Ritual Abuse - From the Child Abuse Wiki

http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse

updated version

copied with permission

Ritual abuse exists all over the world. There have been reports, journal
articles[1][2][3], web pages[4][5][6][7][8][9] and criminal convictions of crimes
against children and adults [10][11][12].

Contents
* 1 Definition
* 2 Origins of the term
* 3 Evidence
* 4 References
* 5 Bibliography
* 6 External Links

Definition

Ritual abuse has been defined as:

a brutal form of abuse of children, adolescents, and adults, consisting of

physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, and involving the use of rituals.
Ritual does not necessarily mean satanic. However, most survivors state that they
were ritually abused as part of satanic worship for the purpose of indoctrinating
them into satanic beliefs and practices. Ritual abuse rarely consists of a single
episode. It usually involves repeated abuse over an extended period of time. The
physical abuse is severe, sometimes including torture and killing. The sexual
abuse is usually painful, sadistic, and humiliating, intended as means of gaining
dominance over the victim. The psychological abuse is devastating and involves the
use of ritual/indoctrination, which includes mind control techniques and mind
altering drugs, and ritual/intimidation which conveys to the victim a profound
terror of the cult members and of the evil spirits they believe cult members can
command. Both during and after the abuse, most victims are in a state of terror,
mind control, and dissociation in which disclosure is exceedingly difficult.[13]

and as

WHAT IS RITUAL ABUSE? (BROAD DEFINITION) Ritual abuse is the abuse of a child,
weaker adult, or animal in a ritual setting or manner. In a broad sense, many of
our overtly or covertly socially sanctioned actions can be seen as ritual abuse,
such as military basic training, hazing, racism, spanking children, and partner-
battering. Some abuse is private...some public. Public ritual abuse may be either
open or secret. WHAT IS RITUAL ABUSE? (NARROW DEFINITION) The term ritual abuse is
generally used to mean prolonged, extreme, sadistic abuse, especially of children,
within a group setting. The group's ideology is used to justify the abuse, and
abuse is used to teach the group's ideology. The activities are kept secret from
society at large, as they violate norms and laws.[14]

Origins of the term

Pazder introduced the term "ritualized abuse" in 1980, describing the experiences
of an adult survivor that was disclosing satanic abuse memories. He defined the
phenomenon as "repeated physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual assaults
combined with a systematic use of symbols, ceremonies, and machinations designed
and orchestrated to attain malevolent effects." Later definitions came mostly from
professionals addressing ritual abuse in child care settings. Finkelhor, Williams,
Burns, and Kalinowski elaborated on Pazder's definition, defining ritual abuse as
"abuse that occurs in a context linked to some symbols or group activity that have
a religious, magical or supernatural connotation, and where the invocation of
these symbols or activities are repeated over time and used to frighten and
intimidate the children." Kelley referred to ritual abuse as the "repetitive and
systematic sexual, physical, and psychological abuse of children by adults as part
of cult or satanic worship"[15].

Evidence

There is a great deal of evidence supporting the existence of ritual abuse crimes
as a worldwide phenomenon. Bottoms, Shaver and Goodman found in their 1993 study
evaluating ritual abuse claims that in 2,292 alleged ritual abuse cases, 15% of
the perpetrators in adult cases and 30% of the perpetrators in child cases
confessed to the abuse[16]. "In a survey of 2,709 members of the American
Psychological Association, it was found that 30 percent of these professionals had
seen cases of ritual or religion-related abuse (Bottoms, Shaver & Goodman, 1991).
Of those psychologists who have seen cases of ritual abuse, 93 percent believed
that the reported harm took place and 93 percent believed that the alleged
ritualism occurred....The similar research of Nancy Perry (1992) which further
supports (the previous findings)…Perry also conducted a national survey of
therapists who work with clients with dissociative disorders and she found that 88
percent of the 1,185 respondents indicated ”belief in ritual abuse, involving mind
control and programming”[17].

