Rebuttals of “Satanic Panic” Theory and “False Memory Syndrome”
Judith Herman: “In order to escape accountability for his crimes,
the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. If
secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If
he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure no one
listens.” Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic
Abuse to Political Terror
Grey Faction, Satanic Temple and Lucien Greaves Fact Sheet:
https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/grey-faction-satanic-temple-and-lucien-greaves-fact-sheet/
(Information on a modern proponent of “Satanic Panic” theory)
“The Discourse of Disbelief”
Sarah Nelson MA PhD, Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2020-conference/dr-sarah-nelson-the-discourse-of-disbelief/
Flaws in satanic panic theory
In my book (Nelson, 2016), I describe numerous flaws in satanic
panic theory which had to be either unnoticed or ignored. In summary:
• There WAS no widespread panic – most professionals and lay people
remained unaware of these disclosures and behaviours. Only a small,
often isolated minority of police, psychiatrists and counsellors,
journalists, child protection professionals and foster parents had
encountered them, and most of their own colleagues were sceptical of
their belief.
• Nothing could be further from the truth than the claim that
professionals and random feminists pursued satanic abuse theory with
passion or zeal.
That anyone would actually want to find it, or would be pleased and
zealous in pursuit, was bitterly laughable. Even for people experienced
in working with CSA, it was the worst, most disorienting and
traumatising knowledge in the world, challenging all your beliefs and
your assumptions about human beings. Ritual abuse cases also brought
many professionals considerable fears for their personal safety.
• The scapegoats and folk devils in classic moral panic theory
(Cohen, 2002) should have been the accused adults. Instead they have
been the professionals who took children into care, and/or publicly
professed a belief that ritual abuse existed.
• Another essential feature of ‘moral panics’ in classic
sociological theory is that these are promoted, carried and encouraged
by the media. But most media, after a brief flurry of salacious
interest, became not supportive but hostile in their coverage of ritual
abuse. Most media have supported accused parents and adults with
standing in their communities.
• The verbal disclosures, actions and behaviours of children and
adults abused in ritual settings were so baffling, so esoteric and so
unlike content previously heard that it would be incredibly difficult or
impossible generate these words, actions and behaviour through
pressured interviewing techniques by, for instance social workers. It
was in fact the foster parents of children taken into care in both
Nottingham (England) and Orkney (Scotland), not professionals, who
produced by far the most evidence of children’s bizarre statements,
drawings and actions. These were ordinary people who were baffled and
disturbed by what they witnessed and heard from the children placed in
their care.
• People, including journalists, lost their critical faculties. For
instance, on Orkney claims were spread that one ‘born-again’ Christian
basic grade social worker, CF, influenced Orkney and Strathclyde social
work departments and police into jointly carrying out the dawn raids on
four families with children. This was implied too in BBC Scotland TV’s
ludicrous ‘faction’ drama Flowers of the Forest (BBC2, 1996). Both
ignored the simple fact that a basic grade social worker had no power,
influence or status to achieve this far-reaching joint action by police
and social workers, which was authorised from top level!
Flaws in false memory syndrome theory
‘Satanic panic’ theory has an interconnection with the false memory
movement. For Michael Salter, the rhetorical importance for false memory
syndrome of ‘satanic ritual abuse’, and the chance this gave to
ridicule allegations of CSA, is shown by the term being found in 140 of
144 newsletters of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (Salter, 2013).
FMS has been one of the most influential backlash theories of recent
decades. Uncritically promoted through most media for many years, it is
still propounded today, even though the FMSF recently collapsed (see
French, 2014).
• FMS was invented in the early 1990s, as a new psychiatric
condition, by accused adults, mainly middle-class professional men whose
adult children had accused them, sometimes after recovering memories.
That in itself should have attracted the strongest critical scrutiny. Do
we normally accept the theories of people accused of the very crimes
they dismiss? I don’t think so!
