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Commentary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Peter Whewell
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The study of trauma is inherently political. It is hard for psychiatrists to maintain an open mind, to respect and tolerate uncertainty and to maintain standards of scrutiny of scientific data when there are powerful political and emotional pressures to take up a polarised view of recovered memories of child sexual abuse. The two polarisations that have arisen are of recovered memories as invariably historically accurate versus recovered memories as invariably false and created by suggestion by clinicians. Current evidence suggests the psychiatrist should take up a cautious position somewhere between these two poles.

Type
Article Commentary
Information
Advances in Psychiatric Treatment , Volume 4 , Issue 5 , September 1998 , pp. 260 - 262
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 1998 

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