Recently an online survey[18] of over one thousand people answered questions about
ritual abuse and extreme abuse crimes. In a summary of the survey [19], it was
found that ritual abuse/mind control is a global phenomenon. Fifty-five percent
stated they were abuse in a Satanic cult. Seventy-seven percent of the adult
survivors that responded "had been threatened with death if they ever talked about
the abuse." Also, "257 respondents reported that secret mind control experiments
were used on them as children." Eighty-two percent reported being sexually abused
by multiple perpetrators.

Anne Johnson Davis in her book Hell Minus One reported that her parents confessed
to her abuse in writing and verbally to clergymen, and to the detectives from the
Utah Attorney General’s Office. Her suppressed memories started when she was in
her mid-30s, which were fully substantiated by her mother and stepfather[20][21].
Many scientific journals articles have discussed the reality of ritual abuse and
its effect on its victims. Some of these articles have discussed the extreme
nature of these crimes[22], proof of the reality of the ritual abuse phenomenon
and victims' symptoms[23], the connection between ritual abuse, multiple
personality disorder and mind control[24] and the connections between ritual abuse
reports and the higher levels of symptoms of childhood sexual and physical
abuse[25]. Several additional studies and organizations have compiled research on
the reality of ritual abuse crimes[26][27][28].

Ritual abuse and mind control crimes have also been confirmed in other books[29]
[30].

A study which identified 270 cases of sexual abuse in day care settings found that
allegations of ritual abuse occurred in thirteen percent of the cases[31].
Additional evidence of ritual abuse in day care and child abuse cases has been
found in news reports, journal articles and legal transcripts[32][33][34][35][36]
[37].
Ritual abuse occurrences have also been found in the Netherlands[38]and
England[39]. Reports of ritual abuse have also been found in multiple personality
disorder sufferers[15]. Kent believes that intergenerational satanic accounts are
possible and that rituals related to them may come from a deviant interpretation
of religious texts[40][41]. Others have stated that the theories and research
around recovered memory "strongly confirm the reality of...cult abuse" of SRA
survivors[42].

