Trauma, Science, and the Law: A Brief History of Trauma Research and the Social Response

In this chapter, the author shows that while debates over trauma and neurosis surfaced and disappeared in nineteenth-century Europe and America, the current debate is unique in that it involves innovative legal remedies for child abuse survivors. The history of traumatic memory studies from the nineteenth century to the present are traced, different theories of traumatic memory impairment and their cultural influence are surveyed, and the confluence of social, scientific, and political developments that led to legislative and legal responses to CSA are examined. The semantic correlation of the ‘false memory’ defense with recognized stages of memory and PTSD are evaluated.