Satanic ritual abuse/Bibliography: Difference between revisions

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==Books==
==Books==
*Bibby PA (1996) ''Organised Abuse: The Current Debate.'' Aldershot, England: Arena. ISBN 1-85742-284-8.
*Bromley DG; Richardson JR & Best J (1991) ''The Satanism scare.'' New York: A. de Gruyter. ISBN 0-202-30379-9. 
*Clapton G (1993) ''Satanic Abuse Controversy: Social Workers and the Social Work Press'' (Essential Issues in the 1990s). University of North London Press. ISBN 1-85377-154-6. 
*de Young, Mary (2004). ''The Day Care Ritual Abuse Moral Panic.'' ISBN 0786418303
*Gould C (1992) ''Diagnosis and treatment of ritually abused children in Jefferson, North Carolina, United States: McFarland and Company. ISBN 0786418303.
*Hicks RD(1991) ''Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the Occult'' Prometheus Books ISBN 0-87975-604-7 [http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=129704 NCJRS Abstract] ''("This book critically analyzes individual law enforcement agencies' focus on Satanism and the occult and concludes that no evidence exists of a nationwide criminal conspiracy of Satanists and devil-worshipers. The analysis emphasizes that vandalism, child abuse, serial murders, and other crimes are all serious problems. In addition, the model proposing a connection between Satanism and criminality is expedient largely because of its simplicity as a means of explaining such complex problems as drug abuse, adolescent suicide, and sexual molestation. Unfortunately, poorly trained therapists and certain police officers have used the media to focus attention on satanic crime despite a lack of evidence of a cult connection. Their misinformation and speculations produces unjustified fear in their communities.")''
*Lyons A (1988) ''Satan Wants You: The Cult of Devil Worship in America'' Mysterious Press ISBN 0-89296-217-8 [http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx? NCJRS Abstract] ''("This analysis of the nature and role of Satanic cults in the United States in recent years explores its origins and history, the reasons for its public emergence in recent years, and its current characteristics. Satanism has a variety of connotations: the renunciation and denial of a Christian God, the ascendence of evil over good, the forces of darkness, the use of ritual evocations of demons in rooms lit only by black candles, and sacrifices and sexual orgies. Satanic religions are as old as monotheism and have their origins in Persia of the sixth century. However, Satanism is not a worldwide conspiracy. Instead, like other occult and magical belief systems, it is a response to social tensions and has emerged during time social fragmentation. The vast majority of Satanists belong to the neo-Satanic churches and represent no threat to society. Satanic and non-Satanic religious cults that advocate and practice violence should be watched by authorities, but care must be taken to assure that innocent religious groups are not persecuted simply for having unorthodox beliefs. We must also recognize that many theories, like that of a child-molesting conspiracy of Satanists, are not supported by any evidence but are the product of a sensationalist media.")''
*Noblitt JR and Noblitt PP (Eds) (2008) ''Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social, and Political Considerations'' Robert Reed, ISBN 1934759120
*Noblitt JR and Perskin PS ''Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America'' Greenwood Press ISBN 0275966658 Reviewed [http://cjr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/citation/21/1/103 here] by Joel Best in ''Criminal Justice Review'' 21:103-5 (1996) and [http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/52/7/978 here] by Kenneth Fletcher in ''Psychiatr Serv'' 52:978-9 (2001)
*Richardson JT, Best J,  Bromley DG (1991)''The Satanism scare'' Aldine Transaction  ISBN-10: 0202303799
*{{cite book    | last =Ryder    | first =D    | authorlink =    | coauthors =    | title =Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse: Recognizing and Recovering from the Hidden Trauma  | publisher =[[CompCare Publishers]]    | date =1992    | location =Minneapolis, MN    | pages =265  |  isbn =0896382583 }}(reviewed by Riley, E.A. (1992) in ''J Traumatic Stress'' [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/112447634/abstract])
*Waterman, Jill; Kelly, Robert J.;Oliveri, M. K.;and McCord, Jane (1993). ''Behind the Playground Walls - Sexual Abuse in Preschools.'' New York, London: The Guilford Press, 284-8. ISBN 0-89862-523-8.
*Sakheim, D.K. (1992). ''Out of Darkness: Exploring Satanism and Ritual Abuse.'' Lexington Books. ISBN 0-669-26962-X.
*Watters, Ethan; Ofshe, Richard (1994). ''Making monsters: false memories, psychotherapy, and sexual hysteria.'' New York: Charles Scribner's.  ISBN 0-684-19698-0. [http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/333/2/132-a Reviewed] in the ''New England Journal of Medicine'' ''("There is nothing dispassionate about this book. Ofshe and Watters are angry, and for good reason: recovered memory is not merely another therapeutic fad. In their view, it is an unscientific and dangerous practice")''