• The alcoholic FMSF founder Peter Freyd had no qualifications or
expertise on memory, trauma or psychology, while his daughter Jennifer
was a respected professor of psychology. (Freyd, 1996)
• There was no scientific basis for false memory syndrome, no
studies confirming it, yet there were numerous studies confirming that
traumatic amnesia could occur, not just in sexual abuse but for instance
in conflict trauma, and in concentration camp experiences.
• False memories of sexual abuse were allegedly put into the heads
of gullible, mentally unwell women by therapists, using dubious
techniques, unreasonable pressures or even brainwashing, though the
techniques were not specified. These women supposedly found it
comforting to blame their mental ill health, their troubles or
inadequacies on the explanation of sexual abuse in childhood. However,
disclosing sexual abuse is not easy or comforting at all. The experience
of CSA exposes people to social stigma, shame, disbelief, deeply
confused loyalties, the pain of betrayal, often by people they loved and
trusted most, and possible court cases where they may be vilified and
dismissed. Hence many survivors take decades to disclose, while others
never do so. Instead, Harvey and Herman (1994) suggest that recovering
memories is so agonising that survivors hold on to denial for as long as
possible.
• Many of the accusers had retained memories of their abuse, or
corroboration of their abuse, long before they went to a therapist at
all.
Why were these fabrications so tempting to believe, so relatively
easy for abusers and their support lobbies to erect them, and for them
to remain potent?
The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology, and the Sexual Abuse of Children by Ross E. Cheit
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-13384-000
Abstract
The sexual abuse of children in the United States became national
news in February 1984 with allegations about the McMartin Preschool in
Manhattan Beach, California. The case, once considered the largest “mass
molestation” case in history, ended without a single conviction. Since
then, it has become the conventional wisdom that the McMartin case, and
hundreds of other cases in that era, were nothing more than witch-hunts.
These cases are now seen as compelling evidence that children are
“highly suggestible” and that society was in the grips of “hysteria.”
Based on a comprehensive examination of primary sources, The
Witch-Hunt Narrative challenges the conventional wisdom about these
cases. Ross E. Cheit uses trial transcripts and related court documents
to demonstrate that many of the cases at the core of the witch-hunt
narrative involved compelling evidence of abuse. He focuses on three
major cases while also surveying dozens more, including some that
involved injustice to the defendants. He finds that in many cases the
conventional wisdom is significantly overdrawn.
Cheit’s years of research also revealed a history of minimizing and
denying abuse, and a surprisingly lenient response to many child
molesters. Those trends continue into the present, where there are
pockets of; overreaction to sexual abuse in a sea of under-reaction.
Cheit concludes with a consideration of recent events, including the
Catholic Church cases, the Sandusky case at Penn State, and issues
concerning sex offender, registration and civil commitment. He argues
that progress in social responses to sexual abuse notwithstanding, there
are still unjustified attacks on the credibility of children and on
child-abuse ‘ professions, from forensic interviewers to pediatric
child-abuse specialists.
This powerful book shows how a narrative based on empirically thin
evidence became a theory with real social force, and how that theory
stood at odds with the grim reality of sexual abuse. The Witch-Hunt
Narrative is a magisterial account of the social dynamics that led to
the denial of widespread human tragedy.
Satanic Panic Quotes
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/satanic-panic
” Indeed, Scott (2001) notes with irony that the writings of those
who claimed that ‘satanic ritual abuse’ is a ‘moral panic’ had many of
the features of a moral panic: scapegoating therapists, social workers
and sexual abuse victims whilst warning of an impending social
catastrophe brought on by an epidemic of false allegations of sexual
abuse.” Michael Salter, Organised Sexual Abuse
““Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the
confabulation of testimony of ‘satanic ritual abuse’ legitimated a
programme of political and social action designed to contest the gains
made by the women’s movement and the child protection movement. In
efforts to characterise social workers and therapists as hysterical
zealots, ‘satanic ritual abuse’ was, quite literally, ‘made fun of’: it
became the subject of scorn and ridicule as interest groups sought to
discredit testimony of sexual abuse as a whole. The groundswell of
support that such efforts gained amongst journalists, academics and the
public suggests that the pleasures of disbelief found resonance far
beyond the confines of social movements for people accused of sexual
abuse. These pleasures were legitimised by a pseudo-scientific vocabulary of ‘false memories’ and ‘moral panic’ “
― Michael Salter, Organised Sexual Abuse
“Calling something a ‘moral panic’ does not imply that this
something does not exist or happened at all and that reaction is based
on fantasy, hysteria, delusion and illusion or being duped by the
powerful.”
