Key Issue: Psychodynamic Approach; The debate concerning the Issue of False Memory and Repression

There is a huge debate over whether people do repress traumatic memories such as childhood sexual abuse. A number of people have remembered in therapy that they were abused as children and court cases against the accused have occured as a result.

For your Key Issue you need to:

•Outline the issue and explain why it is an issue and what interests people about it

•Describe case studies as examples of the issue

•Apply ideas from the approach to explain the issue

•Suggest how the issue could be resolved

 

The following links will be useful to start

Loftus and Repressed Memories

The case of Beth Rutherford

The case of celebrity Roseanne Barr

The case of a former Miss America - while her memory was not totally repressed, the 'day child' was completely different to the 'night child' and therefore could be used as evidence for repression