Richardson JT, Best J,  Bromley DG (1991)''The Satanism scare'' Aldine Transaction  ISBN-10: 0202303799


Craighead, W. E.; Corsini, R.J.; Nemeroff, C. B. (2002) The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science Published by John Wiley and Sons ISBN 0471270830 - Sadistic Ritual Abuse (also known as Satanic ritual abuse or ritual abuse) (p.1435 - 1438) [http://books.google.com/books?id=JQMRmyOfpJ8C&pg=PT82&lpg=PT85&dq=treating+abuse+today&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html]


Gould C (1992) Diagnosis and treatment of ritually abused children in Sakheim, D.K. (1992). Out of Darkness: Exploring Satanism and Ritual Abuse. Lexington Books. ISBN 0-669-26962-X.
==Related articles not cited in Main article==
'''This selection of academic articles draws attention to issues that are not covered in the main article.'''


 
*Cohn N (1970)[http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=FG0ds-lZ9gkC&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=satanism&ots=shxzgBmQWf&sig=ix7M0NJletiAaCiqN5YhyedJKOI The Myth of Satan and his Human Servants] N Cohn - in ''Witchcraft Confessions and Accusations'' by Mary Douglas
Nathan D, M. Snedeker (1995) ''Satan's silence: ritual abuse and the making of a modern American witch hunt.'' Basic Books. "the authors show how children's testimony was led; nevertheless, civil libertarians shied away from challenging such cases: "demonization of child sexual abuse as society's ultimate evil has rendered it so holy as to be virtually immune to reasoned analysis." The authors believe that real sexual abuse, especially incest, is underreported, and recommend that investigators be better trained as well as granted only limited immunity from malpractice. More broadly, they see a need to educate children in such a way that they develop psychological and sexual integrity." ''Publishers' Weekly''.
*Goodman GS ''et al.'' 1997 Children's religious knowledge: implications for understanding satanic ritual abuse allegations. ''Child Abuse Negl'' 21:1111-30. PMID 9422831 ''("... children do not generally possess sufficient knowledge of satanic ritual abuse to make up false allegations on their own. However, many children have knowledge of satanism as well as nonreligious knowledge of violence, death, and illegal activities. It is possible that such knowledge could prompt an investigation of satanic ritual abuse or possibly serve as a starting point from which an allegation is erected")''
 
*Sjöberg RL (2004) False allegations of satanic abuse: Case studies from the witch panic in Rättvik 1670–71 ''European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry'' 6:219-26 ''("The creation of false memories, psychiatric symptoms and false allegations of satanic child abuse during an outbreak of witch hysteria in Sweden in the seventeenth century are described and related to contemporary issues in child testimonies. Case studies of 28 children and 14 adults are presented. The mechanisms underlying the spread of these allegations, as well as the reactions and influence of the adult world on the children's testimonies, are discussed.")''
 
*Herman S (2005) Improving decision making in forensic child sexual abuse evaluations. ''Law Hum Behav'' 29:87-120. PMID 15865333 ''("Mental health professionals can assist legal decision makers in cases of allegations of child sexual abuse by collecting data using forensic interviews, psychological testing, and record reviews, and by summarizing relevant findings from social science research. Significant controversy surrounds another key task performed by mental health professionals in most child sexual abuse evaluations, i.e., deciding whether or not to substantiate unconfirmed abuse allegations. The available evidence indicates that, on the whole, these substantiation decisions currently lack adequate psychometric reliability and validity: an analysis of empirical research findings leads to the conclusion that at least 24% of all of these decisions are either false positive or false negative errors.")''
{{cite book    | last =Sinason    | first =    | authorlink =    | coauthors =    | title =Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse    | publisher =[[Routledge]]  | date =1994    | location =    | pages =320    | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=cSeLHgAACAAJ&dq=Treating+Survivors+of+Satanist+Abuse    | doi =    | id =     | isbn =0-415-10543-9 |quote= from google books ''"Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse" defines, describes and deals with the clinical issues surrounding the treatment of survivors of ritual satanist abuse. Ritualist abuse is a double trauma--both a physical and mental torture--that is becoming increasingly more frequent and yet continues to face societal disbelief."''}}
*Jenkins P, Maier-Katkin D (1992) Satanism: Myth and reality in a contemporary moral panic ''Crime, Law and Social Change'' 17: 53-75 [http://www.springerlink.com/content/k6g4553n0w7u8523/ (''"In the last decade], there have been many allegations about the prevalence of occult or Satanic criminality, which is believed to be involved in many offenses ranging from vandalism to child abuse and serial murder. Some have advocated the creation of specialized police units to combat the supposed threat. On the other hand, most of the alleged evils are very poorly substantiated, and highly questionable statements have been widely circulated. In fact, the current concern about the occult appears to have all the hallmarks of a classic moral panic, where a peripheral issue is suddenly perceived as a major social menace. This paper discusses the limited foundation of truth underlying the present crime-wave; and suggests that the panic reflects the moral and political agenda of extremists from the fundamentalist religious Right.")''
 
