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Pacific Sociological Association

Moral Panics and the Social Construction of Deviant Behavior: A Theory and Application to
the Case of Ritual Child Abuse
Author(s): Jeffrey S. Victor
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Sociological Perspectives, Vol. 41, No. 3 (1998), pp. 541-565
Published by: University of California Press
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Sociological
Perspectives
Association
?1998PacificSociological
Copyright

Vol.41,No. 3,pp.541-565
ISSN0731-1214

MORAL PANICS AND THE SOCIAL


CONSTRUCTION OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR:
A Theoryand Applicationto theCase of
RitualChild Abuse
JEFFREYS. VICTOR*

StateUniversity
ofNew York

a theory
ABSTRACT: Theobjective
ofthearticleis todevelop
ofthe
causesandtransmission
ofmoral
panics.Thetheory
isdesigned
toexplain
labeled
scaresandpersecuforms
ofcollective
behavior,
previously
panics,
tions.
Partoneofthisarticle
theidentification
presents
criteriafor
ofmoral
thesocialcondipanics.Parttwoofthearticle
offers
models
foranalyzing
tions,
which
causemoral
panicsandleadtothesocialconstruction
ofdefithesocialprocesses
nitions
ofdeviance.
Finally,
partthree
examines
by
which
moral
to
panicsaretransmitted
between
societies.
In order
different
illustrate
thetheoretical
analysis,
thearticle
presents
information
aboutthe
moral
current
criminal
accusations
panicinvolving
ofritualchildabuseby
satanic
cults.
secret,

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM


The past offersnumerous examples of collectivebehavior during which widespread, fearfulrumorsand accusationsabout dangerous deviantsresultedin false
accusations of crime against many innocent people. Various terms have been
used to label thisformof collectivebehavior: persecution,witch-hunt,scare, and
panic. In some cases, the widely feareddeviants are products of ethnic,racial or
religious stereotypes.The most familiarexample is that of anti-Semiticpersecutions,includingthe Nazi programof genocide. In othercases, the inventeddeviants are creationsofpure imagination.The classic example is theEuropean witchhunt,during which perhaps over one hundred thousand people were executed,
because they were believed to posses evil magical powers (Ben-Yehuda 1981;
Levack 1987). In still other cases, the deviants are stereotypesof members of
groups thatare widely believed to be a politicalthreatin a society.An example is
the anti-Communist'Red Scare' in the U.S ofthe 1950s,duringwhich many thousands of Americanswere labeled as subversivesand lost theirjobs (Caute 1978).
to:Jeffrey
S. Victor,
ofSociology,
*Directall correspondence
StateUniversity
ofNewYork,Jamestown
Department
NY 14701.
Community
College,Jamestown,

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SOCIOLOGICALPERSPECTIVES Volume41,Number3, 1998

all theseformsof collective


In thisarticle,I suggesta rationaleforclassifying
as moralpanics.Theobjectiveofthearticleis to developa thebehaviortogether
presentscriteofmoralpanics.Thearticlefirst
oryofthecausesand transmission
moral panics. Secondly,the articlepresentsmodels for
ria for identifying
thatcausemoralpanicsand lead tothesocialconanalyzingthesocialconditions
forunderprinciples
ofdeviance.Finally,thearticleoffers
struction
ofdefinitions
the
transmission
ofmoralpanics.In orderto illustrate
standingtheinternational
abouttherecentmoralpanic
theoretical
analysis,thearticlepresentsinformation
accusationsofritualchildabusebysecret,sataniccults.
criminal
involving
PART I: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL PANICS

from
a moralpanicis a societalresponsetobeliefsabouta threat
In simplification,
Stanley
Theterm"moralpanic"was coinedbyBritish
sociologist
moraldeviants1.
a
ofModsandRockers,
Coheninhisbook,FolkDevilsandMoralPanics:TheCreation
publicreactionto thedeviantbehaviorofthe"mods"and "rockstudyofBritish
a formofcollective
behaviorcharacers"youth.Cohenused thetermto identify
rumorstoriesdisseminatedby the mass media,
terizedby widelycirculating
thethreatposedbysomenewlyidentified
typeofmoraldeviwhichexaggerated
behavior
ants(Cohen1972).Cohendefineda moralpanicas a formofcollective
duringwhich:
A condition,
episode,personor groupemergesto becomedefinedas a threat
in a stylizedand stereoitsnatureis presented
tosocietalvaluesand interests;
typicalfashionby themass media;themoralbarricadesare mannedby edipeople;sociallyaccredited
tors,bishops,politiciansand otherrightthinking
expertspronouncetheirdiagnosisand solutions;waysofcopingareevolved
ordetethendisappears,submerges
or (moreoften)resorted
to;thecondition
andbecomesvisible(Cohen1972:9).
riorates