References

1. Satanic Ritual Abuse evidence

http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/studies/satanic-ritual-abuse-evidence-with-
information-on-the-mcmartin-preschool-case/
2. 2008 Publications on Ritual Abuse and Mind Control
http://www.endritualabuse.org/citation%202.htm
3. Lacter, E (2008-02-11). “Brief Synopsis of the Literature on the Existence
of Ritualistic Abuse”. http://endritualabuse.org/Brief%20Synopsis.htm
4. http://ritualabuse.us
5. http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/
6. http://www.ra-info.org
7. http://www.survivorship.org
8.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080116175648/http://theawarenesscenter.org/ritualabus
e.html
9. http://www.endritualabuse.org/
10. Believe the children (1997). “Conviction List: Ritual Child Abuse”.
http://www.ra-info.org/resources/ra_cases.shtml
11. The Satanism and Ritual Abuse Archive
http://www.endritualabuse.org/ritualabusearchive.htm
12. Noblitt, PhD, J. R. - An Empirical Look at the Ritual Abuse Controversy
(2007) http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/an-empirical-look-at-the-ritual-
abuse-controversy-randy-noblitt-phd/
13. Report of the Ritual Abuse Task Force - Los Angeles County Commission for
Women "Mind control is the cornerstone of ritual abuse, the key element in the
subjugation and silencing of its victims. Victims of ritual abuse are subjected to
a rigorously applied system of mind control designed to rob them of their sense of
free will and to impose upon them the will of the cult and its leaders. Most often
these ritually abusive cults are motivated by a satanic belief system [only on the
surface.] The mind control is achieved through an elaborate system of
brainwashing, programming, indoctrination, hypnosis, and the use of various mind-
altering drugs. The purpose of the mind control is to compel ritual abuse victims
to keep the secret of their abuse, to conform to the beliefs and behaviors of the
cult, and to become functioning members who serve the cult by carrying out the
directives of its leaders without being detected within society at large."
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/report-of-the-ritual-abuse-task-force-
los-angeles-county-commission-for-women/
http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/ra.htm
14. Survivorship - Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.survivorship.org/faq.html
15. a b Van Benschoten, Susan C. (1990). Multiple Personality Disorder and
Satanic Ritual Abuse: the Issue Of Credibility Dissociation Vol. III, No. 1 "A
large number of adult MPD patients in psychotherapy are reporting memories of
explicitly satanic ritual abuse beginning in childhood. The authors of two limited
surveys, conducted with a select group of MPD therapists, suggest the percentage
of reported satanic ritual abuse in the MPD population to be 20% (Braun & Gray,
1986) and 28% (Braun & Gray, 1987). A survey by Kaye and Klein (1987) reveals that
20 of the 42 MPD patients in treatment with seven Ohio therapists describe a
history of satanic ritual abuse. Ilopponen (1987) states that 38 of the more than
70 MPD patients she has treated report memories of "satanic-type ritualized abuse
" (p. 11). Two inpatient facilities specializing in the treatment of MPD report
that approximately 50% of their patients disclose memories of satanic ritual abuse
(Braun, 1989a; Ganaway, 1989). Similar accounts of satanic ritual abuse are being
reported by personally unrelated MPD patients from across the United States
(Braun, 1989b; Braun & Sachs, 1988; Kahaner, 1988; Sachs & Braun, 1987). In
addition, according to Braun (1989b), the reports of patients in this country are
similar to data collected from adult survivors in England, Holland, Germany,
France, Canada, and Mexico...Brown (1986), noting many similar allegations in
child and adult satanic ritual abuse accounts, suggests that reports are not only
comparable across geographical and personal boundaries, but across generations as
well."
http://www.empty-memories.nl/dis_90/vanbenschoten_sra.pdf
16. Data from Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And
the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5 (p.62) Bottoms, B. Shaver, P. &
Goodman, G. (1993) Profile of ritual abuse and religion related abuse allegations
in the United States. Updated findings provided via personal communication from B.
