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Victor - The Satanic Cult Scare and Allegations of Ritual Child Abuse
Victor - The Satanic Cult Scare and Allegations of Ritual Child Abuse
Similarly, the terms "Satanism" and "satanic cult" are socially constructed labels,
based upon preconceptions, rather than any direct, empirical study of what the
labels presume to identify. In actual social usage, the label "Satanism" has vague
and elastic meanings. In my collection of hundreds of small town newspaper
articles, I've read the label "satanist" applied loosely to an assortment of teenage
vandals and animal mutilators, teenage gang murderers and psychopathic
murderers, child molesters and vicious rapists. The label "satanic cult" is used to
refer to groups such as juvenile delinquent gangs, unconventional religious groups,
or an imagined Mafia-style criminal syndicate; all of which are supposedly
motivated by worship of the Devil. As far as I can determine, the attributions of
"Satanism," "satanist," and "satanic cult" empirically refer only to a body of
preconceptions, based only upon a culturally inherited legend, ideological
propaganda, distorted perceptions of real incidents, false testimonies, and
misinformation.
A note of caution is necessary, however. This does not exclude the possibility that
some people might apply the label of "satanist" to themselves, as do some teenage
juvenile delinquents, and even some psychopathic murderers. In the same way,
some people in the 1960s labeled themselves "hippies" or "radicals." The social
process of self-fulfilling prophesy is also part of the social construction of a new
form of deviance.
The satanic cult scare is in many ways similar to the "Red Scare" of the 1950s, in
the sense that it is a witch hunt for moral "subversives" and supposed criminals
engaged in a highly secretive conspiratorial network. It is a collective overreaction
to claims about crimes, which are supposedly committed by well-organized groups
following a religious ideology involving worship of the Devil. Stories, rumors, and
allegations about Satanism and satanic cults arise from people's preconceptions to
find Satanism in unrelated incidents and activities.
The germinal satanic cult story, known as "the blood ritual myth," dates back to
ancient times. In the Middle Ages, it was used in scapegoating attacks upon Jews,
and is known as the "blood libel" (Victor, 1990). Allegations of satanic "ritual abuse"
are cuylturally inherited from that long persistent legend.
It is not possible in the brief space of this article to detail all the manifestations of
the satanic cult scare. Overviews of the scare can be found in Bromley (1991),
Jenkins and Maier-Katkin (1991), Carlson and LaRue (1989), and Victor (in press
b). An examination of the history of the contemporary legend underlying the scare
can be found in Victor (1990). Research on the social groups and organizations
disseminating satanic cult stories, rumors and allegations can be found in Carlson
and LaRue (1989), Hicks (1991), Victor (1991 b; and in press b). A very useful
collection of research on many effects of the scare is available in a book titled The
Satanism Scare (Richardson, Best, & Bromley, 1991). It includes chapters by
sociologists, anthropologists, historians, folklorists and specialists in criminal
justice. An excellent book about the police and legal aspects is by a criminal justice
analyst, Robert Hicks, titled In Pursuit of Satan (1991).
The moral crusade against ritual abuse is likely to persist for a long time to come,
regardless of the lack of any corroborating evidence for satanic cult ritual abuse
allegations. The reason for its persistence is that the moral crusade has become
well organized into volunteer associations and regularly held conferences.
Volunteer associations of parents, with chapters in several cities, have been
organized to "educate" the general public about the dangers of ritual abuse by
disseminating "information," and by lobbying helping professionals to develop a
concern about it. Believe the Children, a national organization which grew out of
the McMartin Preschool case, for example, publishes a regular newsletter, provides
information, and organizes support groups for parents of sexually abused children.
A variety of groups organized to fight ritual abuse now produce police training
manuals, social work training videotapes, and reports about it, usually as part of a
more general attack on "Satanism."
