Mistakes Were Made - Carol Tavris [129]
21 Kathleen A. Kendall-Tackett, Linda M. Williams, and David Finkelhor (1993), “Impact of Sexual Abuse on Children: A Review and Synthesis of Recent Empirical Studies,” Psychological Bulletin, 113, pp. 164–180; quote is from the article’s abstract on p. 164. The researchers also found, not surprisingly, that the children’s symptoms were related to the severity, duration, and frequency of the abuse, whether force had been used, the perpetrator’s relationship to the child, and degree of mother’s support. In contrast to the predictions of recovered-memory therapists, about two-thirds of the victimized children recovered during the first twelve to eighteen months.
22 In reviewing the research, Glenn Wolfner, David Faust, and Robyn Dawes concluded, “There is simply no scientific evidence available that would justify clinical or forensic diagnosis of abuse on the basis of doll play.” Wolfner, Faust, and Dawes (1993), “The Use of Anatomically Detailed Dolls in Sexual Abuse Evaluations: The State of the Science,” Applied and Preventive Psychology, 2, 1–11.
23 When the little girl was asked if this really happened, she said, “Yes, it did.” When her father and the experimenter both tried to assure her by saying, “Your doctor doesn’t do those things to little girls. You were just fooling. We know he didn’t do those things,” the child clung tenaciously to her claims. “Thus, repeated exposure to the doll, with minimal suggestions,” the researchers cautioned, “resulted in highly sexualized play for this one child.” Maggie Bruck, Stephen J. Ceci, Emmett Francoeur, and Ashley Renick (1995), “Anatomically Detailed Dolls Do Not Facilitate Preschoolers’ Reports of a Pediatric Examination Involving Genital Touching,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 1, pp. 95–109.
24 Thomas M. Horner, Melvin J. Guyer, and Neil M. Kalter (1993), “Clinical Expertise and the Assessment of Child Sexual Abuse,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, pp. 925–931; and Thomas M. Horner, Melvin J. Guyer, and Neil M. Kalter (1993), “The Biases of Child Sexual Abuse Experts: Believing Is Seeing,” Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 21, pp. 281–292.
25 More than fifty years ago, Paul Meehl showed that relatively simple mathematical formulas outperformed clinicians’ intuitive judgments in predicting patients’ outcomes; see Paul E. Meehl (1954), Clinical versus Statistical Prediction: A Theoretical Analysis and a Review of the Evidence, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press; and Robyn Dawes, David Faust, and Paul E. Meehl (1989), “Clinical versus Actuarial Judgment,” Science, 243, pp. 1668–1674. Meehl’s findings have been repeatedly reconfirmed. See Howard Grob (1998), Studying the Clinician: Judgment Research and Psychological Assessment. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
26 Our account of the Kelly Michaels case is based largely on Ceci and Bruck, Jeopardy in the Courtroom (note 3); and Pendergrast, Victims of Memory (note 2). See also Maggie Bruck and Stephen Ceci (1995), “Amicus Brief for the Case of State of New Jersey v. Margaret Kelly Michaels, Presented by Committee of Concerned Social Scientists,” Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 1(2) [entire issue].
27 Quoted in Pendergrast, Victims of Memory, p. 423; note 2.
28 Jason J. Dickinson, Debra A. Poole, and R. L. Laimon (2005), “Children’s Recall and Testimony,” in N. Brewer & K. Williams (eds.), Psychology and Law: An Empirical Perspective. New York: Guilford. See also Debra A. Poole and D. Stephen Lindsay (1995), “Interviewing Preschoolers: Effects of Nonsuggestive Techniques, Parental Coaching, and Leading Questions on Reports of Nonexperienced Events,” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 60, pp. 129–154.
29 Sena Garven, James M. Wood, Roy S. Malpass, and John S. Shaw, III (1998), “More Than Suggestion: The Effect of Interviewing