*Wyatt, W Joseph (2002) [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4032/is_200210/ai_n9136028/pg_3/?tag=content;col1 What was under the McMartin preschool? A review and behavioral analysis of the "tunnels" find] ''Behavior and Social Issues'' Fall 2002. This detailed analysis debunks the [http://www.scribd.com/doc/10252626/Archaeological-Investigations-of-the-McMartin-Preschool-Site-by-E-Gary-Stickel-PhD unpublished], but widely [http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/mcmartin.htm circulated], evidence for the supposed existence of tunnels in the McMartin Preschool abuse allegations.)''  
Waterman, Jill; Kelly, Robert J.;Oliveri, M. K.;and McCord, Jane (1993). Behind the Playground Walls - Sexual Abuse in Preschools. New York, London: The Guilford Press, 284-8. ISBN 0-89862-523-8.
*Cheit RE (2003) What hysteria? A systematic study of newspaper coverage of accused child molesters, ''Child Abuse & Neglect'' [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-48NC1DN-8&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=65202c87aab1224ac207d3df874938d1  27:607-23] ''("Generalizing about the nature of child molestation cases in criminal court on the basis of newspaper coverage is inappropriate. The coverage is less extensive than often claimed, and it is skewed in ways that are typical of the mass media.")''
 
 
==Peer reviewed articles==
 
Bottoms BL ''et al.'' (1997) “Jurors’ reactions to satanic ritual abuse allegations.” Child Abuse and Neglect 21(9):845-59''("... highly bizarre details may be discounted by jurors (particularly less religious jurors), but that jurors may set aside their skepticism of satanic ritual details and make judgments about child sexual abuse cases based on their perceptions of the credibility of nonsatanic allegations of harm.")''
 
Coons PM (1994) Reports of satanic ritual abuse: further implications about pseudomemories. ''Percept Mot Skills'' 78:1376-8. PMID 7936968
 
Fraser GA (1990). “Satanic ritual abuse: A cause of multiple personality disorder”. Special issue: In the shadow of Satan: The ritual abuse of children. Journal of Child and Youth Care, 55-60 ''"Satanic ritual abuse has been identified within the etiology of multiple personality disorder (MPD). Drawing directly from case material, George Fraser offers compelling clinical evidence of how such childhood experiences may lead to dissociation and personality disintegration. In his conclusions Dr. Fraser raises the interesting, though horrifying, possibility that Multiple Personality Disorder may actually contribute to the abuse cycle as individuals become perpetrators without the knowledge of their" primary" personality."''
 
Gelb JL.1993 “Multiple personality disorder and satanic ritual abuse,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 27:701-
 
Goodyear-Smith FA ''et al.'' (1998) Parents and other relatives accused of sexual abuse on the basis of recovered memories: a New Zealand family survey. ''N Z Med J'' 111:225-8. PMID 9695750  ''( To survey New Zealand families where an alleged perpetrator and/or other family member denies an accusation involving the childhood molestation of one family member by another, based on a memory recovered in adulthood...Many accusations involved events of low base-rate probability including satanic ritual abuse. ... The data suggest that it is unlikely that many, if not most, of the memories of child sexual abuse recovered in adulthood are a true reflection of history'')''
 
