To: MIT.EDU!witchhunt Date: Sat, 10 Dec 94 13:04 WET (c) 1994 The Kirkus Service, Inc; Kir

From: romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu!m-net.arbornet.org!aaron (Aaron Larson)
To:   MIT.EDU!witchhunt
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 94 13:04 WET

(c) 1994 The Kirkus Service, Inc; Kirkus Reviews, 12/15/94

ISBN Number: 0-87951-572-4
Author: Wassil-Grimm, Claudette
Title: Diagnosis For Disaster
Publisher: Overlook (400 Pp.) $ 22.95 Feb. 20, 1995

Review:

A well-aimed blast at the recovered memory movement that exposes the roots
of false memory syndrome and the reasons for the acceptance and
persistence of the phenomenon.

Wassil-Grimm, a writer and media commentator on family psychology (How To
Avoid Your Parent's Mistakes When You Raise Your Children, not reviewed)
outlines the dispute between those who believe claims that forgotten
memories of childhood sexual abuse can be recovered and those who reject
claims of such recovered memories as false. She effectively demolishes the
arguments, especially the statistics, of the believers, and urges all
therapists to look critically at their assumptions and methods.
Wassil-Grimm has mastered the expose and self-help formulas, that is, she
writes clearly, includes lots of case studies loaded with human interest
to reinforce her arguments, and hammers them home by ending each chapter
with a concise summary of the points made in it. There are helpful lists
of tips for therapists, for those in or seeking therapy, and for the
families of those falsely accused of sexual abuse. Throughout the book she
raises the question of why anyone would believe they'd been sexually
abused by a parent if it were not true, and each time she returns to the
question she provides an additional answer. Thus she is able to conclude
with a list of 16 persuasive explanations. Two related phenomena -- the
willingness of many therapists to believe quite fantastic reports of
recovered memories of satanic ritual abuse and the startling increase in
reports by therapists of patients with multiple personality disorder
(considered a psychological defense against abuse) -- come under
Wassil-Grimm's skeptical eye. This is a welcome addition to recent
literature on the subject (see Making Monsters, p. 1105, and The Myth of
Repressed Memory, p. 908).

Strongly recommended. Succeeds both as an expose of a dangerous fad and as
a survival guide for its victims.