― Stanley Cohen, Folk Devils and Moral Panics
“The above is stereotypical FMS rhetoric. It employs a
formulaic medley of factual distortions, exaggerations, emotionally
charged language and ideological codewords, pseudo-scientific
assertions, indignant protestations of bigotry and persecution,
mockering of religious belief, and the usual tiresome “witch hunt”
metaphors to convince the reader that there can be no debating the
merits of the case. No matter what the circumstances of the
case, the syntax is always the same, and the plot line as predictable as
a 1920’s silent movie. Everyone accused of abuse is somehow the victim
of overzealous religious fanatics, who make unwarranted, irrational, and
self-serving charges, which are incredibly accepted uncritically by
virtually all social service and criminal justice professionals assign
to the case, who are responsible for “brainwashing” the alleged
perpetrator or witnesses to the crime. This mysterious process of “mass
hysteria” is then amplified in the media, which feeds back upon itself,
which finally causes a total travesty of justice which the FMS people in
the white hats are duty-bound to redress.” – Pamela Perskin Noblitt,
Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century: Psychological, Forensic,
Social, and Political Considerations
An Empirical Look at the Ritual Abuse Controversy
Randy Noblitt, PhD
https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/an-empirical-look-at-the-ritual-abuse-controversy-randy-noblitt-phd/
” I hypothesize that patients who make ritual abuse allegations appear
to be genuinely traumatized. In a study comparing 34 adult psychiatric
patients making ritual abuse allegations with 31 patients making no such
allegations, I found that the group making ritual abuse allegations had
significantly higher PTSD scores on the MMPI-2 (Noblitt, 1995). In
their study of preschool ritualistic and non-ritualistic sexual abuse,
Waterman, Kelly, Olivieri, and McCord, (1993) demonstrated that PTSD
criteria were met for 80% of their sample of ritualistically sexually
abused children as compared with 35.7% of the non-ritualistically
sexually abused children.
The hypothesis that ritual abuse allegations are essentially false
and the result of suggestibility and social influence has been
propounded by a number of individuals (Mulhern, 1991, 1994; Ofshe&
Waters, 1994; Spanos, 1996). However, this hypothesis appears to be based on subjective opinion and speculation rather than any research findings.
It has never been shown that people who report ritual abuse are
particularly suggestible. It has also never been demonstrated that
therapists with such patients attempt to persuade their patients to
believe that they were ritually abused.”
The Rise and Fall of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation
Kate McMaugh, MHSc & Warwick Middleton, MD
https://news.isst-d.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-false-memory-syndrome-foundation/
“Underwager, one of the founding members of the FMSF and an original
Board member, who made substantial amounts of money acting as an expert
witness for the defence in child sexual abuse cases, was arguably the
most controversial. When he became involved in the formation of the
FMSF, he was already well known for his views against child protection,
as one of the founders of VOCAL – which stood for Victims of Child Abuse
Laws, a support group for people who claimed to be falsely accused. He
had already famously stated in the media and in court that 60% of women
sexually abused in childhood reported that the experience was ‘good for
them’.
Underwager gave evidence for the defence in over 200 child sexual
abuse cases in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and
Australia. Psychologist, Anna Salter published a scholarly demolition of
his published systematic misrepresentations on the subject. Underwager
filed several unsuccessful law suits against Salter. Her exploration of
the ethical issues surrounding the work of Underwager and Wakefield, and
their harassment of her is well worth reading (Salter, 1998).
