Whether or not false memory syndrome exists began to be debated in the 1980s, when abuse accusations were combated with the concept that therapists suggest events to patients that never happened. The central thought is that memory traces are that memories can be modified.
in the world of child sexual abuse, cases often have no concrete proof for guilt or innocence. FMS muddied the waters even further, leading to a sudden influx of research that yielded largely inconclusive results.
many studies resulted in information that supported the existence of false memory syndrome (Laney et. al.), but no studies have been able to conclusively prove that it is possible to implant memories of child sexual abuse into people who have never experienced it. (Wolf, et. al.)