Bottoms. Cited in K.C. Faller (1994), Ritual Abuse; A Review of the research. The
American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children Advisor , 7, 1, 19-27
17. Noblitt, J.R.; Perskin, P. (2000). Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History,
Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America p. 269, Greenwood
Publishing Group. http://books.google.com/books?id=zJkTTpfyJ-8C
18. Extreme Abuse Survey http://extreme-abuse-survey.net/
19. Understanding ritual trauma: A comparison of findings from three online
surveys http://ritualabuse.us/mindcontrol/eas-studies/understanding-ritual-trauma-
a-comparison-of-findings-from-three-online-surveys/
20. Johnson Davis, Anne Hell Minus One: My Story of Deliverance From Satanic
Ritual Abuse and My Journey to Freedom Transcript Bulletin Publishing - ISBN 978-
0-9788348-0-7 - 2008 http://www.hellminusone.com/
21. Hell Minus One - signed verified confessions of satanic ritual abuse
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/survivor-stories/hell-minus-one-signed-verified-
confessions-of-satanic-ritual-abuse/ ‘
22. Cozolino, L.J. (1990). “Ritual child abuse, psychopathology, and evil”.
Journal of Psychology and Theology, 18(3):218-227 "Ritualistic abuse is an extreme
form of psychological, physical, and sexual maltreatment of children in the
context of "religious" ceremony. The clinical presentation of the victims of such
abuse is complex and raises many issues related in the diagnosis and treatment of
psychopathology as well as the importance of spiritual counseling"
https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt
23. Cozolino, L.J.; Shaffer, R.E (Fall 1992) "Adults who report childhood
ritualistic abuse." Special Issue: Satanic ritual abuse: The current state of
knowledge. Journal of Psychology and Theology 20(3) "Skeptics question the
legitimacy of these reports, but many factors point to the reality of the
phenomenon of ritualistic abuse. First of all, the degree of consistency between
reports of individuals from different parts of the country is very high. The fact
that children as young as 2 and 3 report ritualistic abuse experiences that mirror
those reported by adult victims is especially striking in light of the fact that
young children do not have access to the kind of printed information that might
conceivably allow an older person to fabricate such experiences (Gould, 1987).
Second, experiences of ritualistic abuse reported by victims of all ages are
virtually identical to written historical accounts of Satan worship and the like
(Hill & Goodwin, 1989; Russell, 1972), findings that substantiate our present-day
understanding of Satanism and ritualistic abuse as intragenerational phenomenon.
Third, the symptoms from which individuals reporting histories of ritualistic
abuse tend to suffer are consistent with our current understanding of post-
traumatic stress disorder and the dissociative disorders. The progression in which
ritualistic abuse survivors respond to psychotherapy places these victims squarely
within the category of individual who have suffered real-not imagined-trauma."
https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt
24. Gould, C., & Cozolino, L. (1992) “Ritual abuse, multiplicity, and mind-
control.” Special Issue: Satanic ritual abuse: The current state of knowledge.
Journal of Psychology and Theology 20(3):194-6 "As a result of the psychologically
intolerable nature of their early childhood experiences, victims of ritual abuse
frequently develop multiple personality disorder (MPD)....Ritual abuse is
conducted on behalf of a cult whose purpose is to establish mind control over the
victims. Thus, these perpetrators have a conscious motive for the abuse beyond
compulsively repeating their own childhood abuse in an effort to gain mastery over
the original trauma. Most victims state that they were ritually abused as part of
satanic worship, for the purpose of indoctrinating them into satanic beliefs (Los
Angeles County Commission for Women, 1989). Mind control is originally established
when the victim is a child under 6 years old." https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt
25. Lawrence, K.J.; Cozolino, L.; Foy, D.W. (1995). Psychological sequelae in
adult females reporting childhood ritualistic abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect 19 (8):
975-984. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(95)00059-H. "Women reporting ritualistic features
