Editing Satanic panic (section)

=== Skepticism, rejection, and contemporary persistence ===

Media coverage of SRA began to turn negative by 1987, and the "panic" ended between 1992 and 1995.<ref name=Lewis>{{cite book |editor-last=JR |editor-first=Lewis |last=Jenkins |first=P |title=The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements |isbn=978-0-19-514986-9 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=wpqKdDvLV0gC&pg=PA221 221–42] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2004 |chapter=Satanism and Ritual Abuse}}</ref>{{sfn |Clapton |1993 |p=1}} The release of the [[HBO]] [[Television film|made-for-TV movie]] ''[[Indictment: The McMartin Trial]]'' in 1995 re-cast Ray Buckey as a victim of overzealous prosecution rather than an abusive predator, and marked a watershed change in public perceptions of satanic ritual abuse accusations.<ref>{{cite book |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pOrmZAFrx1UC&pg=PA71 71] |last=Baringer |first=S |title=The metanarrative of suspicion in late twentieth century America |isbn=978-0-415-97076-1 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2004}}</ref> In 1995, [[Geraldo Rivera]] issued an apology for his 1987 television special which had focused on the alleged cults.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Matthews|first=David|date=October 29, 2015|title=Revisiting the Satanic Panic television specials of the 1980s and '90s|url=https://splinternews.com/revisiting-the-satanic-panic-television-specials-of-the-1793852408|access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref><ref name=ocrt>{{Cite web|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/geraldo.htm|title=Geraldo Rivera's Influence on the Satanic Ritual Abuse and Recovered Memory Hoaxes|website=www.religioustolerance.org}}</ref>  In 1996 astrophysicist and astrobiologist [[Carl Sagan]] devoted an entire chapter of his final book, ''The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark'' to a critique of claims of recovered memories of [[alien abduction]]s and satanic ritual abuse, citing material from the newsletter of the [[False Memory Syndrome Foundation]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Sagan|first=Carl|title=The Demon-Haunted world: Science as a Candle in the Dark|url=https://archive.org/details/demonhauntedworl00saga_056|url-access=limited|year=1996|publisher=Ballantine|location=New York|isbn=9780345409461|page=[https://archive.org/details/demonhauntedworl00saga_056/page/n177 166]}}</ref> By 2003, allegations of ritual abuse were met with great skepticism, and belief in SRA was no longer considered mainstream in professional circles;{{sfn |Faller |2003 |pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FkT2wTGTUAoC&pg=PA29 29–33]}}{{sfn |Perrin |Miller-Perrin |2006 |p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=AJgxUqce5GcC&pg=PA321 321]}} although the sexual abuse of children was and is a real and serious problem, allegations of SRA were essentially false. Reasons for the collapse of the phenomenon include the failure of criminal prosecutions against alleged abusers, a growing number of scholars, officials and reporters questioning the reality of the accusations, and a variety of successful lawsuits against mental health professionals.<ref name=Donner>{{cite book |last1=Wood |first1=JM |last2=Nathan |first2=D |last3=Nezworski |first3=MT | last4 = Uhl | first4 = E | chapter = Child sexual abuse investigations: Lessons learned from the McMartin and other daycare cases |editor1= Bottoms BL |editor2=Najdowski CJ |editor3=Goodman GS  |title=Children as Victims, Witnesses, and Offenders: Psychological Science and the Law |publisher=[[Guilford Press]] |location=New York |year=2009 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=I4Oof79nUhUC&pg=PA81 81–101] |isbn=978-1-60623-332-0}}</ref>

Some [[Feminism|feminist]] critics of the SRA diagnoses maintained that, in the course of attempting to purge society of evil, the panic of the 1980s and 1990s obscured actual child-abuse issues, a concern echoed by author Gary Clapton.{{sfn |Clapton |1993 |p=1}} In England, the SRA panic diverted resources and attention away from proven abuse cases; this resulted in a "hierarchy" of abuse in which SRA was the most serious form, physical and sexual abuse being minimized and/or marginalized, and "mere" physical abuse no longer worthy of intervention.{{sfn |Clapton |1993 |pp=14–18}} As criticism of SRA investigations increased, the focus by social workers on SRA resulted in a large loss of credibility to the profession.{{sfn |Clapton |1993 |pp=23–28}} SRA, with its sensational narrative of many victims abused by many victimizers, ended up robbing the far-more-common and proven issue of [[incest]] against children of much of its societal significance.<ref>{{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=L |title=Rocking the Cradle of Sexual Politics |publisher=[[Addison–Wesley]] |year=1994 |location=Reading, MA |url=https://archive.org/details/rockingcradleofs00arms |url-access=registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rockingcradleofs00arms/page/257 257–259] |isbn=978-0-7043-4460-0}}</ref> The [[National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect]] devised the term ''religious abuse'' to describe [[exorcism]], [[ordeal poison|poison]]ing, and [[Trial by ordeal#Cold water|drowning]] of children in non-satanic religious settings in order to avoid confusion with SRA.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goodman |first1=G |last2=Qin |first2=J |last3=Bottoms |first3=BL |last4=Shaver |first4=PR |title=Characteristics and Sources of Allegations of Ritualistic Child Abuse |publisher=Center for Abuse and Neglect |year=1994 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=99–114}}</ref>{{sfn |Frankfurter |2006 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/evilincarnaterum00fran/page/223 223–224]}}