on deviance,whichwas
labelingperspective
Cohenemployeda societalreaction/
socialconstructionism.
an earlyantecedent
ofcurrent
The conceptof a moralpanic has been widelyused by Britishsociologists.
froma lackofprehave regardeditas suffering
However,Americansociologists
In an attempt
to makethe
and made littleuse ofit untilrecently.
ciseindicators
conceptless ambiguous,Goode and Ben-Yehudahave suggestedthefollowing

five specific indicators of a moral panic (summarized from Goode and BenYehuda 1994:33-39).

1. Volatility-The sudden eruptionand subsiding of concernabout a newly


perceived threatto society froma categoryof people regarded as being
moral deviants.
2. Hostility-The deviants are regarded with intensehostilityas enemies of
thebasic values of thesocietyand attributedstereotypesof 'evil' behavior.
3. Measurable Concern-Concern about the threatis measurable in concrete
ways, such as attitudesurveys.

MoralPanicsandSocialConstruction
ofDeviantBehavior

543

Consensus-There is consensus in significantsegmentsof the population


thatthethreatis real and serious.
5. Disproportionality- Concern about the numbers of moral deviants and
the extentof the harm thattheydo is much greaterthan can be verifiedby
objective,empirical investigationsof the harm. Even though the measurable concern is great,the numbers of deviants are minimal or even nonexistentand theirharm is verylimitedor even non-existent.

4.

In brief,a moral panic is a formof collectivebehavior characterizedby suddenly increasedconcernand hostilityin a significantsegmentof a society,in reaction to widespread beliefs about a newly perceived threatfrommoral deviants.
Careful,empiricalexaminationat a latertime,however,reveals thattheperceived
threatwas greatlyexaggeratedor nonexistent.A moral panic oftengives rise to
social movementsaimed at eliminatingthe threateningdeviants and may generate moral crusades and politicalstrugglesover use of thelaw to suppress the dangerous deviants. Local rumor-panics,riots and ethnic pograms may occur in
reactionto beliefin the threat.However, such dramaticbehavior is not an essential element of the collectivebehavior. Belief,not emotion, is the motivational
dimension of a moral panic. The essence of a moral panic is thatsignificantsegments of a societyare reactingto a socially constructedthreatfrommoral deviants.The main observablebehavior duringa moral panic is the communicationof
claims,accusations and rumors.
The Study of Rumors and Claims about Moral Deviants
A contemporary(or urban) legend is the type of rumorthatis most commonly
partof a moral panic. Contemporarylegends are varietiesofpersistentrumorstories, transmittedprimarilyin oral communication,and secondarilythroughthe
mass media. The storiescommunicateshared anxietiesabout a newly perceived
threat.The stories also communicatea moral-politicalmessage conveyed in the
formof age-old recurringmotifsand metaphors (Victor 1993b). Contemporary
legends are told as ifstoriesare true,just as ordinaryrumors,and widely believed
as ifthe storiesare likelyto be true.However, unlike ordinaryrumors,the stories
are more persistent,and less relevantto specific,localized people and events.
A contemporarylegend is a process of collectivebehavior which consistsprimarilyof the collaborativecreationand communicationof rumorstoriesin ever
changingvariations(Ellis 1990). It is not a fixed and unchangingnarrative.It is
always emergentout of interactionand never finished.The storyis constantly
being reshaped,as people add parts,forgetpartsand distortparts.Contemporary
legends are oftenregarded as being merelyamusing tales having littlesocial consequence, like those about poisonous spiders found in bunches of bananas or
fried rats served as chicken. However, some contemporarylegends can have
harmfulconsequences,such as false accusations of crime,the destructionof reputationsand property,riotsand even killings.Examples of harmfulcontemporary
legends include those thatpromoteracistand anti-Semitichatred.
Exaggerated claims-makingabout deviants is a central phenomenon during
moral panics. Therefore,an analysis of the claims-makingprocess is thefocus ofa