scored significantly higher on measures of childhood sexual and physical abuse.
Neither PTSD diagnostic status nor severity for PTSD nor dissociative experiences
were significantly different between the groups."
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-3YB56DX-
1X&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&
_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b9a75a7e349d4efe5a11ed205f736cf5
26. Gould, C. (1995). Denying ritual abuse of children. Journal of
Psychohistory, 22(3), 329-339. "The evidence is rapidly accumulating that the
problem of ritual abuse is considerable in scope and extremely grave in its
consequences Among 2,709 members of the American Psychological Association who
responded to a poll, 2,292 cases of ritual abuse were reported (Bottoms, Shaver, &
Goodman, 1993). In 1992 alone, Childhelp USA logged 1,741 calls pertaining to
ritual abuse, Monarch Resources of Los Angeles logged approximately 5,000, Real
Active Survivors tallied nearly 3,600, Justus Unlimited of Colorado received
almost 7,000, and Looking Up of Maine handled around 6,000. Even allowing for some
of these calls to have been made by people who assist survivors but arc not
themselves survivors, and for some survivors to have called more that one helpline
or made multiple calls to the same helpline, these numbers suggest that at a
minimum there must be tens of thousands of survivors of ritual abuse in the United
States. Evidence also continues to accumulate that the ritual abuse of children
constitutes a child abuse problem of significant scope. In 1988, Finkelhor,
Williams and Burns published the results of a nationwide study of substantiated
reports of sexual abuse in day care involving 1,639 young child victims. Thirteen
percent of these cases were found to involve ritual abuse. Other studies of
ritually abused children have been relatively small. Kelly (1988; 1989; 1992a;
1992b; 1993) reported on 35 day care victims of ritual abuse, Waterman et al.
(1993) reported on 82 children complaining of ritual abuse in preschool, Faller
(1988; 1990) studied 18 children who had disclosed ritual abuse in their
preschool, and Bybee and Mowbray (1993) from the Michigan State Department of
Mental Health identified 62 children alleging ritual abuse in their preschool and
53 children who reported seeing others be ritually abused. Snow and Sorenson
(1990) studied 39 children reporting ritual abuse in five neighborhoods in Utah,
and Jonker and Jonker-Bakker (1991) reported on a total group of 98 children, at
least 48 of whom were believed to be victims of ritual abuse. The latter case is
the only one cited here which was conducted outside of the United States."
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/denying-ritual-abuse-of-children-
catherine-gould/ http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/denyra.htm
27. Paley, K. (June 1992). Dream wars: a case study of a woman with multiple
personality disorder(PDF). Dissociation 5 (2): 111-116. "Apologists believe that
reports of satanic cult abuse either must or could be true. There is some evidence
to support the apologists. In 1986, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in
Commonwealth v. Drew (397 Mass. 65) upheld the conviction of Carl H. Drew for the
murder of Karen Marsden. There was evidence that Drew conducted satanic ritual
meetings and that he had killed Marsden "because she wanted to leave the cult "
(Commonworth v. Drew, 1986, p. 66). Marsden had gone to the police and reported a
human sacrifice. Scott Waterhouse was convicted of the murder of a twelve year-old
girl, and the conviction was upheld in the State of Maine v. Scott Waterhouse (513
A. 2d 862, Me. 1986). It was ruled that the trial court's introduction of the
defendant's satanic beliefs was relevant in establishing motive and intent. In a
study of hundreds of day care centers, Finkelhor and Williams found that "... [c]
lear-cut corroboration of ritualistic practices was available in a few cases, such
as Country Walk [in Miami], where ritual objects were found by police and where
the female perpetrators did admit to some of the sadistic practices alleged in the
children's stories" (1988, pp. 59-60). Greaves (1992) describes a video made by
the Chicago Police Department of two sites allegedly used for satanic ceremonies.
He was struck by the similarity of the material to descriptions he had heard from