In addition, conferences on ritual abuse for police and child protection workers
function as organizing agencies, which promote the conversion and recruitment of
more and more professionals to the moral crusade, including social workers,
psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians and police (Hicks, 1991). These
professionals then become "experts" on ritual abuse and disseminate the satanic
cult legend to the local level, where they alert people to the "signs" of ritual abuse in
public speeches and small town newspaper articles. As a result, more and more
"signs" are detected and allegations made. There is now a vast communication
network which disseminates elaborate assumptions about ritual abuse.
Another reason for the persistence of allegations of ritual abuse is that they provide
sensational "atrocity stories" for the mass media to attract readers and audiences.
Small town newspapers are particularly likely to simply report the stories of bizarre
"satanic" activities, without much skepticism or critical analysis. The McMartin
Preschool case offers an excellent example of the social dynamics of media
sensationalism. The case began with proliferating allegations of hundreds of
children being subjected over years to rape, anal, oral and group sexual activity,
pornography sessions, naked games, animal mutilations, baby killings, cannibalism,
secret tunnels, and transportation to distant places, sometimes by airplane, all done
in a context of satanic rituals. The Los Angeles Times published a detailed analysis
of the media's coverage of the case, including its own reporting (Shaw, Jan.19,
1990; Shaw, Jan.20, 1990; Shaw, Jan.22, 1990). Its conclusions apply equally well
to similar cases, which arise continually in other locations and which do not receive
national attention.
More than most big stories, McMartin at times exposed basic flaws in the way the
contemporary news organizations function. Pack journalism. Laziness. Superficiality.
Cozy relationships with prosecutors. A competitive zeal that sends reporters off in a
frantic search to be the first with the latest shocking allegation, responsible journalism be
damned. A tradition that often discourages reporters from raising key questions if they
aren't first brought up by the principals in a story. In the early months of the case in
particular, reporters and editors often abandoned two of their most cherished and widely
trumpeted traditions — fairness and skepticism. As most reporters now sheepishly admit
— and as the record clearly shows — the media frequently plunged into hysteria,
sensationalism and what one editor calls "a lynch mob syndrome" (Shaw, Jan.19, 1990,
p. A20).
In the face of frightening claims about secret satanic cult conspiracies and
allegations of ritual abuse, many people simply fall back on their ideological
preconceptions and habitual modes of thinking. This is why religious
fundamentalists and feminists have been drawn together into a moral crusade
against ritual abuse. This unlikely alliance has occurred in the past, in the moral
crusade against "white slavery" and in the Prohibition campaign.
Feminists, on their part, are very much aware of the past hidden victimization of
women and children, as was commonplace in cases of rape, incest and wife
beating. They are receptive to claims that children are being victimized in secretive
ways, and that their painful testimony is being discredited once again by people
who are insensitive to the ways in which women and children have been so often
victimized (Nathan, 1991).
Rumors of satanic cult ritual abuse of children arose from the "survivor" stories of
multiple personality disorder (MPD) patients, beginning with the publication of
Michelle Remembers in 1980 (Smith & Pazder, 1980). Allegations of the sexual
abuse of children by Satanists operating day care centers followed shortly
thereafter, as part of the societal overreaction to public awareness of physical and
sexual child abuse in the early 1980s. By the end of the 1980s, the label "ritual
abuse" had become accepted as a distinct pattern of behavior by many police,
journalists, therapists, and social workers. The prefix "satanic cult" was quickly
dropped from the term "ritual abuse" in order to make the concept more acceptable
to secular audiences, such as trial juries and newspaper readers, who might reject
satanic cult conspiracy theories as being too bizarre to be credible.
Some researchers suspect, but cannot prove, that early satanic cult "survivor"
stories of MPD patients influenced the development of later allegations of ritual
child abuse. The allegations of adult MPD patients about ritual abuse and the
allegations of children about ritual abuse are commonly taken together as both
arising from satanic cult, ritualistic crime, even though such an assumption is
questionable (Victor, 1991a). What is known with certainty is that the book Michelle
Remembers was used by police and prosecutors in the early 1980s in preparing
cases against people accused of sexually molesting children in day care centers
(Charlier & Downing, 1988). It is also known that Michelle Smith and several other
"survivors" met with the parents and children involved in the McMartin case after the
case was reported in the press (Nathan, 1991). The initial prosecutor in the
McMartin case, Glenn F. Stevens, believes that Michelle Smith and other
counselors influenced the children's testimony against the accused (Carlson &
LaRue, 1989).
