A Critique of E.F. Loftus' Article on Repressed Memories

In Elizabeth F. Loftus' article The Reality of Repressed Memories, Loftus explores the concept of repressed memories and the possibilities surrounding them, including the idea that maybe repressed memories are not always accurate or authentic. Loftus considers not only the background of the patients expressing 'repressed memories' but also the techniques of the therapists that guide these patients into discovering repressed memories..

Loftus begins her exploration of this controversial topic by examining the 1990 court case wherein Eileen Franklin testified against her father George Franklin, saying she had recently recovered repressed memories of a murder he had committed. The jury believed her testimony and convicted her father of murder. It is interesting to note however, that five years later in 1995, that conviction was overturned, providing a prime example of just how controversial and unpredictable legal cases revolving around repressed memories can be.

What's interesting in a legal sense regarding repressed memories is that victims are now able to sue for events that have happened ten, twenty, or even thirty years ago when a normal statute of limitations would have already expired their right to sue. New legislation for those with repressed memories allows for the time limit on suing to begin when they discover the crime. Loftus likens this to a person suing after discovering that the cause of their discomfort was a surgical instrument left in them from a surgery twenty years ago. They have just discovered the mistake and the cause for their current problems so they are able to sue.

Loftus explains that repressed memories are usually memories of traumatic events and are usually memories of abuse. The patient is not able to handle the memory and so they repress it until they can deal with it at a later time. The problem with repression is that the majority of evidence for it is anecdotal with few studies using the scientific method. However, Loftus does recount instances of memories being altered and even completed inserted simply through suggestion and repetition. A teenage boy was able to conjure a memory of an event that never occurred simply through suggestion. This "memory" was so convincing that when given a list of events that had happened to him and told to choose the one that had not occurred, he picked one that had occurred and numbered the false memory among those that had actually happened.

This anecdote brings up many questions regarding therapist's interactions with their clients. If a completely stable person was able to be so influenced as to "remember" an event that never happened, how might someone under extreme stress or with extreme emotional instability react to the same technique of suggestion? Might not the pre-conceived notions of therapists on what a victim of sexual assault look like influence the environment they work in? How would one tell the difference between a person with genuinely low self-esteem and sleeping problems from one whose symptoms were caused by the real damage they had repressed? Loftus mentions one of the first published accounts of repressed memories emerging written by a woman named Jill Morgan who claimed that her therapist, through age regression and hypnosis, helped her recover memories of her father raping her. These techniques almost immediately bring into question the authenticity of the retrieved "memories".

Loftus does an excellent job of addressing these kinds of questions with regard to the varying techniques that therapists use and the sometimes questionable nature of those techniques. What she does not examine are the possible motivations for deliberate manipulation. One story she recounted was that of a father who hired a private detective after his daughter falsely accused him of sexual abuse after seeing a certain therapist. This detective began visiting the therapists complaining of an inability to sleep and nightmares when she did sleep. After only three visits the therapist concluded that the investigator was a victim of sexual abuse. This speedy diagnosis really gives cause to question not only the therapist's technique but also her motives. A patient who "discovers" they have been sexually abused will need much more therapy than someone with a simple sleeping disorder. Loftus notes that many therapists encourage their victimized clients to sue in an effort to gain closure. Inevitability these suits bring the therapist a lot of public attention and recognition. A therapist citing repressed memories may simply be exploitive and not helpful.

Of course there is always the possibility that these therapists are genuinely mistaken. If they have the idea that sleeping disorders or sexual disfunction are symptoms of early childhood abuse then they will naturally seek out evidence to support their theory rather than to disprove it. The easiest way to support their theory when someone comes to them with no memory of this abuse is to say they have repressed it. This may simply be the natural tendency to affirm what you already believe causing some therapists, as Loftus notes, to simply not take no for an answer.

While not enough is said on the motivations of the clients or therapists with regard to repressed memories, Loftus does a commendable job of examining the possible causes of repression, the background of persons with repressed memories, the legal and social implications and repercussions of repressed memories, and even the techniques of the therapists who guide their clients to discover these repressed memories. While Loftus does not take sides on the issue she plainly presents the evidence for and against repressed memories using anecdotes, court cases, and even the limited experiments that have been performed regarding repressed memories so that the reader may decide for themselves whether or not repressed memories are a viable scientific discovery.