Some groups still believe there is credence to allegations of SRA and continue to discuss the topic.{{sfn |Perrin |Miller-Perrin |2006}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=McLeod |first=K |author2=Goddard CR  |year=2005 |title=The Ritual Abuse of Children: A Critical Perspective |journal=Children Australia |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=27–34|doi=10.1017/S1035077200010555 |s2cid=147638448 }}</ref> Publications by [[Cathy O'Brien (conspiracy theorist)|Cathy O'Brien]] claiming SRA was the result of government programs (specifically the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]'s [[Project MKULTRA]]) to produce [[The Manchurian Candidate|Manchurian candidate]]-style [[Brainwashing|mind control]] in young children were picked up by conspiracy theorists, linking belief in SRA with claims of government conspiracies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Knight |first=Peter |title=Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |location=Santa Barbara, Calif |year=2003 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=qMIDrggs8TsC&pg=PA487 487] |isbn=978-1-57607-812-9}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> In the 2007 book ''[[Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me)]]'', authors [[Carol Tavris]] and [[Elliot Aronson]] cite an ongoing belief in the SRA phenomenon, despite a complete lack of evidence, as demonstration of [[confirmation bias]] in believers; it further points out that a lack of evidence is actually considered by believers in SRA as ''additional'' evidence, demonstrating "how clever and evil the cult leaders were: They were eating those babies, bones and all."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aronson |first1=E |author-link=Elliot Aronson |last2=Tavris |first2=C |author-link2=Carol Tavris |title=Mistakes were made (but not by me): why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts |publisher=[[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt]] |location=San Diego |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mistakesweremade00tavr/page/20 20] |isbn=978-0-15-101098-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/mistakesweremade00tavr}}</ref> A [[Salt Lake City]] therapist, [[Barbara Snow (therapist)|Barbara Snow]], was put on probation in 2008 for planting false memories of satanic abuse in patients.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/news/ci_8332832 |title=Embattled therapist agrees to probation|work=The Salt Lake Tribune |access-date=2018-11-16}}</ref> One notable client of hers was [[Teal Swan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://greyfaction.org/how-teal-swans-therapist-instigated-a-satanic-panic/|title=How Teal Swan's Therapist Instigated A Satanic Panic|website=greyfaction.org|access-date=2018-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019230759/https://greyfaction.org/how-teal-swans-therapist-instigated-a-satanic-panic/|archive-date=2018-10-19|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation]] (ISSTD), a professional nonprofit organization, is known for its advocacy of contemporary narratives surrounding alleged satanic conspiracies. Historically, the organization has convened annual conference presentations dedicated to the exploration and discussion of these topics.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grey Faction |date=2023-04-15 |title=International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation Conferences |url=https://greyfaction.org/wiki/isstd-conferences/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=Grey Faction |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Radical right (United States)|far-right]] conspiracy theory movement known as [[QAnon]], which originated on [[4chan]] in 2017, has adopted many of the tropes of SRA and Satanic Panic. Instead of daycare centers being the center of abuse, however, liberal [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] actors, [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] politicians, and high-ranking government officials are portrayed as a child-abusing cabal of Satanists.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sommer |first=Will |date=July 7, 2018 |title=What Is QAnon? The Craziest Theory of the Trump Era, Explained |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-is-qanon-the-craziest-theory-of-the-trump-era-explained |access-date=October 2, 2020 |website=The Daily Beast}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Jennings|first=Rebecca |date=2020-09-25|title=We're in the middle of another moral panic. What can we learn from the past? |url=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/9/25/21453036/save-the-children-qanon-human-trafficking-satantic-panic|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Vox}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-20 |title=QAnon conspiracists believe in a vast pedophile ring. The truth is sadder |first=Moira|last=Donegan |url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/20/qanon-conspiracy-child-abuse-truth-trump|access-date=2020-10-12|website=The Guardian}}</ref>