Ex-Priest's Defense to Call Psychologist

[emad]

Guardian

Thursday February 3, 2005 1:46 PM


By DENISE LAVOIE

Associated Press Writer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - The defense in the child rape trial of a former priest is focusing on the validity of repressed memory theories, hoping to debunk a key claim of the 27-year-old accuser in the case.

Paul Shanley's defense was expected to call just one witness - Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist and memory researcher who is skeptical about the validity of repressed memory theories.

After her testimony is presented Thursday, closing arguments are expected to follow.

On Wednesday, a judge rejected a request from Shanley's attorney to dismiss the child rape and indecent assault charges against the defrocked priest. Attorney Frank Mondano said the evidence showed Shanley's accuser has a false memory of being abused in the 1980s.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4775627,00.html

[Monkie]

1. Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist abused as a child who defends abusers

its interesting to read up on her and the FMSF (the false memory syndrome foundation) on whose scientific and professional advisory board she sits.it was set up to advise families accused of sexually abusing children.
the message she sends to those who have suffered real trauma and already face such a struggle in facing the abuse and being believed is what really angers me.

[Bridget Burke]

3. So, where can we read up on Elizabeth Loftus.

"Repressed memory" is generally considered bogus. There's enough real abuse out there.

Some people need prompting to "remember" the aliens who probed them.

[CoffeeCat]

5. The media presents it as "bogus" as you say...

Most people believe that repressed memories are suspect, because the MSM portrays it that way.

I've seen loads of sensational stories on parents/childgivers who were supposedly wrongly accused. The survivors, who coped by forgetting the abuse, are not represented.

It's tough to get the truth out there.

It's disconcerting that the truth is so buried.

It's disheartening and so invalidating.

It's as if I'm being punished for how I coped with childhood trauma.

[Monkie]

8. a friend of mine...

has excellent memory,she remembers everything about her childhood.
she also remembered a relative opening the door to her room and saying something and she blacked out and remembers waking up an hour and feeling strange.after that she kept having strange dreams.she was also scared of this family member but had no idea why
it wasnt until years later when she had sex normally for the first time that she remembered what really happened during that hour she lost.

real abuse gets SO little recognition, and these "pseudo-scientist" apologists with their pet theories get to distort what little attention this serious subject gets.

if anyone wants to know WHY the mainstream media doesnt like to cover this googling for the "franklin coverup" or "conspiracy of silence" or even better find the documentary video conspiracyofsilence2.wmv (40 mb) on the web or on your favourite filesharing network.its a stunning eyeopener and a must watch

[CoffeeCat]

2. I'm so sick of these "anti repressed memory" bastards...

Elizabeth Loftus is a mouthpiece from the "False Memory Syndrome" brigade.

The "False Memory Syndrome" foundation is a group of members, all of whom have been accused of sexual abuse by their children. The founder was accused of incest by his daughter. He denied the claims and the "False Memory Syndrome" Foundation was born to advocate for people who claim that they've been falsely accused of sexual abuse by their children.

Never mind that the founder was an active alcoholic and was institutionalized for his alcoholism. He was also sexually abused as a child, by his own admission.

This organization contends that ALL repressed memories are false.

I am here to say, that repressed memories are real--because I had repressed memories of traumatic abuse--that I later recovered in my 30's. Furthermore, some of my repressed memories were confirmed by someone who was witness to them.

I am sickened by these FMS people. Yes, I'm sure some who are accused of sexual abuse are wrongfully accused. However, to suggest that ALL repressed memories are false--is to further abuse victims of childhood trauma.

Forgetting abuse, or delayed recall of abuse has been documented by researches in the psychiatric field who specialize in studying memory and trauma. It does happen.

On the other hand, there is no clinical or scientific evidence for "False Memory Syndrome". It's a term that the founders concocted to give legitimacy to those who are accused of sexual abuse. There is no "Syndrome."

Furthermore, a group of distinguished memory and trauma researchers (who have never been accused of sexual abuse, like these FMS people!) have said that "'False Memory Syndrome' is a non-psychological term originated by a private foundation whose stated purpose is to support accused parents."

I hope that this accuser has his own experts who can confirm that repression of sexual abuse does happen. There are also experts (Judith Herman) who can testify against the legitimacy of the FMS Foundation. She's also a psychiatrist and an expert on memory.

I hope to God that the ramblings of this damaging group of accused abusers will be properly refuted in the court.

I applaud this survivor for coming forward and going to trial.