Rumors that satanists were sexually molesting children in day care centers first
attained national attention in the McMartin Preschool case, which began in 1983 in
Manhattan Beach, California. It went on to become the longest and most expensive
trial in American history, with a cost of 15 million dollars (New York Times, Jan. 24,
1990). The initial allegations linked sexual child abuse in the day care center to
rituals of a "Devil worship" cult. The allegations led to the arrest of 62-year-bId
Peggy McMartin Buckey, her son, Raymond Buckey, and five other child care
workers. They were accused of victimizing 360 children in extremely bizarre sexual
acts, carried out over a period of five years. Unfortunately, the process of the trial
did nothing to clarify the facts of the case. In January, 1990, the only two remaining
defendants, Peggy and Raymond Buckey, were found innocent of most of the
charges against them. Later that year, several remaining charges against
Raymond Buckey were dropped by the prosecution (New York Times, Feb. 1,1991;
& July 28, 1991).
The McMartin case was particularly important, because it gave rise to volunteer
organizations of parents and child protection advocates which were committed to
alerting the general public to the hidden dangers of ritual child abuse (Nathan,
1991). The largest of these organizations, with several chapters around the
country, is called Believe the Children.
Soon after the McMartin case attracted national attention, a host of other similar
accusations of ritual sexual abuse swept across the country. In some cases,
allegations of satanic cult activity were made public during trials. In Kern County,
California, during 1984 and 1985, a local satanic cult rumor-panic resulted in
investigations of 77 people, who local police believed were involved in a criminal
satanic cult. In several panic driven trials, dozens of people were convicted and
sent to the state prison (Snedeker, 1988). In one of those cases, for example,
seven people were convicted and imprisoned for sexually molesting children as part
of a satanic cult. The only direct evidence against them came from the testimony of
children, who claimed that they had been injected with drugs and forced to drink
urine and to engage in bizarre sexual acts with adults, as well as with other
children, while the activities were being filmed. The children also accused the
defendants of murdering at least 20 babies, using their blood in rituals, and
engaging in cannibalism. Some of the children later recanted their stories
(Washington Post, May 31, 1989). Then, in 1990, the convictions were overturned
after being appealed.
In most cases, however, allegations about satanic cult activities are not brought into
court proceedings, but circulate in local rumors. Many prosecutors in these cases
worry that some jurors might be unable to believe children's more fantastic claims
about bizarre rituals, torture, orgies, and infant sacrifices. Instead, satanic cult
activity is merely implied through the use of the euphemistic term "ritual child
abuse" during police investigations and legal proceedings (Richardson, 1991). The
term "ritual abuse" has now become a buzz word for people who believe in the
existence of secret satanic cults.
As these cases continued, passions ran high and almost anyone who cautioned
against presuming the guilt of those accused became a "suspect" in the eyes of the
outraged parents in a community. In a case in Jordan, Minnesota, for example, a
policeman who vouched for the character of an accused person was soon charged
with the same crimes against the children who made the accusations (Charlier &
Downing, 1988). In another case in Chicago, two women who publicly expressed
support for an accused person shortly thereafter found their names on a list of child
molesters being circulated by a concerned parent's group (Charlier & Downing,
1988).
However, Kenneth Lanning, head of the F.B.I.'s Behavioral Science Unit, points out
the inherent ambiguities in attempts to construct a new category of harm done to
children which focuses upon ritualistic activity. Lanning suggests that police
investigation and scientific research needs to focus upon concrete acts of physical,
sexual, or emotional harm, rather than shift focus to the social context of those acts
(e.g. rituals).