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SOCIOLOGICALPERSPECTIVES Volume41,Number3, 1998

social constructionist
studyof deviantbehavior.The contentof claims about deviance include matterssuch as: stereotypesof deviants and theirbehavior,typologies of variations among deviants, descriptionsof the dangers and particular
harms caused by deviants and rationales for dealing with deviants. The basic
premiseof social constructionism
is thatdeviance is a socially constructedmeaning. These claims constructthe definitions(symbolic meanings) attributedto
deviance. Therefore,social constructionist
researchand analysis focus upon the
claims-makers,ratherthanthebehavior and people definedas deviant;therhetoric and propaganda of the claims-makers,theirvested interests,theirauthority
and power in a society(Best 1989; Conrad and Schneider1992).2
The claims made about satanicritualabuse (hereafterabbreviatedas SRA) have
been studied by Hicks (1991), Jenkins(1992), Nathan and Snedeker (1995), and
Victor(1993a, 1994,1995,1996). Most claims assertthatthereexistsecret,criminal
organizations,which commithorriblecrimesagainstchildren,motivatedby worship of Satan. Some claims assert the existenceof an internationalconspiratorial
network.Less extremeversions assert that the secret networksconsist only of
intergenerational
familyclans. Ritual tortureand sexual abuse of childrenis done
supposedly to "program"childrento reversegood and evil. The purportedaim is
to "brainwash" childreninto the ideology of Satan worship. In theirSatan-worshipping rituals,these criminalssupposedly sometimeskill and sacrificeinfants
born to impregnated"breeders" and commitcannibalism with the body parts.
Some claims-makerseven assertthatsatanic cults kidnap runaway youthforritual sacrifice,commitrandom murdersofindigentpeople, and engage in thecriminal businesses of child pornography,forcedprostitutionand drug dealing. These
criminalsare able to maintaintheirsecrecyand avoid detection,accordingto the
all the institutionsof society.
claims-makers,because satanistshave infiltrated
The main evidence to support these claims consists primarilyof accusations
made by hundreds of adult psychotherapypatients who report decades-old
memoriesof ritualtortureand sexual abuse by theirparents,and similaraccusationsmade by childrenagainsttheirparentsor child care workers.The authorities
making these claims include some psychotherapists,social workers,local law
enforcementofficials,fundamentalistclergy,and membersof anti-cultorganizations.

The MoralPanicOverSatanicRitualChild Abuse


There is no researchon the precise numberof people who have made accusa-

tionsofSRA againsttheirparents,or childcareworkersand othersin theUnited

States,and thereis no precisecountofthenumberofcriminalprosecutions.However, a random sample national survey of 2,272 clinical psychologistswho are
members of the American Psychological Association found almost 3,000 cases
reportedby the 802 psychotherapists,who said thattheyhad seen at least one
case of SRA. These psychotherapistsreportedseeing 1,228 cases of adults who
theydefined as victimsof SRA and 1,500cases of childrenwho theydefined as
victimsofSRA (Bottoms,Shaver,and Goodman 1996). The numbersofSRA cases
are likelymuch higher,consideringthatmany thousands of psychotherapistsare
clinicalsocial workersand diversekinds of counselors.
psychiatrists,

