Opinion ID: 1242865
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The repressed memory debate

Text: ¶ 17 The popular term repressed memory generally refers to a psychological condition whereby a victim of a traumatic event represses memory of the event in his or her subconscious. The nature and reliability of memories associated with traumatic events have been studied and debated for over a century. We present only the brief overview necessary for an understanding of how legal principles apply.
¶ 18 Memory repression, also referred to as selective amnesia, traumatic amnesia, and dissociative amnesia, has been documented in various contexts among persons who have survived severe trauma, including concentration camp survivors, combat veterans, and victims of childhood abuse. [2] ¶ 19 In laymen's terms, memory repression is the involuntary blocking of memory so that the memory remains stored but inaccessible to the conscious mind. Repression is a psychological defense mechanism that protects the individual from being confronted with the memory of an event that is too traumatic to cope with. A documented example is the woman known as the Central Park Jogger, who was incapable of recalling the brutal attack and repeated rape she suffered just one year earlier. Alison Bass, Researching Head Trauma and Amnesia: Brain Injury Usually Is the Cause But Often the Victim Represses the Painful Memories, BOSTON GLOBE, July 9, 1990, at 27. Physiological research conducted on the functioning of memory demonstrates the brain's biological capacity to retain memories yet prevent conscious access to them. See Cynthia Grant Bowman & Elizabeth Mertz, A Dangerous Direction: Legal Intervention in Sexual Abuse Survivor Therapy, 109 HARV. L. REV. 549, 600-04 (1996). The memory is not lost but remains dormant and inaccessible. The individual functions with no conscious awareness of the traumatic event. Researchers and clinicians attest that the inaccessible memory may nonetheless adversely impact the individual's psychological well-being and is frequently manifested by substance abuse, severe depression, suicidal tendencies, and sexual and social dysfunctions. See Judith Herman & Emily Schatzow, Recovery and Verification of Memories of Childhood Sexual Trauma, 4 PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOL. 1, 2 (1987). ¶ 20 Repressed memories are, however, only temporarily inaccessible. Research on the biology of memory verifies the brain's capacity to retrieve previously inaccessible memory in response to stimuli. [3] These stimuli, commonly referred to as triggers, include sensory experiences, therapy, and spontaneous recall. For instance, in Hewczuk v. Sambor , in a near-drowning incident in adulthood, the plaintiff experienced a feeling of having undergone a similar trauma earlier in life. Evidence later established that during childhood the plaintiff's foster parents nearly drowned her by submersing her head in a toilet. 1993 WL 45079 (E.D.Pa.1993). ¶ 21 In addition, the biological functioning of memory may leave persons who experience trauma incapable of synthesizing a narrative description of the event. [4] The potential for absence of a narrative is evidenced in one study that observed a child who had been sexually molested by a babysitter in the first two years of life. The child could not, at age four, remember the abuse, but in his play he exactly replicated the pornographic movie made by the babysitter. LEONORE TERR, TOO SCARED TO CRY: PSYCHIC TRAUMA IN CHILDHOOD 248-51 (1990). ¶ 22 In childhood sexual abuse cases, the process of memory repression and recall has been demonstrated through empirical research. One widely recognized prospective study documented occurrences of memory repression, memory recall impelled by triggering events, and the positive relationship between the severity of abuse and the probability of memory repression. [5] A follow-up study illustrated the accuracy of the subjects' retrieved memories, despite self-doubt and uncertainty. [6] In fact, some preliminary studies suggest that retrieved memories that were formerly repressed are in fact more accurate than normal conscious memory. [7]
