WADING THROUGH THE MUDDY WATERS OF RECOVERED MEMORY

The author reviews the professional debate about recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse and addresses conceptual errors, unwarranted a ssumptions, and factual inaccuracies in Benatar's essay ''Running Away from Sexual Abuse: Denial Revisited'' in the May 1995 Families in Soc iety. Despite the fact that many therapists believe that repression or dissociation is a common response to childhood sexual abuse, little s upport for this idea is found in scientific studies. The author review s the recent literature in this area and cautions social workers to av oid getting caught in the extreme polemics of this debate. Although it is important to be open to new findings in this area, we must be able to distinguish between conjecture and fact.