SUSAN ROSENTHAL—In the 1970s, the capitalist class launched an offensive to retake lost ground. The economic assault on workers’ organizations, wages, benefits, and conditions was accompanied by virulent victim-blaming. Sick people were blamed for making bad choices. Injured workers were blamed for not working safely. Welfare recipients were portrayed as lazy cheats. Affirmative action and the right to abortion came under attack.
As the balance of forces shifted in favour of the capitalist class, the deniers of child abuse grew more confident. In 1992, Pamela and Peter Freyd founded the False Memory Syndrome Foundation after their daughter (with the support of her grandmother and uncle) accused her father of childhood sexual assault.