Does organized ritual child abuse exist?
keywords:
ritual abuse / conspiracy theory / false memory / suggestion
Does organized ritual child abuse exist?
A significant number of therapists and self-defined victims report secret organizations that sexually abuse children for ideological or religious purposes and control them through targeted personality splitting. However, police investigations have so far been unable to uncover any evidence for these allegations. In this article, we discuss why the existence of such conspiratorial secret societies is not compatible with scientific findings, despite the reports of those affected, and to what extent suggested memories of the alleged acts represent a more reliable alternative explanation. / more
Children are poor witnesses. Or are they?
keywords:
eyewitness testimony / false memory / suggestion / developmental reversal
Children are poor witnesses. Or are they?
In a recent murder case, a 6-year-old girl claimed immediately upon arrival of the ambulance and police to have witnessed her father stabbing her mother (Brackmann, Otgaar, Sauerland, & Jelicic, 2014). Does such an account really reflect what happened and should it be used as evidence in court? In criminal cases, it is important to decipher whether eyewitness statements are credible or not. Indeed, erroneous eyewitness statements can have severe consequences, such as wrongful imprisonment and waste of resources. The... / more