone understand the nature of memory and how it functions, the process of recovered memory therapy, the scientific status of concepts such as multiple personality disorder, repression, and traumatic amnesia, and how false memories develop.  Ones that I have read and found helpful include:

Loftus, E. & Ketcham, K. (1994). The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse (). New York: St. Martin's Press.

Ofshe, R., & Watters, E. (1994). Making Monsters: False Memories, Psychotherapy, and Sexual Hysteria (). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

Pendergrast, M. (1995). Victims of Memory: Incest Accusations and Shattered Lives (). Hinesburg, VT: Upper Access, Inc.

Schacter, D. L. (1996). Searching for Memory: Brain, Mind, and the Past (). New York: Basic Books: HarperCollins Publisher.

Simpson, P. (1997). Second Thoughts: Understanding the False Memory Crisis and How It Could Affect You (). Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Wakefield, H., & Underwager, R. (1994). Return of the Furies: An Investigation Into Recovered Memory Therapy (). Chicago: Open Court.

Van Til, R. (1997). Lost Daughters: Recovered Memory Therapy and the People It Hurts (). Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans Publishing.

The recent changes in the problems our society faces with recovered memory allegations along with the stimulation to read more books, including the Good Book, provide a positive way to help both persons who have been falsely accused and those who accuse them.  Both are going through pain, loneliness, abandonment by family, friends, and the church.  Become a facilitator of reconciliation for the accused and the accuser through the power of the Holy Spirit in our Lord Jesus Christ.

References

Bass, E., & Davis, L. (1988). The Courage to Heal ()(). New York: Harper & Row.

Belleck, P. (1997, November 6). Memory therapy leads to a lawsuit and big settlement. New York Times, pp. A1, A1 0.

Bottoms, B. L., Shaver, P. R., & Goodman, G. S. (1996). An analysis of ritualistic and religion-related child abuse allegations. Law and Human Behavior, 20(1), 1-34.

Davis, R. (1996, June 23). When memories lie. Springfield News-Leader (Missouri), p. 6A, 7A.

FMSF Newsletter (1997, December). False Memory Syndrome Newsletter, 6(11), 7-12.

FMSF Newsletter (1998, March). False Memory Syndrome Newsletter, 7(2),9.

FMSF (1997). Frequently Asked Questions. Brochure published by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, 3401 Market Street, Suite 130, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3315.

Freyd, P., Roth, Z., Wakefield, H., & Underwager, R. (1993, April 16-18). Results of the FMSF Family Survey. Paper presented at the conference on "Memory and reality," False Memory Syndrome Foundation, Valley Forge, PA.

La Fontaine, J. S. (1994). The extent and nature of organised and ritual abuse: Research findings. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Lanning, K. V. (1992). Investigator's guide to allegations of "Ritual" child abuse. National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime: Quantico, VA.

Loftus, E. (1998, March/April). The price of bad memories. Skeptical Inquirer, pp. 23-24.

Simpson, P. (1997). Second Thoughts: Understanding the False Memory Crisis and How It Could Affect You (). Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Task Force on Ritual Abuse (1997). Brochure on A Christian Response to Ritual Abuse: A Journey of Hope and Healing. Sponsored by the United Methodist Task Force on Ritual Abuse, United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 2091, New York, NY 21025.

Wakefield, H. (1997). Correspondence between Hollida Wakefield and members of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church.

Wakefield, H., & Underwager, R. (1994). Return of the Furies: An Investigation Into Recovered Memory Therapy (). Chicago: Open Court.

Working Group on Reported Recovered Memories of Child Sexual Abuse (1997). Reported recovered memories of child sexual abuse. Psychiatric Bulletin, 21, 663-665.