Goodman GS ''et al.'' 1997 Children's religious knowledge: implications for understanding satanic ritual abuse allegations. ''Child Abuse Negl'' 21:1111-30.PMID 9422831 ''("... children do not generally possess sufficient knowledge of satanic ritual abuse to make up false allegations on their own. However, many children have knowledge of satanism as well as nonreligious knowledge of violence, death, and illegal activities. It is possible that such knowledge could prompt an investigation of satanic ritual abuse or possibly serve as a starting point from which an allegation is erected")
 
Gould C (1995). Denying ritual abuse of children. J Psychohistory, 22:329-39. [http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/denyra.htm] "The evidence is rapidly accumulating that the problem of ritual abuse is considerable in scope and extremely grave in its consequences Among 2,709 members of the American Psychological Association who responded to a poll, 2,292 cases of ritual abuse were reported (Bottoms, Shaver, & Goodman, 1993). In 1992 alone, Childhelp USA logged 1,741 calls pertaining to ritual abuse, Monarch Resources of Los Angeles logged approximately 5,000, Real Active Survivors tallied nearly 3,600, Justus Unlimited of Colorado received almost 7,000, and Looking Up of Maine handled around 6,000. Even allowing for some of these calls to have been made by people who assist survivors but are not themselves survivors, and for some survivors to have called more that one helpline or made multiple calls to the same helpline, these numbers suggest that at a minimum there must be tens of thousands of survivors of ritual abuse in the United States."
 
 
Kent S (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual Satanic Abuse. II: Possible Masonic, Mormon, Magick, and Pagan influences”. Religion 23(4):355-367
 
Kent S (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual Satanic Abuse Part One: Possible Judeo-Christian Influences”. Religion 23(23):229-241. ''"This study argues that readily accessible religious texts that often are central to our culture may provide inspiration to people who either want to sanctify their deviance or venerate the reputed god of this world (i.e. Satan). Using interviews and diaries from several alleged survivors, this study compares excerpts from their accounts with doctrinal precedents for satanic ritual abuse in deviant interpretations of the Judeo-Christian tradition. While the article stops short of stating that intergenerational satanic accounts are true, it insists that at least some of them are plausible."'' [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=4293022]
 
La Fontaine J S (1994) [http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=157278 Extent and Nature of Organised and Ritual Abuse] National Criminal Justice Reference Service (survey)ISBN 0-11-321797-8 ''("Child sexual abuse involving organized and ritual abuse in England and Wales were studied by means of a survey of police and social service agencies and a review of case files on wards of the court. The analyses revealed that an estimated 242 cases of organized abuse occur each year; of these, about 21 cases involve allegations of ritual or satanic abuse. Organized abuse accounts for a small minority of all cases handled by child protection teams. However, no evidence was found that the sexual and physical abuse of children was part of rites directed to a magical or religious objective. In the three substantiated cases of ritual, not satanic, abuse, the ritual was secondary to the sexual abuse. ")''
 
Leavitt F, Labott SM (2000) The role of media and hospital exposure on Rorschach response patterns by patients reporting satanic ritual abuse.”  American Journal of Forensic Psychology 18:35-55.
 
Leavitt F, Labott SM (1998). Revision of the Word Association Test for assessing associations of patients reporting Satanic ritual abuse in childhood. J Clin Psychol 54:933-43. ''"Based on a sexual history, they were grouped into those reporting sexual abuse, those reporting satanic ritual abuse (SRA), and those without a history of sexual abuse (controls). In both studies, SRA patients gave significantly more total associations, significantly fewer normative associations, and significantly more satanic associations than did the other two groups. These results suggest that an experience base is shared by individuals reporting SRA that is not found in individuals who do not report satanic abuse (even if they do report sexual abuse). The implications of these findings are discussed from the perspective of arguments advanced by advocates and critics of SRA."'' [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9811130]
 
Leavitt, F. (1994). “Clinical Correlates of Alleged Satanic Abuse and Less Controversial Sexual Molestation.”. Child Abuse and Neglect: The International Journal 18 (4): 387-92. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(94)90041-8. PMID 8187024 [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ483422&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ483422]  ''"This study found that 39 women alleging satanic ritual abuse and 47 women reporting less controversial forms of sexual trauma as children were characterized by high but nondiscriminating levels of psychiatric pathology. Patients alleging satanic ritual abuse reported higher levels of dissociation, in the range often exhibited by patients with multiple personality disorders."'''
 