many of his clients.
28. Report of Utah State Task Force on Ritual Abuse Utah Governor’s Commission
for Women and Families (1992)
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/dspace/bitstream/1794/1646/1/Diss_5_2_9_OCR.pdf
29. Secret Weapons - Two Sisters’ Terrifying True Story of Sex, Spies and
Sabotage by Cheryl and Lynn Hersha with Dale Griffis, Ph D. and Ted Schwartz. New
Horizon Press, P O Box 669 Far Hills, NJ 07931 - ISBN0-88282-196-2 "“By the time
Cheryl Hersha came to the facility, knowledge of multiple personality was so
complete that doctors understood how the mind separated into distinct ego
states,each unaware of the other. First, the person traumatized had to be both
extremely intelligent and under the age of seven, two conditions not yet
understood though remaining consistent as factors. The trauma was almost always of
a sexual nature…” p. 52 “The government researchers,aware of the information in
the professional journals, decided to reverse the process (of healing from
hysteric dissociation). They decided to use selective trauma on healthy children
to create personalities capable of committing acts desired for national security
and defense.” p. 53 - 54
30. Rutz, Carol (2001). A Nation Betrayed. Grass Lake, MI: Fidelity
Publishing. ISBN 0-9710102-0-X. http://my.dmci.net/~casey/
31. Sexual Abuse in Day Care: A National Study - Executive Summary - March 1988
- Finklehor, Williams, Burns, Kalinowski
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1
c/82/61.pdf "“The study identified 270 “cases” of sexual abuse in day care meaning
270 facilities where substantiated abuse had occurred involving a total of 1639
victimized children….This yielded an estimate of 500 to 550 reported and
substantiated cases and 2500 victims for the three-year period. Although this is a
large number, it must be put in the context of 229,000 day care facilities
nationwide service seven million children…allegations of ritual abuse (”the
invocation of religious, magical or supernatural symbols of activities”) occurred
in 13% of the cases.”
32. Day Care and Child Abuse Cases Information on the McMartin Preschool Case,
Michelle Remembers, the Fells Acres - Amirault Case, the Wenatchee, Washington
Case, the Dale Akiki Case, the Glendale Montessori - Toward case, the Little
Rascals Day Care Center case, Fran’s Day Care case, the Baran case and the Halsey
case http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/
33. McMartin Preschool Case - What Really Happened and the Coverup
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/mcmartin-preschool-case-what-really-
happened-and-the-coverup/
34. Archaeological Investigations of the McMartin Preschool Site
35. deMause, Lloyd, Why Cults Terrorize and Kill Children The Journal of
Psychohistory 21 (4) 1994 [4]"
"Cult abuse is increasing, only that-as with the increase in all child abuse
reports-we have become more open to hearing them. But it seemed unlikely that the
surge of cult memories could all be made up by patients or implanted by
therapists. Therapists are a timid group at best, and the notion that they
suddenly begin implanting false memories in tens of thousands of their clients for
no apparent reason strained credulity. Certainly no one has presented a shred of
evidence for massive "false memory" implantations."
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/why-cults-terrorize-and-kill-children-
lloyd-demause-the-journal-of-psychohistory/
http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/whycult.htm
36. Summit, R.C. (1994). The Dark Tunnels of McMartin Journal of Psychohistory
21 (4): 397-416. “The opportunity came in April, 1990 with permission from the new
owner of the preschool to search for the tunnels before he demolished the building
and redeveloped the property. These soiled but solid citizens managed to find what
the district attorney had disclaimed: solid, scientific evidence that someone had
not only dug tunnels under the preschool, but also had taken the trouble to try to
undo them. The results of this definitive excavation are described in meticulous
detail in the 185 page Report of the Archaeological Excavation of the McMartin
Preschool Site by E. Gary Stickel, Ph.D., the UCLA archaeologist commissioned to
do the study....Dr. Stickel's report (p.95) concludes: There is no other scenario
that fits all of the facts except that the feature was indeed a tunnel. The date