The author has been unable to precisely define ritualistic abuse and prefers not to use
the term. It is confusing, misleading and counterproductive. When a victim describes
and investigation corroborates what sounds like ritualistic activity, several possibilities
must be considered. The ritualistic activity may be part of the excessive religiosity of a
mentally ill, psychotic offender. It may be a misunderstood part of sexual ritualism. The
ritualistic activity may be incidental to any real abuse. The offender may be involved in
ritualistic activity with a child and also may be abusing a child, but one may have little or
nothing to do with the other (Lanning, 1989a, p. 69-70).
Research on sexual behavior has found that it is extremely rare for women to
sexually molest very young children, particularly without the coercive influence of
male accomplices and in public locations like child care centers (Faller, 1987;
Matthews, Mathews & Speltz, 1991). It is especially rare for women to sexually
molest children outside of the home, and particularly rare for women to sexually
molest children of both sexes indiscriminately. In 1988, reporters Tom Charlier and
Shirley Downing of the Memphis, Tennessee Commercial Appeal, published a
careful study of 36 cases of accused ritual sexual abuse of children. In these
cases, only about one-fourth of those people arrested were eventually convicted
and most of the convictions had little to do with any kind of ritual sexual abuse.
Charlier and Downing concluded:
Allegations of satanism — of rites involving mutilation, infant sacrifice and devil worship
— have since emerged in more than 100 child sex abuse cases across the country. ... In
four years, though, investigators have found no evidence to support fears that cults are
preying on the nation's children. The Commercial Appeal studied ritual sexual abuse
allegations in 36 cases and found instead that many of the stories labeled "satanic" or
"ritual" have the hallmarks of urban legends (Charlier & Downing, 1988).
There is some evidence that, more recently, the satanic cult scare has led to an
increasing number of allegations of "ritual abuse." The American Bar Association is
conducting a survey of local prosecutors to obtain an estimate of the national
incidence of different types of cases of child abuse. The survey is not yet finished,
but as of early 1991 the preliminary data indicate that about one-third of local
prosecutors have handled cases involving "ritualistic or satanic abuse" (Goretsky,
personal letter). If these preliminary findings are representative of the eventual
survey conclusion, that would mean that the courts across the country are now
dealing with a great number of allegations of ritual abuse.
The social process leading to the creation of children's false stories of ritual abuse
is described in detail by psychiatrist Lee Coleman and attorney Patrick Clancy, both
of whom have had considerable experience dealing with cases of child sexual
molestation (Coleman & Clancy, 1990). Coleman and Clancy examined many
videotapes of the interaction between therapists and children being interviewed.
They found that poorly trained and overzealous therapists often use leading
questions, cueing of desired responses, praise for desired answers, and
manipulated fantasy play to implant ideas about sex and about satanic rituals in the
communication process between the child and therapist (Coleman & Clancy, 1990).
Similar conclusions are reached by Wakefield and Underwager (1989), in their
review of the research evidence about therapists' interviewing techniques.
Social psychologists call this process "priming" (Herr, 1986; James, 1986). The
research on priming indicates that it is most likely to happen when an authority
figure questions a child who is anxious and highly suggestible. The process isn't
necessarily conscious and deliberate. If a child protection worker inadvertently
shapes the discourse around preconceptions about ritual sex abuse priming can
easily occur.
Coleman and Clancy (1990) point out that child protection social workers and child
therapists are not expected to be impartial investigators, searching objectively for
evidence of wrong-doing. Instead, they are expected to be concerned primarily with
the needs of children, and commonly act on the presumption that children have
been victimized in some way, after allegations have been made by parents, or
neighbors, or even sometimes by anonymous telephone callers.
Once in the child protection system, children are caught in a contradictory "Catch
22" situation. If the child denies being involved in sexual acts, that is taken as
evidence that the child is "repressing" memories of terrifying abuse. The child
protection worker is expected to gradually and carefully "bring out" the repressed
memories. If the child expresses anxiety, the anxiety is regarded as evidence of
repressed memories, even though the child's anxiety may be due to being
repeatedly interrogated by unfamiliar adults (Coleman & Clancy, 1990).
