The controversy regarding cases in which people report "recovered memories" of childhood sexual abuse may well prove to be the most important issue in professional psy- chology in the 1990s. Some have argued that such reports often reflect illusory beliefs in- advertently created by suggestive forms of "memory work" in psychotherapy. This claim amounts to a charge of widespread malpractice, and publicity about it threatens the reputa- tion of clinical psychology. From a culturaVhistorical point of view, this controversy con- stitutes a crisis point in Western society's belated and still...