period of 1991 to 1992; since that peak, the number of
accusations has steadily declined. Many recovered
memory cases appeared in the media, which may have
contributed to the surge in repressed memories that
were recovered in therapists’ offices throughout North
America. As a result of media coverage of an unusual
murder case, repressed memories were brought into
the public eye.
In a landmark case that went to trial in 1990,
George Franklin was accused of a murder that
occurred more than 20 years earlier. The victim, 8-
year-old Susan Nason, was a friend of Franklin’s
daughter, Eileen. Eileen was 8 at the time of the mur-
der; however, it was she who provided the only evi-
dence against her father. Eileen claimed that she had
repressed the memory of witnessing her father murder
Susan, a repression that lasted for 20 years. When her
“memory” returned in the late 1980s, she brought
these allegations to the police. George Franklin was
found guilty of murder based solely on Eileen’s testi-
mony of her recovered memory. It was the first time
that a U.S. citizen had been tried and convicted of a
murder on the basis of a recovered memory.
Around this time,The Courage to Heal,a self-help
book by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis, was written to
assist victims of CSA. Even in the absence of mem-
ory, the purported victim was encouraged to recover
memories of abuse and to confront alleged molesters.
Critics of The Courage to Heal contended that it
caused widespread harm to many innocent people—
both the alleged perpetrators and the accusers whose
lives may have been negatively affected by false reve-
lations. Bass and Davis have no formal training in
psychiatry or psychology, and some critics have
argued that their book encourages the recovery of
memories that may not be true. Given that their book
has sold more than 800,000 copies,The Courage to
Heal,some felt, contributed greatly to the surge in the
number of recovered memory cases by encouraging
people to embrace their recovered memories.SSttaattuuttee ooff LLiimmiittaattiioonnss
Concurrently, the legal implications of recovered
CSA memories were propelled into the limelight par-
ticularly in the United States. In 1989, Washington
State became the first state to toll the statute of limi-
tations for repressed memory cases. People with
newly recovered memories of abuse had 3 years from
the time of remembering to sue their parents, otherrelatives, or any alleged molesters. Many states fol-
lowed, and thousands of lawsuits were filed.
Most provisions applicable to victims of CSA fall
into the categories of minority tollingand delayed dis-
covery doctrine.A tolling doctrine is a rule that post-
pones the date from which a statutory period begins.
In the case of minority tolling, it is a statute that might
run 3 years from when the child turns 18, the legal age
of majority. This is in recognition of the problem that
some children may not feel secure enough to confront
abusers while still in childhood.
The delayed discovery doctrine has historically been
used in different types of cases, for example, in cases of
medical malpractice. To give a medical example, the
statute of discovery would be extended for a patient who
undergoes surgery and only much later realizes that sub-
sequent abdominal pain is due to the doctor failing to
remove a sponge during surgery. Such a patient’s statute
of limitations to sue for medical malpractice begins to
accrue at the time the sponge is determined to be the
cause of the abdominal pain. Those in support of apply-
ing the delayed discovery doctrine in recovered memory
cases purport that such a medical malpractice claim is
analogous to an individual who alleges recovery of CSA
memories, in that the source of their pain would be real-
ized when the memories are recovered. Such an indi-
vidual would have some number of years (say, 3) from
the date on which they assert that the memory was
recovered in which to pursue legal action.
As a result of the tolling of the statute of limitations
in repressed memory cases, a large number of victims
began to sue their alleged abusers for compensation.
But these were not the only ways in which repressed
memories entered the courtroom. In an ironic twist, a
few of those accused of CSA began to sue their
accusers’ therapists for planting false memories of
childhood abuse. A somewhat larger group who also
sued call themselves “Retractors.”FFaallssee MMeemmoorryy SSyynnddrroommee
aanndd RReettrraaccttoorrss
There have been a number of adverse effects of
recovered memory therapy, especially when there has
been no history of sexual abuse. Devastating effects
can occur, for example, when a daughter accuses her
father of child abuse. Many such accusations have
resulted in litigation that often forces other family
members to choose sides, causing great strain and
often separation within the family.Repressed and Recovered Memories——— 689R-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 689