The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: a scoping review
People who claim to have been abused sometimes retract these claims at a later point in time. Research on these so-called ‘retractors’ might provide critical insights into the processes involved in the recovery and retraction of traumatic memories. However, the literature on this topic is highly div...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1498258/full |
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| author | Henry Otgaar Henry Otgaar Ivan Mangiulli Ivan Mangiulli Chunlin Li Chunlin Li Marko Jelicic Peter Muris |
| author_facet | Henry Otgaar Henry Otgaar Ivan Mangiulli Ivan Mangiulli Chunlin Li Chunlin Li Marko Jelicic Peter Muris |
| author_sort | Henry Otgaar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | People who claim to have been abused sometimes retract these claims at a later point in time. Research on these so-called ‘retractors’ might provide critical insights into the processes involved in the recovery and retraction of traumatic memories. However, the literature on this topic is highly diverse in terms of, for example, methodology. Hence, the aim of the current scoping review was to amass the available literature on retractors and identify key themes. We identified 17 articles on the topic of retractors ranging from empirical studies to critical commentaries. A central theme that arose from the literature was the influence of therapy in the recovery of potentially false memories. That is, retractors noted that therapists frequently believed that they harboured unconscious repressed memories of abuse which had to be recovered during therapy. Furthermore, retractors repudiated their claims of abuse for various reasons such as physical evidence implying that their memory was false. Also, retraction took longer that the initial recovery of memories of abuse. Finally, after recantation, retractors’ memories varied considerably in terms of belief and recollection of the traumatic event with some accounts qualifying as nonbelieved memories. This review offers critical knowledge of a rather understudied population providing further insight in how traumatic events can sometimes be misremembered. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-348e7381953e40ea927aaf3495fb285b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-348e7381953e40ea927aaf3495fb285b2025-02-05T07:31:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-02-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.14982581498258The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: a scoping reviewHenry Otgaar0Henry Otgaar1Ivan Mangiulli2Ivan Mangiulli3Chunlin Li4Chunlin Li5Marko Jelicic6Peter Muris7Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsFaculty of Law and Criminology, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumFaculty of Law and Criminology, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumDipartimento Di Scienze Della Formazione, Psicologia, Comunicazione, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, ItalyFaculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsFaculty of Law and Criminology, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumFaculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsFaculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsPeople who claim to have been abused sometimes retract these claims at a later point in time. Research on these so-called ‘retractors’ might provide critical insights into the processes involved in the recovery and retraction of traumatic memories. However, the literature on this topic is highly diverse in terms of, for example, methodology. Hence, the aim of the current scoping review was to amass the available literature on retractors and identify key themes. We identified 17 articles on the topic of retractors ranging from empirical studies to critical commentaries. A central theme that arose from the literature was the influence of therapy in the recovery of potentially false memories. That is, retractors noted that therapists frequently believed that they harboured unconscious repressed memories of abuse which had to be recovered during therapy. Furthermore, retractors repudiated their claims of abuse for various reasons such as physical evidence implying that their memory was false. Also, retraction took longer that the initial recovery of memories of abuse. Finally, after recantation, retractors’ memories varied considerably in terms of belief and recollection of the traumatic event with some accounts qualifying as nonbelieved memories. This review offers critical knowledge of a rather understudied population providing further insight in how traumatic events can sometimes be misremembered.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1498258/fullretractormemorytraumamemory warsfalse memoryrecovered memory |
| spellingShingle | Henry Otgaar Henry Otgaar Ivan Mangiulli Ivan Mangiulli Chunlin Li Chunlin Li Marko Jelicic Peter Muris The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: a scoping review Frontiers in Psychology retractor memory trauma memory wars false memory recovered memory |
| title | The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: a scoping review |
| title_full | The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: a scoping review |
| title_fullStr | The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: a scoping review |
| title_full_unstemmed | The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: a scoping review |
| title_short | The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: a scoping review |
| title_sort | recovery and retraction of memories of abuse a scoping review |
| topic | retractor memory trauma memory wars false memory recovered memory |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1498258/full |
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