In the fall and winter of 1990, a case of alleged ritual abuse created sensational
newspaper stories in England, making headlines throughout that country. The case
clearly illustrates the way that the collective behavior of the satanic cult scare gives
rise to witch hunts for ritual sex abusers of children.
The case began on June 14, 1990 in Rochdale, a suburb of Manchester, when 17
children were suddenly taken away from their parents by police and social workers.
An initial complaint came from the teachers of one 6-year-old boy, whom they said
was telling bizarre stories of black magic and the killing of babies. The children
were made wards of the court and put in foster care, without parental visits allowed,
while child protection workers questioned the children for weeks. After lengthy
questioning, the social workers charged that the children were all victims of a secret
satanic cult which had abused them in sexual rituals. At first, the charges against
the parents created the usual furor of sensational news reports, emphasizing
allegations of sex, sadism and occult religion.
However, after some more thorough investigative reporting, the attitude of the news
reports and that of law enforcement agencies shifted toward concern about the
parents and their children taken from them, perhaps unjustly by bureaucratic agents
of government (Waterhouse, Sept.16, 1990; Sept. 23, 1990; Sept. 30, 1990; Oct. 7,
1990). A judicial inquiry was commissioned to investigate the charges and the
practices of the social workers as well. The judge heading the official inquiry
rendered his decision on March 8, 1991 to return the children back to their parents.
He severely criticized the practices of the local police and social workers for
needlessly traumatizing the children by removing them from their parents (Sage,
March 10, 1991). Rochdale's director of social services resigned immediately in
disgrace, and an official government investigation of the handling of the case
began.
A report in The Independent summarized the origins of the satanic cult ritual abuse
scare in England:
The panic spread to Britain early in 1988 through several channels including the
evangelical Christian movement, in books and testimonials of survivors and
"Deliverance" ministries, and through "experts" from the U.S. who spread the message
here, in newspapers and on conference circuits. Once here, the stories have been
spread by Christian organizations such as the Association of Christian Psychiatrists and
the Social Workers of the Christian Fellowship, by churches, anti-occult campaigners and
by born-again "survivors" of Satanic abuse (Oct. 7, 1990).
Fazit
The victims of this rush to judgment include children who are traumatized by the
mass hysteria and repeated interrogations by well meaning child protection
workers, children who are taken away from parents who have been falsely accused,
and parents who are imprisoned and often held with exorbitantly high bail for
months before going to trial.
A ritual child abuse case in Edenton, North Carolina, featured on a PBS Frontline
television documentary, broadcast on May 7, 1991, illustrated these tragic results of
the satanic cult scare (Washington Post, May 5, 1991). Twenty-nine children
claimed to have been sexually molested in a day care center. The married couple
who owned the day care center, three of their employees, and two other residents
of the town were arrested and charged with child molestation. The bail was set so
high that most of the defendants could not afford to pay it and spent months in
prison awaiting trial. Two of the employees were young mothers, whose
incarceration in prison took them away from their children. The first trial is
scheduled for summer, 1991.)
A crucial bit of information, but one neglected in the Frontline broadcast, is that at
least one of the therapists, who interviewed many of the children to seek evidence
of ritual abuse, lectured at satanic crime and ritual abuse seminars around North
Carolina (Nathan, 1990). The Frontline program also didn't bring out the connection
between the Edenton case and many similar cases, which are part of the satanic
cult scare.
In conclusion, ritual abuse is a social creation of a late 20th century witch hunt.
There is no verifiable evidence for the satanic cult ritual abuse conspiracy theory.
However, there is abundant evidence that more and more professionals are
creating a form of deviant behavior, which exists only in their preconceptions to see
what they expect to see.
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*Jeffrey S. Victor is Professor of Sociology at Jamestown
Community College, 525 Falconer Street, Jamestown, New
York 14701. [Back]