of the construction and use of the tunnel was not absolutely established, but an
assessment of seven factors of data all indicate that it was probably constructed,
used and completely filled back in after 1966 (the construction date of the
preschool). This age assessment has also been corroborated by the consulting
Geologist for the project, Dr. Don Michael.”
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/the-dark-tunnels-of-mcmartin-dr-roland-
c-summit-journal-of-psychohistory/
http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/mcmartin.htm
37. Tamarkin, C. (1994a). Investigative Issues in Ritual Abuse Cases, Part I.
Treating Abuse Today, 4 (4): 14-23. Tamarkin, C. (1994b). Investigative Issues in
Ritual Abuse Cases, Part II. Treating Abuse Today, 4 (5): 5-9.
http://abusearticles.wordpress.com/2007/12/02/investigative-issues-in-ritual-
abuse-cases-part-1-and-2-1994/
38. Jonker, F.; Jonker-bakker, P. (1991). “Experiences with ritualist child
sexual abuse: a case study from the Netherlands”. Child Abuse and Neglect 15: 191-
196. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(91)90064-K. PMID 2043971 "The case of apparent ritual
sexual abuse of children in a community in the Netherlands is described in terms
of the children's stories, behaviors, and physical symptoms and the community's
reaction to reactions of police and other professionals."
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?
_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ429991&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&ac
cno=EJ429991
39. Sinason, V (1994). Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse. New York:
Routledge. ISBN 0-415-10543-9. Major publications by Valerie Sinason
http://www.valeriesinason.com/PublicationsVSinason.htm
40. Kent, Stephen. (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual Satanic Abuse Part
One: Possible Judeo-Christian Influences”. Religion 23(23):229-241.
41. Kent, Stephen. (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual Satanic Abuse. II:
Possible Masonic, Mormon, Magick, and Pagan influences”. Religion 23(4):355-367
42. McCulley, D. “Satanic ritual abuse: A question of memory.”Journal of
Psychology and Theology Fall 1994 22(3) p.167-172 "leading memory researchers
such as Dr. Bessel van der Kolk of Harvard Medical School maintain that traumatic
memories, which typically are engraved in the sensorimotor processes, are not
subject to the same kinds of contamination that can affect normal memory.
Traumatic amnesia, described in the DSM-III-R as psychogenic amnesia, is a
phenomenon which has been known to mental health professionals for more than 100
years. The clinically observed characteristics of traumatic memory formation and
retrieval match precisely the patterns of memory recovery exhibited by SRA
survivors, and strongly confirm the reality of their cult abuse....If satanic
ritual abuse is a question of memory, the data redound to the credibility of those
thousands of individuals who identify themselves as SRA survivors. All the
scientific studies of memory under trauma indicate that the bimodal response
described by van der Kolk (1994), whether hyperpotentiated or dissociative,
heightens the reliability of recall. The phenomenon of recovered memory is not a
new therapeutic fad created by irresponsible clinical experimentation, but a well
established aspect of trauma. The connection between trauma and memory disturbance
is made clear by the definition of psychogenic amnesia in the DSM-III-R
(1987)...Further, there often is corroboration for these retrieved memories.
Judith Herman and Emily Schatzow (1992) found that in a sample of 53 women who
disclosed memories of abuse for which they had been amnesic, 74% of the subjects
were able to find independent confirmation from family members, pornographic
photos, or diaries. Ivor Browne (1990a) found the "internal consistency of the
traumatic account" persuasive, and also discovered that in the sizeable minority
of cases where there was an available witness that "in every instance, the
traumatic events . turn out to be true" (p. 30). There is no longer room for
denial and disbelief - for evading the grim reality of SRA - by recourse to memory
research which simply does not apply. Solid scientific inquiry does not allow us
that luxury; neither should Christian conscience." https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt

