Victim's Memories

Typically three major factors related to remembering: language, emotion, and time. In general, people tend to think to themselves as if speaking to a fictional audience when remembering, this audience may be an outlet to express who we are now compared to who we were in the past (Fivush & Saunders, 2015).
The conversation aspect of language has long been suspected of manipulating memories. As humans, expressing our past experiences can be uplifting, but we must pay attention to how we express them (Fivush & Saunders, 2015). Particularly studies found that childhood sexual abuse victim’s memories are manipulatable. Beginning with difficult conversations are harder to articulate because they carry consequences and emotional baggage (Fivush & Saunders, 2015). For a child, confiding in an adult may create confidence in recall abilities or cast doubt and confuse their memories. In this case, memories become falsified or eased by way of conversation (Fivush & Saunders, 2015). For example, a parent who doubts or misunderstands the subject may confuse and cause uncertainty in their child’s memory (Sun, Greenhoot, & Kelton,
(2011). Sleep's role in the processing of unwanted memories. Journal Of Sleep Research, 20(2), 267-274. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2869.2010.00881.x
Fivush, R., & Saunders, J. (2015, November). The Social and cultural context of remembering: implications for recalling childhood sexual abuse. Applied Cognitive Psychology. pp. 843- 845. doi:10.1002/acp.3194.
Schacter, D. L. (2001). Suppression of unwanted memories: repression revisited?. Lancet, 357(9270), 1724.
Sun, S., Greenhoot, A. F., & Kelton, R. (2016). When parents know little about what happened: parent-guided conversations, stress, and young children's eyewitness memory. Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 34(1), 10-29.