“That’s the reason why people who recall trauma have stories that sound like there are gaps,” he said. “It’s not because they’re not being honest. It‘s because they’re experiencing what we would expect under the normal circumstances of trauma.”
He added: “If someone can give you a clear-cut linear report, it’s unusual.”
Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of trying to rape her at a high school party when she was 15, said during Senate testimony that the experience was “seared” into her memory — even though she couldn’t remember details such as where the party occurred.
Asked what she’d never forget, Ford said: “The stairwell. The living room. The bedroom. The bed on the right side of the room … the bathroom in close proximity. The laughter. The uproarious laughter. And the multiple attempts to escape. And the final ability to do so.”
When someone experiencing a traumatic event dissociates, they might focus on something else entirely in that moment, said James Hopper, a clinical psychologist and teaching associate at Harvard University.
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“They might be focused on the leaves of a plant on the other side of the room or the traffic on the street below — they’re not even taking in what’s being done to their bodies,” said Hopper, who also writes a blog on sexual assault and the brain.
“With memory missing for that much of the assault, they’re afraid to tell people,” Hopper said.
Tonic immobility, meanwhile, can cause what some experts describe as “rape-induced paralysis.” “You literally freeze,” said Russell Strand, a retired military investigator and pioneer in trauma training for law enforcement. “You can’t shout. You can’t scream. It can last minutes or days.”
How ‘soft rooms,’ sleep can help with memory
The understanding of the symptoms associated with sexual trauma is changing how police interact with victims in the immediate aftermath of assaults.
Strand developed a specialized approach for interviewing trauma victims after responding to the mass shooting in Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2009.
Called the Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview, it focuses less on the information police traditionally sought from victims — the who, what, when, where, why and how of an assault — and instead seeks out what someone is able to remember, especially sense memories, Strand said.
“As they’re talking about sights and sounds and smells, they’re remembering other aspects of their experience,” he said.
The interview should be done in a “soft room,” he said — a place without the sparse, unwelcoming décor of a typical police interview room: have comfortable chairs, a rug or carpet, pictures on the wall and use lamps instead of harsh lighting. “People remember more if they’re comfortable and safe — both physically and psychologically,” Strand said.
Another important change, Tremblay said, is to limit the initial interview with a victim. Instead of talking for three or four hours immediately after an assault is reported, Tremblay said that officers should, if possible, only gather enough information to keep the investigation going — then wait a couple of days for a lengthier conversation.
“After a sleep cycle or two, the fragmented memory starts coming back,” he said.
And when questions are asked, Tremblay added, they shouldn’t be in the form of what can seem like an accusation — why did you go to the park the night you were assaulted? Why didn’t you fight back?
Instead, he said, investigators should reframe their questions: “When you went to the party, help us understand what you were experiencing.”
It’s unclear how many police departments, prosecutors, sheriff’s offices and others have adopted these measures. Strand estimates that he’s trained between 1,000 and 2,000 people in the United States and Canada for a certification program he’s developing.
The “vast majority” of police academies and colleges still teach the old model of interviewing, he said, and many officers rarely get much specialized sexual assault training at all.
Tremblay agreed, though he was optimistic about where law enforcement is headed on the issue. Recalling the officers who tell him they wished they’d been trained a decade ago, he said he’s heard some variation of that comment at every one of the 100 trainings he’s conducted over the last half-decade.
“I tell them, ‘You can’t change where you started, but you can change the ending,’” he said.