Elizabeth Loftus, who was instrumental in leading the public debunking of the false memory/satanic ritual abuse hysteria in the 1990s, was recently named as the winner of the 2005 University of Louisiana Grawemeyer Award for Psychology. As the press release announcing the award notes,
The fifth awarding of the $200,000 prize for outstanding ideas in […]
In the 1980s, psychiatrist Bennett Braun was at the center of the hysteria over Satanic cults and recovered memory. Through his practice at the Rush North Shore Medical Center, Braun convinced otherwise rational women and men that they were part of Satanic cults that were killing babies and committing other crimes. Braun told the […]
Back in December, a Canadian court ruled that 12 members of the Klassen family prosecuted in a series of ritual abuse cases had been the subject of “malicious prosecution” (see Saskatchewan Government Says It’s Not Sorry for Malicious Prosecution). In February, the Saskatchewan government agreed to pay the Klassens an interim $1.5 million payment, […]
A judge recently ruled that a family accused of ritual abuse had been the victim of “malicious prosecution” but that hasn’t stopped representatives of the Saskatchewan government from saying it did nothing wrong and has nothing to apologize for.
The case against 12 members of the Klassen family began in 1987 when three foster children […]
Jane Andrews, a former dresser to the Duchess of York, recently filed an appeal of her murder conviction claiming that she has recovered memories of early childhood sexual abuse that diminished her responsibility for killing her boyfriend.
Andrews, 35, was convicted in 2001 of murdering her lover, Tom Cressman. She hit Cressman with a bat […]
New Scientist recently conducted a lengthy interview with Elizabeth Loftus about the effects, both person and professional, of the work she has done on studying how false memories can be implanted in subjects.
One of the best parts of the interview was her excellent dismissal of those who attempt to discredit her work with the […]
British child psychiatrist John eastgate is facing professional misconduct charges over an incident in which he apparently led a young girl to falsely believe that she had been a victim of sexual abuse.
Eastgate conducted counseling sessions with the 13-year-old girl beginning in 1996. Her parents suspected she was suffering from anorexia. Eastgate diagnosed the […]
The Toledo Blade reported in April that former U.S. attorney general Janet Reno called for increased enforcement to combat domestic violence.
Reno pointed out that when she was state attorney general for Dade County, Florida, she made domestic violence a priority. Reno did not mention that she also railroaded a number of defendants in the […]
Research conducted by Michael Anderson and Collin Green at the University of Oregon is being touted as confirming Sigmund Freud’s theory of repression and, in turn, recovered memories of childhood abuse. But does the new study really provide support for recovered memories? Not really.
In the study, college students were asked to learn pairs of […]
Betty Raidor, 81, died recently of complications from a heart attack at her Bakersfield, California, home. Raidor was part of one of the most bizarre legal proceedings in U.S. history.
After children at the McMartin Preschool accused her and others of committing rape, sodomy, animal sacrifice as part of satanic rituals, Raidor and six other […]