by Mark Pendergrast, author, Memory Warp: How the Myth of Repressed Memory Arose and Refuses to Die
Contact: markp508@gmail.com.As we all know now, psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford has come forward to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in 1982 when she was 15 and he was a 17-year-old student at Georgetown Prep. During a party, he allegedly lured her to an upstairs room and pinned her down on a bed, clumsily trying to pull off her clothes and bathing suit. When she tried to scream, he put his hand over her mouth. Only when his friend Mark Judge fell atop both of them in his own lustful efforts did she manage to escape and run out. The two boys were “stumbling drunk,” as she may have been as well.This sounds plausible enough, doesn’t it? Teenage boys sometimes get drunk at parties and attempt to seduce girls. But the fact that these abuse memories arose in therapy 30 years later should make us more skeptical. Could this be a case of false memories due to the now-debunked theory of repressed memory?Freud first came up with this theory in 1895, assuming that people who are sexually assaulted as children often “repress” the memories because they are so traumatic. Freud was wrong, which he admitted a few years later, but this misguided theory has continued to influence therapists to this day. The fact is that, barring organic brain damage, people tend to recall traumatic events better than others. Yes, all memory is subject to revision and distortion, but the idea that we routinely banish bad things from consciousness is a pernicious notion that has split families, ruined careers, and put innocent people in prison.It is possible, of course, that Ford always remembered this incident and was too embarrassed to tell anyone at the time. Nor did she feel called upon to come forward as Kavanaugh became a public figure and went through previous hearings. It was only when she was “outed” anonymously by Diane Feinstein that she felt compelled to say something. Both Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh deny that any such thing occurred, but they would deny it, wouldn’t they? And this wasn’t individual therapy but couples counseling, during which memories aren’t routinely recovered.There is no question that Mark Judge drank too much, since he wrote a book, Wasted, about his drunken escapades at the pseudonymous “Loyola Prep,” and he included a character named Bart O’Kavanaugh who “puked…and passed out on the way back from a party.”Nonetheless, there are strong indications that Ford didn’t actually remember this incident until she was in therapy in 2012. She isn’t sure where the party was and doesn’t recall much about the house or how she got there. She also apparently failed to name Kavanaugh at the time, though she said that the perpetrators were now “high-ranking members of society in Washington.” Still, that is typical of many recovered memory cases, in which a scene is envisioned with general outlines, but the alleged victim can’t put a face on the perpetrator. With enough visualization exercises, though, a face usually emerges. Aha, it was my grandfather! In other words, repressed memories often morph over time. That may be why the original therapy notes said that four boys were involved, not two. Ford says that was just a mistake in the therapy notes. In later notes from 2013, when she was pursuing individual therapy to deal with the memories (aha!), the therapist said that she was in her “late teens” when the alleged assault took place, but that surely is later than the age of fifteen.Ford’s husband backs up her version of the story, saying that she named Kavanaugh during their 2012 marriage counseling, but he may be revising his own memory. And Cristina King Miranda, who was a year older than Ford at her school, recalls: "Many of us heard a buzz about it indirectly with few specific details.” She says she recalls that it was Kavanaugh in the rumors. Given the nature of retrospective memory, however, it is possible that these memories, too, are incorrect. Or it is possible that Ford was assaulted, but not by Kavanaugh. Or of course he may have done it.The Ford accusations would seem even more likely because a second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, has now emerged, saying that Kavanaugh assaulted her when he was a Yale undergraduate, sticking his penis in her face during a drinking party. But she apparently wasn’t sure of her memories at first or that it was Kavanaugh. “After six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney,” observed the New Yorker, “Ramirez said that she felt confident enough of her recollections to say that she remembers…..”So, to me, this case still smells of possible revised memories, perhaps through recovered memory therapy. Regardless, memories from three decades ago are suspect, which is why we have statutes of limitation. In addition, 65 women who knew Kavanaugh when he attended high school have signed a letter saying: “Through the more than 35 years we have known him, Brett has stood out for his friendship, character, and integrity. In particular, he has always treated women with decency and respect. That was true when he was in high school, and it has remained true to this day.”But Kavanaugh’s Yale roommate, James Roche, says that he was indeed a “notably heavy” drinker who became belligerent and aggressive when he was very drunk, and that he believes Ramirez, though he knew nothing about this particular incident. It is possible that Kavanaugh drank so much that he blacked out during these incidents and has no memory of them. What seems clear is that Kavanaugh is lying when he says he did not drink heavily in high school or college. I would be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt except for this.I should note that I am a liberal, and I do not want Brett Kavanaugh to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. Nonetheless, when dealing with such old memories, it is important to maintain some level of caution and to investigate carefully. I do think that a vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation should be delayed until such an investigation has taken place, with time for more potential witnesses to come forward. And the recovered memory aspect should be explored thoroughly. Thus far, it is mostly a matter of he-said-she-said.
