Psychiatric investigation produces plausible stories, not verifiable truth
Evidence
It may be argued that psychiatric investigation cannot serve up “truth.” It can only make an untestable version, a plausible story that fits together. It allows us to make metaphor, and myth. And that, if we are exact about the nature of the enterprise, is what Gitta Sereny has done in the case of Mary Bell. — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 497
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to doubts about narrative coherence and constructed memory in biography and memoir craft, a recurring concern in Mantel’s essays. — connects to: Psychiatric treatment pressure can coerce innocent youths into false confessions — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 494; Interviewing techniques can render children’s testimony unreliable. — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 1578; Selective evidence can mislead juries about the case’s credibility. — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 2644 (+5 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 497
Broader Connections
- Truth serum torture destroys victims’ capacity to distinguish true from false
#corroborates(0.75) - Interviewing techniques can render children’s testimony unreliable.
#expands(0.70) — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 1578 - Selective evidence can mislead juries about the case’s credibility.
#corroborates(0.60) — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 2644