Publication Date:June 26, 2001 Shipping:Eligible for Super Saver Shipping Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Communities throughout the United States were convulsed in the 1980s and early 1990s by accusations, often without a shred of serious evidence, that respectable men and women in their midst-many of them trusted preschool teachers-secretly gathered in far reaching conspiracies to rape and terrorize children. In this powerful book, Debbie Nathan and Mike Snedeker examine the forces fueling this blind panic.
I have seen the panic and the damage doneJanuary 12, 2008 2 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you grew up in the '80s, you probably remember that, for a while, stories about evil Satanists were all the rage. At times, it seemed like every crime committed in America between 1984 and 1990 was somehow linked to Satanism. Of course, as time went on and Americans found other unseen threats to fear, it became rather obvious that the majority of these crimes were not part of any larger conspiracy and that what was once considered to be "evidence" of a Satanic conspiracy was really just a combination of panic and people choosing to see only what they wanted to see. Eventually, the whole Satanic panic of the '80s faded into the background and even became something of a shared joke between those of us who lived through it. Unfortunately, it's often forgotten that -- at the panic's peak -- a countless number of innocent people were accused and often convicted of Satanic crimes on the flimsiest of evidence. While many of these people saw their convictions later overturned, many more remained (and remain) in jail. Even as the rest of us forget about just how serious the Satanic Panic of the '80s actually was, those victimized by it continue to suffer even today.
That is why Satan's Silence is an important book. Starting with the infamous McMartin Preschool case, this book shows how that case, with its ultimately unproven accusations of Satanic Ritual Abuse, eventually created a moral panic that engulfed the entire country.
The book makes a powerful case that the Satanic Panic was the product of a dangerous combination of urban legend and well-meaning but untrained social workers who were so determined to prove allegations of abuse that they blatantly manipulated the same "victims" that they believed themselves to be protecting. Indeed, what makes the book so disturbing is that the Satanic Panic was obviously the product of a noble goal. However, in their zeal to "protect children," far too many supporters of the Satanic Ritual Abuse theory allowed themselves to get caught up in the fervor of the times. As a result, a lot of innocent people were unjustly convicted in the court of public opinion if nowhere else. (It is probably safe to assume that, while everyone was out looking for nonexistent evidence of Satanism, a lot of actual child abusers went undetected.)
Along with examining a few prominent cases of Satanic Panic, the book also spends a good deal of time examining the manipulative and, at times, unethical methods used to "prove" that Satanic Ritual Abuse was a "reality." It makes for disturbing reading.
At the same time, the book does, at times, get a bit too one-sided in its arguments. Its obvious that the authors don't have a lot of respect for those on the other side of the debate and, occasionally, that comes through a bit too harshly. Even I, who was a skeptical about Satanic Ritual Abuse even before reading this book, occasionally found myself wishing that those who do believe in SRA had been given more of a chance to defend themselves. As a result, the book will probably not change any minds on the other side of the debate.
Satan's Silence is not quite the final statement on the Satanic Panic of the '80s but it is an important part of the debate. Even more importantly, it serves as a sobering reminder (and warning) of the damage that can be done by mixing good intentions with blind panic.
Pretty goodMay 17, 2007 1 out of 8 found this review helpful
I checked this out from the library, and will now buy a copy. I remember a situation of claimed preschool ritual sex abuse. There were confused statements of being dragged down into a cave...etc. The staff and owners were found innocent, but left Arizona. Funny thing, the building was razed for redevelopement a couple of years ago. A weird cavelike cellar was discovered. Take eveything you read with a grain of salt, but don't be so quick to disbelieve the strange and weird.
Good Book but needs to be more indepthDecember 2, 2004 2 out of 18 found this review helpful
Me being a child of the 80's I remember watching the TV movie about it....growing up in a Catholic School made it even worse. Ritual Abuse is one of those things that unfortunatly does exist but it's not as precedent as one might think...A very very close and recent case of Ritual Abuse happened to one Rev. Sonath of the Order of Perdition...(Now gone thank god) the esteemed "Satanist" priest molested his 12 yr old daughter in ritual abuse. Google Search it if you think I am kidding. He was also in an episode on americas most wanted. The book itself is a good read with a lot of prevalent facts and case files but like I said...it's out there you just have to know where to look....no card carrying member of the CoS would likely admit to it...but a lot of the "denominations" currently held in the satanic church practice it without anyone knowing...
The Real PersecutorsJuly 18, 2004 10 out of 14 found this review helpful
In the Margaret Kelly Michaels case, if you read the judicial evaluations carefully you can see clearly who the real perpetrators are: not Kelly at all, but the teams of prosecutors and "experts" who coerced the children into telling them exactly what they wanted to hear to whip up public hysteria. By the time the Superior and Supreme Court justices caught up with these misguided prosecuting "adults", Kelly's life as an actress and writer had been ruined, five years of her life had vanished into unjust imprisonment, and the lives of her students had been damaged for a very long time by those "adults" who forced them to dance to a prejudiced prosecution tune having nothing to do with the facts. These are the real tragedies, and they are far from over.
On Reviews of Skeptical BooksMarch 25, 2004 10 out of 14 found this review helpful
Skeptical books? I mean books like this one that question our culture's holiest beliefs - in the continuing and ever-worsening oppression of victimized classes, the coming environmental doom etc. Most of the reviews tend to be positive; after all, interested persons have purchased the book or are shopping for the book. Their point of view is already formed. Then there are the other reviews - usually giving no stars, usually short and scabrous: "This book is part of a conspiracy to trivialize a very real problem. This book has been discredited. It has shoddy research etc." "Discredited" is a great word - applied not to shoddy research but to research that challenges our sacred beliefs.
To get more specific, negative reviewers of this book and its many cousins miss the point. Nathan and her co-authors are not excusing abuse or dismissing it as a possible occurrence. Nor are they denying that memories can be repressed. They are simply arguing two points: 1. People are innocent until proven guilty. (Right?) and 2. Memories recovered through hypnosis or by other means are not strong enough evidence to convict an accused "perp." As evidence, they are simply unreliable.
Lots of libertarians are on the internet and obviously are disposed to like books of this kind. Then there are others... the true believers, steeped in ideology and unconcerned about the facts in any specific case. Their only concern is with broader principles - "victims must be protected!"; "abuse is a terrible, growing problem!" These principles are fine, but they should not be brought to bear upon the process of determining guilt or innocence. This process should retain its clear focus on evidence and facts. That is the essence of Nathan's argument, as well as those of Ofshe, Terence Campbell, Willard Gaylin and Dorothy Rabinowitz.