Bibliography

* Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).”Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law”
(W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
* Cook, C. (1991). Understanding ritual abuse: A study of thirty-three ritual
abuse survivors. Treating Abuse Today, 1(4), 14-19.
* Gould, Catherine. (1992) “Ritual abuse, multiplicity, and mind-control.”
Special Issue: Satanic ritual abuse: The current state of knowledge. Journal of
Psychology and Theology 20(3):194-6
* Hersha, C.; Hersha, L.; Griffis, D.; Schwarz, T (2001). Secret Weapons. Far
Hills, NJ: New Horizon Press. ISBN 0-88282-196-2.
* Hill, J. “Believing Rachel” The Journal of Psychohistory 24 (2) Fall 1996
"Rachel's story is one of suffering, courage and hope. As a young child she was
the victim of unspeakable crimes, but because she received therapy and the support
of a loving family, she has emerged intact."
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/believing-rachel-jeanne-hill-the-
journal-of-psychohistory/
* Johnston, Jerry (1989). The Edge of Evil - The Rise of Satanism in North
America. Dallas: Word Publishing. ISBN 0-8499-0668-7.
* Jonker, F and Jonker-Bakker, I. (1997). “Effects of Ritual Abuse: The
results of three surveys in the Netherlands.” Child Abuse & Neglect 21(6):541-556
* Kent, Stephen. (1994). “Diabolic Debates: A Reply to David Frankfurter and
J. S. La Fontaine,” Religion 24: 135-188.
* Kent, Stephen. (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual Satanic Abuse Part
One: Possible Judeo-Christian Influences”. Religion 23(23):229-241.
* Kent, Stephen. (1993). “Deviant Scripturalism and Ritual Satanic Abuse. II:
Possible Masonic, Mormon, Magick, and Pagan influences”. Religion 23(4):355-367
* Leavitt, Frank. Measuring the impact of media exposure and hospital
treatment on patients alleging satanic ritual abuse. Treating Abuse Today 8(4)
1998 pp. 7-13 "This study provides evidence that clients who report SRA exhibit a
set of associations to SRA-related words that cannot be explained by exposure to
the popular media or from inpatient treatment."
http://web.archive.org/web/20000306224228/http://idealist.com/tat/leavitt.shtml
* Neswald, D., Gould, C., & Graham-Costain, V. (1991). Common programs
observed in survivors of Satanic ritual abuse. The California Therapist, 3 (5), 47
50. "Increasingly, cases of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) and Satanic
Ritualistic Abuse (SRA) are being reported in the psychotherapeutic community.
Though controversy concerning authenticity remains, such cases are slowly gaining
in acceptability as a genuine social and psychopathological phenomenon.
Concurrently, the etiological underpinnings and treatment demands of these special
patients are being unraveled and understood as never before. As a result, it is
becoming increasingly clear that perhaps the most demanding treatment aspects of
such cases concern the problems posed by what is known as "cult programming."
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/common-programs-observed-in-survivors-
of-satanic-ritualistic-abuse/
http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/sracp.htm
* Noblitt, J.R.; Perskin, P. (2000). Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History,
Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America p. 269, Greenwood
Publishing Group. http://books.google.com/books?id=zJkTTpfyJ-8C
* Noblitt, R.; Perskin, P. (2008). Ritual abuse in the 21st century p. 552,
Bandon, OR: Reed Publishers.
http://www.rdrpublishers.com/catalog/item/6339393/5820690.htm
* Pike, P.L.; Mohline, R.J.(Eds.). Ritual abuse and recovery: Survivors'
personal accounts. Journal of Psychology and Theology Spring 1995 23 (1) p.45-55
https://wisdom.biola.edu/jpt
* Sachs, A. & Galton, G. (Eds) (2008). Forensic Aspects of Dissociative
Identity Disorder London: Karnac. Chapters include discussions on ritual abuse,
dissociative identity disorder, mind control, extreme abuse, survivor accounts and
criminal convictions http://www.karnacbooks.com/product.php?PID=25876
http://books.google.com/books?
id=upHtL9lual0C&dq=Forensic+aspects+of+dissociative+identity+disorder+|
&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=caNy__6-
zt&sig=VwIOryBkcSN0nh24CJR3aJkS_gs&hl=en&ei=702fSbmpOo_ftgfe5eSVDQ&sa=X&oi=book_re
sult&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA142,M1
* Scott, S. (2001). The politics and experience of ritual abuse: beyond
disbelief. Open University Press. ISBN 0335204198. http://www.amazon.com/Politics-
Experience-Ritual-Abuse/dp/0335204198
* Smith, Margaret. (1993). Ritual Abuse: What it Is, why it Happens, and how
to Help by Margaret - HarperCollins
* Waterman, Jill; Kelly, Robert J.;Oliveri, M. K.;and McCord, Jane (1993).
Behind the Playground Walls - Sexual Abuse in Preschools. New York, London: The
Guilford Press, 284-8. ISBN 0-89862-523-8.
* Young, Walter C., Sachs, Roberta G., Braun, Bennett G., and Watkins, R. T.
(1993) “Patients reporting ritual abuse in childhood: A clinical syndrome. Report
of 37 cases.” Child Abuse and Neglect 15(3):181-9

External Links

* An Empirical Look at the Ritual Abuse Controversy

http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/an-empirical-look-at-the-ritual-abuse-
controversy-randy-noblitt-phd/
* Ritual Abuse articles http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/studies/satanic-
ritual-abuse-evidence-with-information-on-the-mcmartin-preschool-case/
* Ritual Abuse Cases http://www.ra-info.org/resources/ra_cases.shtml
* Extreme Abuse Survey http://extreme-abuse-survey.net/
* http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/
* http://www.ra-info.org
* http://www.survivorship.org
*
http://web.archive.org/web/20080116175648/http://theawarenesscenter.org/ritualabus
e.html
* Ritual Abuse Statistics & Research
http://web.archive.org/web/20071210161357/http://home.mchsi.com/~ftio/ra-stats.htm