ofDeviantBehavior
MoralPanicsandSocialConstruction

545

Some SRA accusations have been taken to the criminalcourts.A national survey of a sample of 706 districtattorneys,1,037 social service workersand 2,912
law enforcementagencies found that 302 respondentshad encounteredat least
one SRA case (Goodman, Qin, Bottoms,and Shaver,1995).A legal surveydone by
the False Memory SyndromeFoundation of criminalcases involvingallegations
of child sexual abuse made by adults based upon purportedrecoveredmemories
offersmore useful data, at least about accusations made by adults against their
parents.A legal survey of 78 criminalcases done in September,1996,found that
in the United States from1989 throughearly 1996,47 cases (60%) involved adult
allegations of ritual abuse (FMSF, personal communication,9/96). By the early
1990s,many adult formerpsychotherapypatientshad retractedtheirmemoriesof
SRA and filedmalpracticelawsuits against theirformertherapistsand hospitals.
Another legal survey done by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation conducted on 59 civil lawsuits between 1991 and 1997 found 34 cases (57%) involved
purportedmemoriesof SRA (FMSF Legal Survey 1998).
The rapid rise and decline of SRA accusationsgives evidence to thevolatilityof
a moral panic. Claims about ritual child abuse by satanic cults began to appear
rathersuddenly. The oldest known sataniccult "survivor"accountwas published
(Smithand Pazder 1980). SRA testimoniin 1980 in the book, MichelleRemembers
in the United States during
als, accusations and rumorsspread rapidlythereafter
the early 1980s and thendeclined rapidlyduringthe early 1990s.
Thereis evidence of widespread concernand hostilityin response to SRA accusations. It can be foundin sataniccult crimeaccountsin the mass media: in popular books and magazine articles, in small-town newspaper articles, and on
televisiontalk shows (Hicks 1991; Victor 1993a). Evidence can also be found in
recordsfromSRA professionaltrainingseminarsforpsychotherapistsand social
workers offeredat professionalconferences,and in continuingeducation programs at colleges (Mulhern 1991, 1994; Nathan and Snedeker 1995). Furtherevidence can be found in the hundreds of accusations of SRA against parents and
childcareworkers,many of which have led to civil and criminaltrials.
There is evidence thatSRA accusations were regarded as being "real and serious" by sizable segments of the American population. A 1994 national survey
reportedin Redbookmagazine, forexample, found that 70 percentof Americans
"believe that at least some people who claim that they were abused by satanic
cults as children,but repressedthememoriesforyears,are tellingthetruth"(Ross
1994:88).Furtherevidence of widespread beliefin the existenceof the SRA comes
froma 1989 Texas statewidetelephonepoll, which found that80% of the respondents believed that Satanism is an increasing problem in American society
(reported in Crouch and Damphousse 1992). In addition, survey research has
found thata sizable percentageof American and Britishpsychotherapists,social
workers and counselors believe SRA accounts, in part or whole, as accurate
accounts of satanic cult crime;or at least attributecredibilityto them (Andrews,
Morton,Bekerian,Brewin,Davies, and Mollon 1995; Bottoms,Shaver,and Goodman 1996; Poole, Lindsay,Memon, and Bull 1995). This researchmeans thatthousands of professionalswho claim authorityin understandinghuman behavior
believe thatthereexistsa real threatfromsatanic cult child abusers.

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Finally,thereis evidence thatthe societal reactionto the claims was disproportionateto thethreatposed by SRA. So far,no law enforcementagencyor research
study has found the kind of physical evidence needed to support accounts of
SRA. No one has turnedup writtenor electroniccommunications,bank account
records,meetingsin process, members who can identifyleaders, or any of the
vast number of bodies of people supposed murdered by satanic cults. Official
governmentreportsfromseveral countriescould findno such evidence to support claims about SRA. These reports include those from the Department of
Health of theUnited Kingdom (La Fontaine1994); fromtheNetherlandsMinistry
of Justice(1994); fromthe BehavioralScience Unit of the FBI (Lanning 1992); and
state agencies in Michigan (Michigan State Police 1990), Virginia (VirginiaState
Crime Commission Task Force 1991), and Washington(Parr 1996). In addition,a
national survey of psychotherapistscould not find a single SRA accusation
reportedby the psychotherapists,
where therewas reliable evidence to corroborate SRA accusations fromeitherchildrenor adults (Bottoms,Shaver,and Goodman 1996). In the reports of psychotherapistsabout their patients' SRA
accusations,thereis no convincingexternalcorroboratingevidence forthe existence of satanic cult criminals,in eitherorganizationsor intergenerational
family
clans.
The only social phenomena that exists which bares any resemblance to SRA
claims are teenage delinquents and mentallydisordered killerswho call themselves "satanists".However, these deviants do not constitutean organization,a
criminalnetworkor a religiouscult.Therefore,in the absence of any scientificevidence to confirmthe existence of organized groups that tortureand sexually
abuse childrenin satanic rituals,it is reasonable to suggest thatthe societal reactionto SRA claims has been excessive.
PART II: THE CAUSES OF MORAL PANICS
Theoretical Models of Moral Panics
Goode and Ben-Yehuda (1994) offerthreetheoreticalmodels foranalyzing the
causes of moral panics: 1) the grass roots model, 2) the elite-engineeredmodel
and 3) the interestgroup model. These models can be used to understanddifferent typesof moral panics.
TheGrassRootsModel-suggests thata moral panic arises spontaneouslyacross
a broad spectrum of a society's population. The concern and anger about the
threatfromperceived moral deviants is a response to persistentand widespread
social stresses.Anxieties arising fromthese social stresses are not able to gain
directexpression.Instead, the anxietiesare displaced and directedtoward social
deviants,who become regardedas the cause of concern.Newly detecteddeviants
essentiallyfunctionas collectivescapegoats forthe anxietiestransferred
to them
(Victor 1992). The targeted deviants are perceived through cultural symbols,
which reflectthe real,underlyingsocial stresses.
The actions of special interestgroups are not necessaryto promotemoral outrage directedat the newly perceived dangerous deviants. The mass media and

