This case was interesting and highly complex. I was very surprised that I had never heard of Jesse incidents before or the panic that spread throughout parts of Texas. Although, I have heard of the “memory wars” and feel like there is still a lot of confusion about memory today. I loved Perry’s explanation of a Microsoft Word file because I don’t think I had ever plainly realized how our memories are altered slightly every time they are retrieved. The incremental changes can make a difference overall of how we perceive the memory. It's somewhat comical. The concept of whether people have negative memories buried beneath their self-conscious has been talked about before. Is it possible to learn in your mid-thirties that you were abused as a child? Or is that your psyche now creating a story for other reasons? I'm glad that Perry mentioned that the norm is problems arising from the intrusion of traumatic memories into the present and not an inability to recall them.
The idea that horrendous abuse was masked as "therapy" is disgusting. I found it very strange that some scientific concepts such as attachment were in small ways implemented to perpetuate further abuse. Holding sessions sound highly counterproductive. I hadn't previously considered how a little bit of knowledge can be harmful. Also, the emphasis on the importance of environmental and systems can be considered since Gilmer County had one of the nation's highest illiteracy rates. Given how complicated this entire case was and how it's not necessarily easy to follow, would the abuse have been discovered earlier on in an area with higher levels of achieved education?
It appears like a theme in our Perry readings involves how CPS or other forces have failed children in different ways. This shows how difficult it can be to know current and upcoming research findings and apply safety precautions that are uniform in all areas of the state. My impression is that there are a lot of ways to fall through the cracks and that there is not enough attention placed on the rate of failed interventions. But I do understand the difficult position they were in when they had to decide afterward. Could and should they place them back in a home where there were accusations against?
My biggest takeaway from this chapter is to take into consideration the differences in coping strategies utilized by each child. Therapy is not a one size fits all application and the discussion of past traumas may not be useful for everyone. Perry surprised me yet again when he came up with the idea to implement a heart rate monitoring device to further explore the children's reactions to stress and their reports. I don't think I would have ever thought of that. A device similar to a lie-detector on the go but while acknowledging that the children are not lying, simply continuing to do what was asked of them previously by ill caregivers. It was a genius move to uncover the truth.
This chapter was fascinating and heartwrenching. Who knew that groupthink could be this harmful?
Philosophically, the nature of memory is a fascinating thing to think about. Considering memory to be a sort of record of sensations, thoughts, and feelings experienced in the past, and considering that the only way to experience the record of those sensations, thoughts, and feelings is to do so in the present, it leads us to wonder: does the past lead into the present, as is the conventional wisdom, or does the past flow backward from the present, as the wake of a ship flows back from the prow? If we are only able to experience past sensations from the point of view and conditions of the present moment (and given that the concept of past is purely abstract anyway), it is reasonable - even in purely philosophical terms - to conclude that memory is always, in a sense, created, even in the moment we recall it. How, then, can any memory be called a record of experiences, if that record is always filtered through our perceptions in the present? It's murky stuff.
ReplyDeleteI'm also really glad you touched on the (il)literacy rate. I wanted to bring that closer to the surface in my own post, but I'm afraid my comments may have been uncouth or in poor taste. Not to put too fine a point on it, but a general lack of intelligence has been a theme these last few chapters, and in chapter seven it really seemed to reach an absurd level. For myself, I very much would like to think that much of what we've read about could have been mitigated or prevented outright with greater availability of knowledge and generally more intelligence in the people involved. The fact that it was a Satanic cult in a small, rural, southern, Bible belt town may also have something to do with it, but perhaps that's too politically charged for our purposes here.
I was surprised that I had not heard about this entire story as well. And ditto, it was highly complex. I had to read some part a couple of times and do a bit of googling on the side just to get things down. As for the whole conversation about memory, honestly the thought about it makes me feel strange and totally uncomfortable. I mean, in a sense it's fascinating and worthy of reading up about, but the thought of it being used to take advantage of a situation or of a human being is not so fascinating. It's really not something that we ever thing about it, but yeah it's totally like the Microsoft Word file. I mentioned in my post how I remembered an event that had never even happened, simply because a friend of mine somehow managed to convince me that it was true, and he didn't even do it intentionally. The thought of someone manipulating a child and instilling ideas and memories in them is just disgusting. The more I read about stories like this the more I question how I could ever work for a client who I know has had a history of abusing or neglecting a child. Concerning your comment about CPS, I completely agree. I know we have briefly had a conversation or two about CPS and the role that they play, but it's still discouraging to feel like an agency like them isn't really as effective as they ought to be.
ReplyDelete