McCully, RS (1978) The laugh of satan: A study of a familial murderer. ''Personality Assessment'' 42:81-91
 
McCully RS. “Satan’s eclipse: A familial murderer six years later.” British J Projective Psychology and Personality 125(2) 1980 pp. 13-7
 
McShane C (1993) Satanic sexual abuse: A paradigm ''Affilia; J Women Social Work'' 8 ''("As female survivors of satanic sexual abuse reveal their histories to professionals, it is paramount that social workers be cognizant of the salient issues involved in satanic abuse. This article presents a domination legitimation-resistance paradigm for conceptualizing this form of abuse that delineates its perceived normalcy among both the perpetrator and the survivor and provides information about the barriers to resistance.")''
 
Mulhern S (1994) Satanism, ritual abuse, and multiple personality disorder: a sociohistorical perspective.''Int J Clin Exp Hypn'' 42:265-88. PMID 7960286 ''("During the past decade in North America, a growing number of mental health professionals have reported that between 25% and 50% of their patients in treatment for multiple personality disorder (MPD) have recovered early childhood traumatic memories of ritual torture, incestuous rape, sexual debauchery, sacrificial murder, infanticide, and cannibalism perpetrated by members of clandestine satanic cults. Although hundreds of local and federal police investigations have failed to corroborate patients' therapeutically constructed accounts, because the satanic etiology of MPD is logically coherent with the neodissociative, traumatic theory of psychopathology, conspiracy theory has emerged as the nucleus of a consistent pattern of contemporary clinical interpretation. Resolutely logical and thoroughly operational, ultrascientific psychodemonology remains paradoxically oblivious to its own irrational premises. When the hermetic logic of conspiracy theory is stripped away by historical and socio/psychological analysis, however, the hypothetical perpetrators of satanic ritual abuse simply disappear, leaving in their wake the very real human suffering of all those who have been caught up in the social delusion.")''
 
Rockwell RB (1994). One psychiatrists view of Satanic ritual abuse. ''J Psychohistory'' 21:443-60.
 
Rogers ML 1992“The Oude Pekela incident: A case study of alleged SRA from the Netherlands.”
Van Benschoten SC (1990) Multiple Personality Disorder and Satanic Ritual Abuse: the Issue Of Credibility ''Dissociation''. III, No. 1 [http://www.empty-memories.nl/dis_90/vanbenschoten_sra.pdf] ''("...  The MPI) patient's descriptions of experiences within the satanic group can neither be accepted as literally accurate in all respects, nor unequivocally dismissed as untrue. The literal truth is intricately and inextricably woven together with threads of misperception, suggestion, illusion, dissociation, and induced trance phenomena, to form the complex web which becomes the survivor's memories. Objective reality and experiential truth simply can not be disentangled with certainty.")''


[https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt/searchresults.cfm Special Issue] of ''J Psychol Theol '' on Satanic ritual abuse: The current state of knowledge.  volume 20 (1992)
[https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt/searchresults.cfm Special Issue] of ''J Psychol Theol '' on Satanic ritual abuse: The current state of knowledge.  volume 20 (1992)
==Articles==
Lanning KV (1992) FBI Report [http://www.rickross.com/reference/satanism/satanism1.html Satanic Ritual Abuse ]  Supervisory Special Agent Behavioral Science Unit National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. quotes -
"This report documents FBI investigations into allegations of satanic ritual abuse, and essentially describes the consistent lack of evidence supporting these allegations. Extracts from conclusions: ''"There are many possible alternative answers to the question of why victims are alleging things that don't seem to be true. The first step in finding those answers is to admit the possibility that some of what the victims describe may not have happened.  ... Some of what the victims allege may be true and accurate, some may be misperceived or distorted, some may be screened or symbolic, and some may be "contaminated" or false. ...The amount of "ritual" child abuse going on in this country depends on how you define the term. One documented example of what I might call "ritual" child abuse was the horror chronicled in the book A Death in White Bear Lake (Siegal, 1990.) The abuse in this case, however, had little to do with anyone's spiritual belief system. There are many children in the United States who, starting early in their lives, are severely psychologically, physically, and sexually traumatized by angry, sadistic parents or other adults. Such abuse, however, is not perpetrated only or primarily by satanists. ...Until hard evidence is obtained and corroborated, the public should not be frightened into believing that babies are being bred and eaten, that 50,000 missing children are being murdered in human sacrifices, or that satanists are taking over America's day care centers or institutions. No one can prove with absolute certainty that such activity has not occurred. The burden of proof, however, as it would be in a criminal prosecution, is on those who claim that it has occurred."''
Benetts, Leslie ““Nightmares on Main Street”” Vanity Fair, June, 1993, pp 42-62, quote from Pg. 62 ''“To my surprise, (Lanning) admits he has never talked to a ritual abuse survivor””……(several weeks later, Lanning revised his story to say that he had spoken with ’’several dozen’’ survivors on an unofficial basis.)''

