User:Neil Brick/Sandbox/Cult and Ritual Abuse (book)

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"Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America" is a book by James Randall Noblitt and Pamela Sue Perskin, first published in 1995 with a revised edition in 2000. . Noblitt is a clinical psychologist, Director of the Psychology program at Alliant International University. Perskin is Executive Director of the International Council on Cultism and Ritual Trauma an organization intending to raise awareness about patients reporting experiences with cult and ritual abuse; its mission statement includes the goal of "acknowledg[ing] ritual abuse as a serious legal, social and public health concern."

The book discusses the idea that ritual abuse is an age-old phenomenon and it is found in many cultures throughout the world. It explores the psychiatric symptoms caused by ritual abuse, including dissociative identity disorder, and suggests ways to deal with the legal and social problems that can result from it. A new diagnosis “Cult and ritual trauma disorder” is proposed in this edition, although the term or variants does not appear in the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings. According to one of the coauthors, "Increasing reports by psychiatric patients of ritual abuse have provoked a debate about the appropriate interpretation of such allegations. Some authors contend that these claims represents fantasy material, dissimulation, or delusions. Others maintain that patients' descriptions of ritualized trauma may constitute a newly identified psychiatric syndrome."

Comments and critiques

The topic of the book is controversial, as there is disagreement over the reliability of evidence for the widespread existence of ritual abuse in contemporary America, and concern about the fanning of public hysteria by uncritical dissemination of exaggerated reports. Ritual child abuse is cited by Jeffrey S. Victor as one of a series of examples of moral panics. Victor, a professor of sociology at Jamestown Community College, a part of the New York State university system, considers it an extension of sensationalized concern about a purported epidemic of child abuse, and later sexual child abuse.

Others however, believe that there is empirical evidence for the existence of ritual abuse as a serious phenomenon, including specifically Satanic ritual abuse. Van Benschoten states that a variety of behaviors, with multiple themes, can fall under the term "Satanic." In one study of 2,709 members of the American Psychological Association it was found that 30 percent of these professionals said that they had seen at least one case of what they called cases of ritual or religion-related abuse. Over 90 percent of these 30 percent believed that the reported harm had actually taken place and that the alleged ritualism occurred.

In a book review in Psychiatric Services, Kenneth E. Fletcher said he found Noblitt's "methods of recognizing and testing patients who he believes have truly suffered cult or ritual abuse are themselves intriguing." He concluded, "Although the writing is uneven at times, anyone who is interested in the topic of cult and ritual abuse will find this book worth the time to read". Another review says it can be used as a counterargument to assertions that "Many social scientists, scholars, and legal authorities now view the stories of Satanic conspiracy that circulated in the 1980s as urban legends, and the daycare abuse cases as historical aberrations."

A book review in the American Journal of Psychotherapy stated that "Whether or not one believes in MPD and/or Ritual Abuse, this book provides one with what is probably the most comprehensive and reasonable review of the subject that has appeared up to now."

Another book review, by Joel Best, professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, says that the book attempts to reestablish the case for ritual abuse. "I should confess I approached the book with deep skepticism, but I hoped it would at least present a coherent case for believing in ritual abuse. The book fails even this modest test; coherence is not one of its strengths." Best describes it as beginning with Noblitt's story of his work as a clinical psychologist in the mid-1980s, when he became convinced that his borderline personality disorder patients were victims of ritual abuse. Best criticizes that Noblitt does not put his discoveries into any context in order to give perspective as to whether he was affected by the wave of reports at that time. "Noblitt and Perskin regularly acknowledge the evidence for a particular point is not compelling, that, for example, many historians doubt there were witches in medieval Europe. But this hardly matters, others believed there were witches, and, even if there weren't, is the larger pattern, not the specific elements, that matter."