[ernstbass]

12. The mental health community brought this on themselves

Too many overzealous, under trained therapists leading clients. It's a real shame because now doubt has been cast on everyone.

[CoffeeCat]

14. I'm wondering if that notion isn't a red herring?

Many have suggested that therapist only have to "suggest" abuse and vulnerable clients glom onto the therapists' words and then their lives are wrecked.

I'm sure there are cases of bad therapists. I'm sure there are cases of therapists who suggested the possibility of sexual abuse, when they shouldn't have.

However, the number of therapy clients who remember sexual abuse all on their own--after repressing it for years--far outnumbers cases in which bad therapists convinced someone that they were sexually abused when they weren't.

I wonder if some of these claims of "overzealous therapists" are overblown. Some sexual abuse victims remember, then go back into denial. It's a part of healing. I can see where a survivor may be working with the therapist, go into denial and then blame the therapist for leading them.

In my own experience, I switched therapists three times--because I didn't want to believe what was happening to me. I recovered memories for a year, before I sought therapy. However, when my therapist explained what was happening to me, I didn't believe it. I got angry. I began reading, educating myself and slowly my denial shed and I was able better deal with my past and the memories that were emerging.

I also think it's a misnomer that survivors want to believe that they have repressed memories--as if we're so vulnerable and open to suggestion. Most of the survivors I've talked with, and I've met hundreds of them, fight the memories and don't want to believe it. They're in shock that these things happened to them, and surprised by their own ability to forget these traumatic events.

As I mentioned before, I recalled something I had totally blocked. The traumatic memory involved someone else and I was able to get validation that the newly recovered memory was true. I'm proof that repressed memories exist. It happened to me.

What incentive would someone have to want to go through this hell? I certainly could think of thousands of other things I'd rather be doing, during this time in my life!

[Mist]

4. Break out the heavy-duty Reynolds wrap

I googled "false memory syndrome" and "CIA" - remembered reading something some time ago that there might be a connection. Check out some of the sites that came up:

http://educate-yourself.org/mg/falsememoryhoax1996.shtml
www.whale.to/a/fms.html
www.geocities.com/skews_/cia.html
fmsf.com/media.shtml
www.mindcontrolforums.com

[Bridget Burke]

6. Gosh, so those Repressed Memories must all be true!

Not an inspiring set of links....

[CoffeeCat]

7. Bridget, are you saying that all cases...

...of repressed memories are bogus?

On what are you basing your "opinions"?

Obviously, some people are wrongly accused of sexual abuse. There are certainly bad therapists out there. There are even vindictive people out there who will wrongly accuse someone of sexual abuse.

However, certainly you're not suggesting that all cases in which survivors repressed their abuse--then later recalled their abuse--are bogus...are you?

[Bridget Burke]

10. Most cases are.

If the repressed memory is the ONLY evidence, the case is pretty flimsy.

[CoffeeCat]

13. Well, what "evidence" of childhood sexual abuse would there be??

Bridget, I'm not sure I'm following your logic.

There is a difference between repressed memories being "bogus" and a repressed-memory case being "flimsy."

You're kinda mixing apples and oranges here.

I disagree that most repressed-memory cases are indeed bogus. I asked you before, how you arrived at those conclusions. You didn't answer. You just repeated what you initially said--that "most cases are."

Your new comment, that "if the repressed memory is the ONLY evidence, the case is pretty flimsy" is another can of worms.

Most cases, involving an adult survivor who was sexually abused during childhood--have very little evidence. What evidence of childhood sexual abuse would an adult survivor have? Perpetrators don't commit these crimes with witnesses around. They also go to great lengths to terrorize the child victims into silence, for years. So the evidence trail goes dry.

Even in cases where the abuse was never forgotten, it's the victim's word against the perpetrators claims of innocence. That doesn't mean the claims are "bogus". It may mean that the victim has a tough time proving guilt in a court of law--but it certainly doesn't mean that the abuse didn't happen.

Another point---survivors who are healing from sexual abuse have all sorts of "proof" that trauma did happen to them. Sure, some evidence of trauma may not hold up under a court of law--but that doesn't mean invalidate the victim's claims or render them "bogus". A victim who acted-out sexually at age 6, and had many bladder infections that required hospitalization presents a pretty strong case for sexual abuse. However, a court of law may be able to tear apart that evidence. It doesn't mean the abuse didn't happen, or that the victims claims are "bogus".