Latest revision as of 11:00, 23 May 2009

This article is developing and not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
A list of key readings about Satanic ritual abuse.
Please sort and annotate in a user-friendly manner. For formatting, consider using automated reference wikification.

Books

  • Bibby PA (1996) Organised Abuse: The Current Debate. Aldershot, England: Arena. ISBN 1-85742-284-8.
  • Bromley DG; Richardson JR & Best J (1991) The Satanism scare. New York: A. de Gruyter. ISBN 0-202-30379-9.
  • Clapton G (1993) Satanic Abuse Controversy: Social Workers and the Social Work Press (Essential Issues in the 1990s). University of North London Press. ISBN 1-85377-154-6.
  • de Young, Mary (2004). The Day Care Ritual Abuse Moral Panic. ISBN 0786418303
  • Gould C (1992) Diagnosis and treatment of ritually abused children in Jefferson, North Carolina, United States: McFarland and Company. ISBN 0786418303.
  • Hicks RD(1991) Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the Occult Prometheus Books ISBN 0-87975-604-7 NCJRS Abstract ("This book critically analyzes individual law enforcement agencies' focus on Satanism and the occult and concludes that no evidence exists of a nationwide criminal conspiracy of Satanists and devil-worshipers. The analysis emphasizes that vandalism, child abuse, serial murders, and other crimes are all serious problems. In addition, the model proposing a connection between Satanism and criminality is expedient largely because of its simplicity as a means of explaining such complex problems as drug abuse, adolescent suicide, and sexual molestation. Unfortunately, poorly trained therapists and certain police officers have used the media to focus attention on satanic crime despite a lack of evidence of a cult connection. Their misinformation and speculations produces unjustified fear in their communities.")
  • Lyons A (1988) Satan Wants You: The Cult of Devil Worship in America Mysterious Press ISBN 0-89296-217-8 NCJRS Abstract ("This analysis of the nature and role of Satanic cults in the United States in recent years explores its origins and history, the reasons for its public emergence in recent years, and its current characteristics. Satanism has a variety of connotations: the renunciation and denial of a Christian God, the ascendence of evil over good, the forces of darkness, the use of ritual evocations of demons in rooms lit only by black candles, and sacrifices and sexual orgies. Satanic religions are as old as monotheism and have their origins in Persia of the sixth century. However, Satanism is not a worldwide conspiracy. Instead, like other occult and magical belief systems, it is a response to social tensions and has emerged during time social fragmentation. The vast majority of Satanists belong to the neo-Satanic churches and represent no threat to society. Satanic and non-Satanic religious cults that advocate and practice violence should be watched by authorities, but care must be taken to assure that innocent religious groups are not persecuted simply for having unorthodox beliefs. We must also recognize that many theories, like that of a child-molesting conspiracy of Satanists, are not supported by any evidence but are the product of a sensationalist media.")
  • Noblitt JR and Noblitt PP (Eds) (2008) Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social, and Political Considerations Robert Reed, ISBN 1934759120
  • Noblitt JR and Perskin PS Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America Greenwood Press ISBN 0275966658 Reviewed here by Joel Best in Criminal Justice Review 21:103-5 (1996) and here by Kenneth Fletcher in Psychiatr Serv 52:978-9 (2001)
  • Richardson JT, Best J, Bromley DG (1991)The Satanism scare Aldine Transaction ISBN-10: 0202303799
  • Ryder, D (1992). Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse: Recognizing and Recovering from the Hidden Trauma. Minneapolis, MN: CompCare Publishers, 265. ISBN 0896382583. (reviewed by Riley, E.A. (1992) in J Traumatic Stress [1])
  • Waterman, Jill; Kelly, Robert J.;Oliveri, M. K.;and McCord, Jane (1993). Behind the Playground Walls - Sexual Abuse in Preschools. New York, London: The Guilford Press, 284-8. ISBN 0-89862-523-8.
  • Sakheim, D.K. (1992). Out of Darkness: Exploring Satanism and Ritual Abuse. Lexington Books. ISBN 0-669-26962-X.
  • Watters, Ethan; Ofshe, Richard (1994). Making monsters: false memories, psychotherapy, and sexual hysteria. New York: Charles Scribner's. ISBN 0-684-19698-0. Reviewed in the New England Journal of Medicine ("There is nothing dispassionate about this book. Ofshe and Watters are angry, and for good reason: recovered memory is not merely another therapeutic fad. In their view, it is an unscientific and dangerous practice")