¶ 23 The concepts of repression and recovery of traumatic memories are not without serious criticism. Clinical case studies have been rejected as unconfirmed speculations and a review of over sixty years of research failed to turn up a single controlled laboratory experiment to support the concept of repression.... [U]ntil experimental proof is available to demonstrate the existence of repression, experimental psychologists will remain skeptical. Gary M. Ernsdorff & Elizabeth F. Loftus, Let Sleeping Memories Lie? Words of Caution About Tolling the Statute of Limitations, 84 J.CRIM. L. & CRIMINOLOGY 129, 133 (1993). Other critics contend that no empirical evidence supports the theory of memory repression and retrieval. See Christina Bannon, Comment, Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Should the Courts Get Involved When Mental Health Professionals Disagree?, 26 ARIZ. ST. L.J. 835, 845 (1994) (citing Miriam Horn, Memories Lost and Found, U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, (Nov. 29, 1993)). ¶ 24 The possibility of implanted false memories presents further concerns. [8] Experts in this field contend that therapists who are inadequately trained or lacking in integrity may suggest memories of abuse that never occurred. Intense scrutiny has been given to certain therapy techniques similar to hypnosis, such as guided imagery, that may lead to inaccurate or false memories. See, e.g., Bannon, supra, 26 ARIZ. ST. L.J. at 843-45; State v. Quattrocchi, 681 A.2d 879, 881-82 (R.I.1996). The problem of false memories is particularly dangerous because the purported victim who remembers the suggested incident may honestly believe she is telling the truth. This could result in the conundrum of a witness who truthfully testifies that she remembers incidents that in fact never occurred. [9] ¶ 25 The possibility of false, implanted memories, however, does not negate the case made for the existence of repressed memory because memory retrieval often occurs in the absence of therapy or other forms of treatment. See Lazo, supra, 28 LOY. L.A. L. REV. at 1376-78. [10] One author has observed, If such memories were induced only by pesky therapists, survivors ... would not spontaneously recover them outside therapy. But they do. David Chalof, Facing the Truth About False Memory, FAM. THERAPY NETWORKER 39, 42 (Sept./Oct.1993) ( quoted in Lazo, supra, 28 LOY. L.A. L. REV. at 1377). A statement by the American Psychological Association Working Group on the Investigation of Memories of Childhood Abuse summarizing the state of knowledge with regard to memory repression endorses the existence of memory repression in spite of the possibility of false implanted memories: it's possible to create a false belief and it's possible to retrieve a lost memory. Bowman & Mertz, supra, 109 HARV. L. REV. at 598 (quoting Kim Ode, Task Force Investigates Repressed Memory Issues, STAR TRIB. (Minneapolis-St.Paul), Oct 11, 1993, at 3E (emphasis added)). Thus the psychological process of memory repression and recall is not discredited by the possibility that a false memory has been implanted. Rather, either of these processes may explain a particular factual allegation of therapy-induced memory recall. ¶ 26 From a review of the literature, we must conclude that repressed memories of childhood abuse can exist and can be triggered and recovered. We also conclude that such memories can be inaccurate, may be implanted, and may be attributable to poorly trained therapists or use of improper therapeutic techniques. On the record before us, it is impossible to say which is the case here. Suffice it to say at this stage of the proceedingssummary judgment  we must assume the truth of Plaintiff's submission and that it would be for the jury to decide the question of repressed memory recovery or false memory syndrome. ¶ 27 Thus we accept, as do the experts, the possibility that a victim of severe stress such as childhood sexual abuse might repress memory of the trauma and later experience recall of those events. Furthermore, we note that in this case the concerns about implantation of false memories are not at issue Plaintiff's initial flashback occurred spontaneously rather than through suggestive therapy techniques. The task before us, then, is to discern how the limitations period and concomitant exceptions apply to the case of repressed memory. ¶ 28 Plaintiff was a minor when the alleged sexual abuse occurred. The two-year limitations period for her claim therefore did not begin to run until her eighteenth birthday. A.R.S. § 12-502. Plaintiff did not file her claim within two years from that date and advanced three grounds in support of her claim as timely filed: (1) her parents are estopped from asserting the statute of limitations, (2) her cause of action did not accrue under the discovery rule until within two years of her filing, and (3) the limitations period was tolled due to her unsound mind. Plaintiff did not raise the estoppel theory in her petition for review, and we mention it only because the court of appeals decided the issue adversely to Plaintiff. Because the issue is not properly before this court, we do not address the court's disposition. We turn instead to the application of the discovery rule.