I do understand skepticism about this issue. I was skeptical about my own situation and my healing has been riddled with denial.

However, if I'm hearing you correctly, you're saying that most repressed memory cases are not valid.

That simply is untrue.

[Bridget Burke]

11. duplicate.

(double posting)

[Mist]

9. I'm just pointing out there may be some questionable connections

between the FMSF and some people in FMSF who have CIA experience in their backgrounds.

[DARE to HOPE]

15. What can we find out about Shanley...

...where exactly did he come from before he entered seminary...I'd be curious to know.

[Monkie]

16. i found this account of his early life..odd

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news/2002-05-19-Butterfield-APriests.htm
nytimes article from 2002

"For from early on, he was living with a dark secret. He has said he was molested by a priest at age 12, forced to have oral sex, according to notes of a psychiatrist's interview with him at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Conn., in 1994."

Paul Shanley was born in 1931 in boston

"In a brief autobiography he wrote after graduating from high school in 1950, young Paul described himself as a mediocre student who liked to play spin the bottle and post office with the girls. A guidance counselor urged him to learn printing at a vocational school, but at the suggestion of a worker at a Y.M.C.A., where was a counselor, Paul took a battery of aptitude tests.
They "proved conclusively what I had suspected," Father Shanley wrote, that his talents lay in another direction. "This field was social work or, more specifically, boys' work."
He switched to Huntington Prep, a college-track high school, and spent summers as a camp counselor. After getting his diploma, Paul wrote: "I have thus far penetrated seven fields of boy's work. They are: summer camping, scouting, Y.M.C.A., day camping, club groups, settlement home and boys' home.
"It can be seen from this listing the predominance of social work over other fields," Paul wrote. "This might show a natural preference. My vocational plans are, strange to say, boy's work."
Paul enrolled at Boston University, but after two years transferred to St. John's Seminary in Boston. He has left no record explaining his decision"

he was ordained a priest in 1960

"Two weeks after he was ordained in 1960, Paul Shanley was named an assistant pastor at St. Patrick's Church in Stoneham, a working-class suburb north of Boston.
A year later, Bernie Vacon, the Stoneham police chief, got his first molestation complaint about Father Shanley"

[DARE to HOPE]

17. Thanks, Monkie...

This whole article sheds an interesting light:

"Paul enrolled at Boston University, but after two years transferred to St. John's Seminary in Boston. He has left no record explaining his decision, but Estelle Shanley, who first met him then, said: "Paul had a piety. He had a very understanding manner about him. He was very much a do-gooder. He wanted to do good, and I think Paul saw the priesthood as a way to do good work."

In retrospect, it is tempting to conclude that something happened to Paul Shanley at St. John's. His class of 1960, with 77 men, included five priests who have since been publicly accused of sexually abusing children.

Father Shanley, in a letter to a Boston Archdiocese official in 1995, said he had been abused at the seminary by a priest and a faculty member. But several priests who were in Father Shanley's class said they never heard of any sexual activity at St. John's.

On the contrary, said the Rev. Richard McBrien, a 1962 graduate and now a professor of theology at Notre Dame, "the seminaries in those days were very strict, very conservative, like minimum security prisons." Each student had his own room, he said, "and one of the most serious rules you could break was to be found in another student's room."



Five molesting priests out of 77, that we know of, in his class at St. John's. Were ALL of these five transfer students, too?

Not abused until he was in his third year of college, aged 20 or 21? Sounds unlikely as the cause of that deep spiritual imprint that his behavior would imply--I mean, he is abusing boys of 11 and 12, or even 6, and it was such a compulsion that he was accused within a year of his ordination.

I have thought that the "seminary hotspots" like Boston and others could give us some clues about how this all began. I can well imagine the living in denial and secrecy business among the bishops, sexual naivité being rampant, and with fires exploding all around them throughout these years. But what caused so many abused boys to come to seminary to begin with?

Hope his true story does come out, in the midst of all the victims' pain. Truth is the key to healing, for all. God lead them.



Gosh--reading all of the NYTimes article one more time--lots of dreamlike statements coming out from the unconscious: "the kid is the seducer," or that he had "penetrated seven fields of boy's work," that his "vocational plans are, strange to say, boy's work." His own abuse surely came from whoever helped the boy Shanley come to such conclusions.

I have seen enough of humankind in thirty years of ministry with my clergyman husband that I can believe that he still behaved as the good, caring Irish priest, and the monster at the same time.