Repressed Memory in Sandusky Case

In a former case, Jerry Sandusky, a college football coach, was said to have sexually abused children. He was found guilty of sexual abuse and sentenced to 30-60 years away. Though he without a doubt sexually abused many individuals, there was a part of the case that not many people are aware of. Some of these allegations were based on the idea of repressed memory that was uncovered after many years of therapy. Repressed memory is the idea of memories being unconsciously blocked due to stress or trauma while burying them in your thoughts. The memory may not be able to be uncovered for many years but can ostensibly be affecting them consciously. These memories that occur to the individual way later into their lives can also be false or imaginative. Memory works in three precesses; encoding, storage, and retrieval. Many times, when therapists try to come forth with repressed memory, they are trying to reconstruct your memory so that a specific memory is received. This part of the confessions were not known to the public when exposed. Instead, they focused more on the act itself, which is completely understandable but the process in which the stories were uncovered is fascinating.

Aaron Fisher was the first person to come forward against Sandusky. His therapist said that he allowed Fisher to answer yes or no questions. However, the therapist put the the subject of the idea into the context. They explained men who matched the exact profile of Sandusky and labeled them as predators. This is fascinating because Fisher did not come up with the idea on his own. Rather, he was taught and given the idea that Sandusky was a predator and therefore looked at him in a different light. Before his therapist mentioned these accounts and descriptions, he recounted Sandusky as a mentor and even a friend.

The therapist, Gillum, after three years of therapy, received allegations from Fisher of sexual abuse allegations. Although none of us were there, we cannot guarantee that these allegation are not false. However, after researching repressed memory, the process the memories are received from the individuals makes it a question of truthfulness. Later on, Gillum went on to interview a few more individuals that were, by chance, connected to Sandusky. All of these individuals denied there being any wrongdoing for a great amount of time. Many of these individuals who came forward not only didn't recall anything, but when they did, they were being given a large amount of money. Some of these men even claimed to see the sexual abuse being partaken with other boys. However, the boys affirming to be sexually abused later said it never happened or were never identified.

I believe that the actions that were taken by Sandusky may have been obscure. He did shower with the boys, which may be bizarre in itself to an adolescent. However, none of the boys claimed abuse until consulting with a therapist who was trained to recover repressed memory based on specific symptoms. Not to say any of these boys were not abused, but repressed memory cannot always be accurate. Repressed memory could also be brought forth with false memory implantation. This allows individuals to remember an event that actually never happened. It is done in various cognitive studies. Especially in this case, the children are very young during the time the allegations were said to have occurred. Because of this, children often imagine or come up with stories in their heads that could be implanted and later believed as true. Since there is very little evidence of repressed memory, it is hard to argue in court.