Claims of Sexual Harassment

ISSUES IN FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY
Claims of Sexual Harassment

The PIASH Effect:
Psychotherapy Influenced Allegations of Sexual Harassment

Social-sexual misconduct in the workplace does not always satisfy the legal criteria of sexual harassment. Determining whether a plaintiff has endured patently hostile or offensive behavior often invites considerable interpretation.
Claims of sexual harassment can therefore hinge on subjective assessments of ambiguous events open to varying interpretations. Data accumulated for more than 20 years clearly demonstrate that the post-event information effect influences the recall of ambiguous events open to interpretation.
Via the post-event information effect, psychotherapy can influence how plaintiffs and defendants recall critical incidents in harassment matters. Treating therapists in these circumstances may know no more about their client - and the client's life circumstances - than their client wants them to know.
Preferring to believe their decision to litigate was an appropriate one, plaintiffs can be expected to exhibit memory biases supporting their decision. The substantial amount of time that can elapse between the alleged events in a harassment matter, and testimony from plaintiff and/or defendant, also undermines recall accuracy.
In response to the influences of psychotherapy, plaintiffs and defendants can become very confused about workplace events they only imagined versus events that actually occurred. When therapists encourage their clients to stereotype a plaintiff or defendant, the accuracy of client recall is also compromised.
Therapists who express opinions about plaintiffs or defendants in harassment matters - without ever having met them - create substantial ethical problems for themselves. The ethical codes of all the mental health professions explicitly prohibit such conduct.
Seeking to confirm their theories about a defendant or plaintiff they have never met, therapists can resort to "sharpening" and "leveling." They sharpen - or emphasize - any information that seems consistent with their theories. Simultaneously, they level - or de-emphasize - any information inconsistent with their theories.
Ideologically driven psychotherapy, responding to Feminist theory for example, creates an enormous risk of altering and tainting a client's memory. Compared to ideologically driven treatments, clients benefit more from empirically validated treatments known to be safe and effective.

If you are dealing with a sexual harassment matter, you may want to order a reprint of the following article authored by Dr. Campbell.

The PIASH effect: Psychotherapy influenced allegations of sexual harassment. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 20 (2) 15-30. (Order article #17, Cost $12.00).

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