Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American
Witch Hunt
(Debbie Nathan and Michael Snedeker, Basic Books, $25)
Since the early 1980s, communities have been torn apart by accusations of satanic and/or ritual abuse of children by adults. This very readable and definitive book traces the development of these lurid tales and misguided reactions from the social forces and political actions of the '70s and '80s.
Rather than just documenting individual cases, Nathan and Snedeker trace this hysteria back to its origins in Greek and Roman blood libel myths, through Freudian concepts of disassociation and repression. They discuss the government funding that created a huge bureaucracy that was rewarded for the number of cases of child abuse it could find and prosecute, show how the alliance of anti-porn feminists and religious fundamentalists promoted the hysteria and delineate the attempt to solve social problems by labeling them psychological illnesses, which could be treated by a ever-growing number of professionals who specialized in "recovered" memory and other syndromes.
Now, just as during the Inquisitions, numbers of "moral entrepreneurs" both fed the fires of prosecution and earned a good living from it. Most of the early accusations of satanic/ritual abuse were aimed at working-class people with limited resources, and with a few exceptions, the media and other groups that are ordinarily skeptical either remained silent or joined in the feeding frenzy of accusations. The few professionals who spoke out against the hysteria were systematically attacked and discredited by government agencies and private organizations.
Now that middle class and educated people are being accused more routinely, via "recovered memories," the tide appears to be turning. Insurance companies have noticed that they have paid out millions of dollars to treat a number of "syndromes" making up a bottomless pit into which to pour money.
Every page of this remarkable book holds fascinating revelations of the chain of events leading to the prosecution of perhaps thousands of innocent individuals. The bizarre accusations taking place in Wenatchee, Washington, make more sense in light of information presented here. Everyone who is concerned about the safety of children, and adults, should read it right away.
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