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 In this assignment, look for a news article (old or new) describing the resurface of repressed memory or studies on it. Then write a paper summarizing the article, what was the conclusion of the story/study? TITLE : 'Some days I think I was molested, others I'm not sure': inside a case of repressed memory The article is about a thirty-nine years old woman named Nicole Kluemper whose story had raised questions in the psychological community. During the first few years of her life, Nicole was being raised in a broken home. Her parents’ marriage had fallen apart within months after she was born. The battle for her custody had caused the divorce to stretch out for more than half a decade. At the age of four Nicole accused her biological mother of sexual assault and two years later (1984) she was recorded by a psychiatrist called David Corwin describing how her mother had sexually abused her. The video was used as evidence for the court hearing resulting in the mother loosing custody of her. She had then lived with her father and stepmother but had later gone into foster care at age twelve after her father had a stroke. At the age of sixteen, she became aware of the existence of the video and that it was being used to train other psychiatrists but she had no memory of what was in there. It was during that same year that her father had died. At the age of seventeen, she had contacted Corwin and asked to watch the video to help her figure out why her mother was absent for more than a decade of her life. When watching the video, her memories came surging back. But this time around her story was different from when she was six. At age six she had talked about multiple occurrences but at age seventeen she had only remembered it happening once and she was not even sure as to whether it was a deliberate assault. That episode was also recorded by Corwin who, was granted the permission (by Nicole) to use her story. He had

published an academic article on the topic using the pseudonym Jane doe. Corwin’s 1997 paper had caused a significant controversy in the world of psychology over the existence of “repressed memories”. Nicole had a second interview with Corwin as an attempt of putting her past behind her and starting anew. She had cut off all contact with her mother and signed up for the US Navy where she had later felt belonged. But her happiness was short-lived, one day she started hearing rumors of someone investigating her past to the point that he was following her around. During the investigation it was discovered that Nicole’s father was an alcoholic but she had bluntly refused that fact. Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist that had done extensive research on suggestibility, had taken interest in the Jane Doe’s case and she was not convinced by the science behind repressed memories. She had said “These people - the repressed memory therapists, some of them, and the patients that they persuaded - they fight dirty”. This had raised questions in the “British Pschological Society” in 1993 about whether psychologists were accidentally implanting false memories of child sexual abuse in their clients. As Loftus looked even more closely into the case, she became convinced of the mother’s innocence. The mother was so grateful that someone finally believed her, she had said “ it was a nightmare that went on for a long time. It completely destroyed me. My kids are everything to me and they always came first.” Loftus had attempted to dig deeper into Nicole’s story but Corwin had discovered who was behind the investigation and in 1998 Nicole had tried to put a stop to the intrusion by making a formal complaint against Loftus at the University of Washington where she worked. This had resulted in Loftus leaving her job but she didn’t stop the investigation. In 2002 she had published an article concluding it was likely that Jane Doe had never been sexually abused. Nicole had felt furious and had sued Loftus. At the end of it all they were both charged with fines with Nicole bearing the heavy amount ($250,000). The amount was unpayable for her hence, she had no other choice but to leave the navy causing her life to collapse again. Overtime, Nicole had started all over again

by training to be a psychologist and is now working at a nonprofit healthcare center in San Diego. Despite the fact that Nicole was no longer confident about what happened years ago she is glad she watched those videos at age 17, for in the end, it had brought together the pieces of her life in a way that nothing else could have. Even though she now lives a content life she is still against the idea of the “fallibility of memories”. CONCLUSION: Nicole had regained her repressed memories when she was watching the video of her childhood testimony. But it is unknown as to whether the memory Nicole regained was real or false (as a result of suggestibility).  Based on your readings and assignments, under what circumstances are repressed memories more likely to surface? Repressed memories are more likely to resurface when the person is exposed to a rather powerful stimulus (whether an exact replica of the memory or something that is related to it).  In your opinion, what are the possible effects of having these memories resurface? The effects depends solely on the type of memory that resurfaced. Even though it is mostly the bad traumatic memories that are being repressed, there are also a few instances when good memories are repressed because they remind us too much of someone we lost or miss. Some type of repressed memories can result in acceptance, closure and peace of mind when faced (like in the case of Nicole Kluemper in the above article). Other types of repressed memories can cause a permanent damage to the mental health of the person.  What are your personal beliefs about your mind repressing memories that may be too painful? Do you find some truth to it?

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Personally speaking, I do not think memory repression is a good thing because either way the individual will have to face the trauma and it is better to face it once than twice. Moreover one can never be too sure they will be able to handle it the next time it resurfaced. And yes I do find truth in it.

 References ‘some days I think I was molested and others I’m sure it didn’t happen’: A controversial case of repressed memory (2017) The Guardian . Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/sep/23/inside-case-of-repressed-memory- nicole-kluemper (Accessed: 11 December 2023).

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