(Confessions of a Whistle-Blower: Lessons Learned by
Anna C. Salter – Ethics & Behavior, Volume 8, Issue 2 June 1998 ,
pages 115 – 124 https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/confessions-of-a-whistle-blower-lessons-learned/ ))
In 1993, together with his wife, Board Member Hollida Wakefield,
Underwager gave an interview to the Dutch pro-paedophilia magazine,
Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia.
Underwager famously proclaimed, “Paedophiles can boldly and
courageously affirm what they choose. They can say that what they want
is to find the best way to love. I am also a theologian and as a
theologian, I believe it is God’s will that there be closeness and
intimacy, unity of the flesh, between people. A paedophile can say:
‘This closeness is possible for me within the choices that I’ve made.’”
As a result of the Paidika interview Underwager was forced to resign
from the FMSF Board, but Wakefield remained as a Board member. “
“Doubtless, there will continue to be attacks on those who report
child abuse, regardless of whether the memories are ‘recovered’ or not.
While cultural and political pressure to doubt the testimony of women
and children who report sexual abuse pre-dates the FMSF, it goes without
saying that the ‘false memory’ movement enabled society to ignore a
whole new generation of abused children. We do not want this to happen
again and it is vital we reflect on our history and are well-prepared
for backlash.”
False Memory Syndrome – Child Abuse Wiki
https://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=False_Memory_Syndrome
The term False Memory Syndrome was created in 1992 by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF)[1]. It has been called “a pseudoscientific syndrome that was developed to defend against claims of child abuse.”[1]
The FMSF was created by parents who claimed to be falsely accused of
child sexual abuse.[1] The False Memory Syndrome was described as “a
widespread social phenomenon where misguided therapists cause patients
to invent memories of sexual abuse.”[1] Research has shown that most
delayed memories of childhood abuse are true[2]. In general, it has been
shown that false allegations of childhood sexual abuse are rare, with
some studies showing rates as low as one percent[3][4] and some studies
showing slightly higher rates[3]. It has been found that children tend
to understate rather than overstate the extent of any abuse
experienced[3]. It has been stated that misinformation on the topic of
child sexual abuse is widespread and that the media have contributed to
this problem by reporting favorably on unproven and controversial claims
like the False Memory Syndrome[5]
Recovered Memories
https://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories
Recovered memories have been defined as the phenomenon of partially or
fully losing parts of memories of traumatic events, and then later
recovering part or all of the memories into conscious awareness. They
have also been defined as the recollections of memories that are
believed to have been unavailable for a certain period of time[1]. There
is very strong scientific evidence that recovered memories exist.[2]
This has been shown in many scientific studies. The content of recovered
memories have fairly high corroboration rates.
New York State vs. Harvey Weinstein
The Danger Behind the “False Memory” Myth
February 6, 2020
https://timesupfoundation.org/the-danger-behind-the-false-memory-myth-2/
“The bottom line: Current evidence shows “false memory theory” to be
“scientifically inaccurate, damaging to survivors, and unhelpful to the
public.” Here’s why.
“False Memory Syndrome” has Never Been Ratified by the American
Psychological Association or Any Other Mainstream Psychological
Diagnostic System as an Actual Diagnosis
Never — not after 30 years of trying.”
““False Memory Theory” is a Tool to Discredit Survivors of Sexual Trauma
“False memory” gives a pseudoscientific name to the trope that
survivors somehow develop entirely new memories of sexual assaults that
never happened. That’s not how memory works — but it is how perpetrators
of sexual violence have worked to deny accountability.
Pioneering psychologist Dr. Jennifer Freyd has found that perpetrators
of sexual assault often “Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender,”
a phenomenon she calls “DARVO.”
“The reality is that most scientific research shows traumatic events
of all kinds are often cemented in a person’s memory. And current
research shows that memories of sexual assault are even more vivid than
memories of other sorts of traumas, such as car accidents.”