Craighead, W. E.; Corsini, R.J.; Nemeroff, C. B. (2002) The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science Published by John Wiley and Sons ISBN 0471270830 - Sadistic Ritual Abuse (also known as Satanic ritual abuse or ritual abuse) (p.1435 - 1438) [2]

Related articles not cited in Main article

This selection of academic articles draws attention to issues that are not covered in the main article.

  • Cohn N (1970)The Myth of Satan and his Human Servants N Cohn - in Witchcraft Confessions and Accusations by Mary Douglas
  • Goodman GS et al. 1997 Children's religious knowledge: implications for understanding satanic ritual abuse allegations. Child Abuse Negl 21:1111-30. PMID 9422831 ("... children do not generally possess sufficient knowledge of satanic ritual abuse to make up false allegations on their own. However, many children have knowledge of satanism as well as nonreligious knowledge of violence, death, and illegal activities. It is possible that such knowledge could prompt an investigation of satanic ritual abuse or possibly serve as a starting point from which an allegation is erected")
  • Sjöberg RL (2004) False allegations of satanic abuse: Case studies from the witch panic in Rättvik 1670–71 European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 6:219-26 ("The creation of false memories, psychiatric symptoms and false allegations of satanic child abuse during an outbreak of witch hysteria in Sweden in the seventeenth century are described and related to contemporary issues in child testimonies. Case studies of 28 children and 14 adults are presented. The mechanisms underlying the spread of these allegations, as well as the reactions and influence of the adult world on the children's testimonies, are discussed.")
  • Herman S (2005) Improving decision making in forensic child sexual abuse evaluations. Law Hum Behav 29:87-120. PMID 15865333 ("Mental health professionals can assist legal decision makers in cases of allegations of child sexual abuse by collecting data using forensic interviews, psychological testing, and record reviews, and by summarizing relevant findings from social science research. Significant controversy surrounds another key task performed by mental health professionals in most child sexual abuse evaluations, i.e., deciding whether or not to substantiate unconfirmed abuse allegations. The available evidence indicates that, on the whole, these substantiation decisions currently lack adequate psychometric reliability and validity: an analysis of empirical research findings leads to the conclusion that at least 24% of all of these decisions are either false positive or false negative errors.")
  • Jenkins P, Maier-Katkin D (1992) Satanism: Myth and reality in a contemporary moral panic Crime, Law and Social Change 17: 53-75 ("In the last decade, there have been many allegations about the prevalence of occult or Satanic criminality, which is believed to be involved in many offenses ranging from vandalism to child abuse and serial murder. Some have advocated the creation of specialized police units to combat the supposed threat. On the other hand, most of the alleged evils are very poorly substantiated, and highly questionable statements have been widely circulated. In fact, the current concern about the occult appears to have all the hallmarks of a classic moral panic, where a peripheral issue is suddenly perceived as a major social menace. This paper discusses the limited foundation of truth underlying the present crime-wave; and suggests that the panic reflects the moral and political agenda of extremists from the fundamentalist religious Right.")
  • Wyatt, W Joseph (2002) What was under the McMartin preschool? A review and behavioral analysis of the "tunnels" find Behavior and Social Issues Fall 2002. This detailed analysis debunks the unpublished, but widely circulated, evidence for the supposed existence of tunnels in the McMartin Preschool abuse allegations.)
  • Cheit RE (2003) What hysteria? A systematic study of newspaper coverage of accused child molesters, Child Abuse & Neglect 27:607-23 ("Generalizing about the nature of child molestation cases in criminal court on the basis of newspaper coverage is inappropriate. The coverage is less extensive than often claimed, and it is skewed in ways that are typical of the mass media.")

Special Issue of J Psychol Theol on Satanic ritual abuse: The current state of knowledge. volume 20 (1992)