Editing Satanic panic (section)

===As a moral panic===
SRA and the so-called "Satanic Panic" have been called a [[moral panic]]{{sfn |de Young |2004}} and compared to the [[blood libel]] and [[witch-hunt]]s of historical Europe,<ref name=Goode/>{{sfn |Frankfurter |2006 |p=[https://archive.org/details/evilincarnaterum00fran/page/2 2]}}<ref name=Lewis/> and [[McCarthyism]] in the United States during the 20th century.{{sfn |Nathan |Snedeker |1995}}<ref>{{cite journal |title=Satanism: Myth and reality in a contemporary moral panic |journal=Crime, Law and Social Change |volume=17 |issue=1 |year=1992 |doi=10.1007/BF00190171 |pages=53–75 |last1=Jenkins |first1=Philip |last2=Maier-Katkin |first2=Daniel |s2cid=144969144}}</ref>{{sfn |Victor |1993}} [[Stanley Cohen (sociologist)|Stanley Cohen]], who originated the term ''moral panic'', called the episode "one of the purest cases of moral panic".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=S |author-link=Stanley Cohen (sociologist) |title=Folk devils and moral panics: the creation of the Mods and Rockers |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=2002 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=K9OxSYJQGXwC&pg=PR15 xv] |isbn=978-0-415-26712-0}}</ref> The initial investigations of SRA were performed by anthropologists and sociologists, who failed to find evidence of SRA actually occurring; instead they concluded that SRA was a result of rumors and [[Folklore|folk legends]] that were spread by "media hype, Christian fundamentalism, mental health and law enforcement professionals and child abuse advocates."<ref name=Fraser/> Sociologists and journalists noted the vigorous nature with which some evangelical activists and groups were using claims of SRA to further their religious and political goals.{{sfn |Victor |1993}} Other commentators suggested that the entire phenomenon may be evidence of a moral panic over Satanism and child abuse.<ref name=Deyoung1996>{{cite journal |last=de Young |first=Mary |author-link=Mary de Young |year=1996 |title=A painted devil: Constructing the satanic ritual abuse of children problem |journal=Aggression and Violent Behavior |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=235–48 |doi=10.1016/1359-1789(95)00009-7}}</ref> After skeptical inquiry, explanations for allegations of SRA have included an attempt by [[Radical feminism|radical feminists]] to undermine the [[nuclear family]],{{sfn |Underwager |Wakefield |1995 |p={{page needed|date=November 2021}}}} a backlash against working women,{{sfn |Nathan |Snedeker |1995}} homophobic attacks on gay childcare workers,<ref>{{cite book |author=Hood, Lynley |title=A City Possessed: The Christchurch Civic Creche Case |publisher=Longacre Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-877135-62-0}}</ref> a universal need to believe in evil,<ref name="Frankfurter2001">{{cite journal |author=Frankfurter, D. |year=2001 |title=Ritual as Accusation and Atrocity: Satanic Ritual Abuse, Gnostic Libertinism, and Primal Murders |journal=History of Religions |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=352–80 |doi=10.1086/463648 |jstor=3176371 |s2cid=162259876}}</ref> fear of alternative spiritualities,{{sfn |LaFontaine |1998}} "end of the millennium" anxieties,{{sfn|Showalter |1997 |p=[https://archive.org/details/hystorieshysteri00show_0/page/171 171–188]}} or a transient form of temporal lobe epilepsy.<ref name=Paley2001>{{cite journal |author=Paley, J. |year=2001 |title=Satanist abuse and alien abduction: A comparative analysis theorizing temporal lobe activity as a possible connection between anomalous memories |journal=British Journal of Social Work |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=43–70 |issn=0045-3102 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjsw.a011195}}</ref>

In his book ''Satanic Panic'', the 1994 Mencken Award winner for Best Book presented by the Free Press Association,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://menckenawards.blogspot.com/2019/11/normal_13.html|title=The Mencken Awards: 1982–1996}}</ref> Jeffery Victor wrote that, in the United States, the groups most likely to believe rumors of SRA are rural, poorly educated, religiously [[Christian right|conservative]], [[Blue-collar worker|blue-collar]] families with an unquestioning belief in [[Culture of the United States|American values]] who feel significant anxieties over job loss, economic decline and family disintegration. Victor considered rumors of SRA a symptom of a moral crisis and a form of [[scapegoat]]ing for economic and social ills.{{sfn |Victor |1993 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/satanicpaniccrea00vict/page/n74 55–56]}}<ref name=jv93>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume5/j5_2_4.htm|title=IPT Journal - "Sexual Attitudes in the Contemporary Legend About Satanic Cults"|website=www.ipt-forensics.com}}</ref>