Construction and Reconstruction of Memory: Dilemmas of Childhood Sexual Abuse

258 Pages·1996·11.22 MB·English

by  Charlotte Krause Prozan

CONSTRUCTION AND
RECONSTRUCTION
OF MEMORY

CONSTRUCTION AND
RECONSTRUCTION
OF MEMORY
Dilemmas of
Childhood Sexual Abuse
Edited by
Charlotte Prozan, LCSW
JASON ARONSON IN C.
Northvale, New jersey
London
This book was set in 10 pt. Berkeley Book by Alabama Book Composition of Deatsville,
Alabama, and printed and bound by Book-mart Press of North Bergen, New jersey.
Copyright~ 1997 by Charlotte Prozan
The editor gratefully acknowledges permission to reprint material from the following
sources:
From "The Body Keeps the Score: Memory and the Evolving Psychobiology of
Posttraumatic Stress,• by B. A. van der Kolk, in Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 1994, vol.
1, pp. 253-265. Copyright~ 1994 by Mosby-Year Book, Inc.
From "Neutrality, Interpretation, and Therapeutic Intent," by S. C. Levy and L. B.
lnderbitzin, in journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1992, vol. 40, pp.
989-1011. Copyright~ 1992 by International Universities Press.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No pan of this book may
be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from
jason Aronson Inc. except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a
magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.
library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Construction and reconstruction of memory : dilemmas of childhood sexual abuse I
edited by Charlotte Prozan.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-56821-787-1
1. Adult child sexual abuse victims. 2. Recovered memory.
3. Repression (Psychology) 4. Dissociation (Psychology)
5. Reconstruction (Psychoanalysis) 6. False memory syndrome.
I. Prozan, Charlotte Krause.
RC569.5.A28C66 1996
616.85'8369 -dc20
95-51701
Manufactured in the United States of America. jason Aronson Inc. offers books and
cassettes. For information and catalog write to jason Aronson Inc., 230 livingston
Street, Nonhvale, New jersey 07647.
This book is dedicated to all the courageous men and women
whose trust was betrayed as children and who are working to build trust
in their futures.

And so it is with our own past. It is a labour in vain to attempt to
recapture it: all the efforts of our intellect must prove futile. The past is
hidden somewhere outside the realm, beyond the reach of intellect, in
some material object (in the sensation which that material object will
give us) which we do not suspect. And as for that object, it depends on
chance whether we come upon it or not before we ourselves must die.
-Marcel Proust
If only our wretched brains could really embalm our memories/ But
memories don't keep well. The delicate ones wither, the voluptuous ones
rot, the most delicious ones are the most dangerous later on. The things
you repent were delicious once.
-Andr~ Gide

Contents
Contributors xi
Introduction: Construction and Reconstruction of Memory
Charlotte Prozan, LCSW xiii
PART I THEORETICAL ISSUES
1. Psychic Reality and Historical Truth
Howard B. Levine, M.D. 3
2. Repression, Dissociation, Memory
Murray Bilmes, Ph.D. 21
3. An Overview of Cognitive Processes,
Childhood Memory, and Trauma
Daniel]. Siegel, M.D. 39
PART II LEGAL ISSUES
4. A Lawyers View of Invented Memory: The Ramona Case
Ephraim Margolin, LLB 71