MoralPanicsandSocialConstruction
ofDeviantBehavior

547

social controlauthoritiesbasically reflectpublic opinion about the realityof the


threat.The key argumentof the grass roots model is thatthese agencies cannot
fabricatepublic concernwhere none previouslyexisted.However, particulartriggeringevents,or catalysts,may provoke sudden outbreaksof the moral outrage.
The role of a contemporarylegend in the grass rootsmodel of a moral panic is its
functionas a catalystfora sudden outbreakof collectivebehavior,such as in an
aggressivemob.
An example of a grassrootsmoralpanic occurredin Francein 1968,when widespread rumorsin several cities accused Jewishclothingstore owners of kidnapping teenage girls in their stores and selling them into forced prostitution,
controlledby internationalcriminalsyndicates(Morin 1971). Mobs attackedJewish-owned clothingstores.The contemporarylegend storywas based on centuries-old ethnic stereotypesand folkloreabout Jews as kidnappers of Christian
children(Hsia 1988; Langmuir 1990). A similargrass-rootsmoral panic resulted
in a series of over sixtylocal and regional rumor-panicsacross the United States
from1983 through1993,in response to a contemporarylegend about secret,criminal satanic cults which supposedly kidnapped blond, blue-eyed virgins,foruse
in ritual sacrifice(Victor1989; 1991; 1993a). Anotherexample is the moral panic
involvingcontemporarylegend storiesabout sadists who purportedlygive chilwhich sometimes
dren poisoned or dangerous treatsforHalloween trick-or-treat,
lead to local scares about Halloween sadists (Best and Horiucht1985).
Model-suggests that a powerful elite can orchestratea
The Elite-Engineered
moral panic. The elite uses the major institutionsof a societyto promotea campaign to generateand sustain public moral outrage about a threatfroma target
categoryof deviants. The actual intentionof the campaign is to divertattention
away fromreal problems in a society,the solution of which would threatenthe
economic and political interestsof the elite. The elite fabricatesa descriptionof
the threatand uses the institutionsof society,includingthe mass media, religion,
to shape public opinion. The threatfromsupposed dangerand law enforcement,
ous deviants is invented,or at least exaggerated,by the elite, to serve its own
vested interests.A contemporarylegend can be employed by a powerfulelite to
influencepublic opinion about a fictitiousthreat,in orderto divertattentionfrom
social problems.
In Medieval times,thehierarchyoftheCatholic Churchorganized moralpanics
and persecutionsdirectedat the Cathar hereticsand laterthe KnightsTemplars.
Anotherexample of an elite-engineeredmoral panic occurredafterCzarist agents
used theJewishconspiracylegend to arouse moral outrage against the Jews,as a
means of divertingattentionand anger away fromthe problem of widespread
povertyin Russia. The moral panic lead to organized mob attacksand massacres
of Jewishvillagers.Other moral panics orchestratedby an elite which led to ethnic mass murder,include the murderof about a million Chinese Indonesians in
1965 organized by the Muslim-led army,and the mass murder of hundreds of
thousands of Tutsi citizens in Rwanda in 1994 organized by Hutu leaders. The
Stalinistpurges and persecutionof millionsof fabricatedinternalenemies of the
Soviet Union is another example. An example of this type of moral panic in
American societyis that of 1950s anti-Communistwitch-huntin American soci-

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SOCIOLOGICALPERSPECTIVES Volume41,Number3,1998

ety.This moral panic has been interpreted(albeit a controversialinterpretation)


as having been deliberatelyorchestratedby the Americancorporateand political
elite, as a way of destroyingsocialist and union organizing (Gibson 1988; Irons
1974).
TheInterestGroupModel-suggests thatmoral panics are an unintendedconsequence of moral crusades launched by specificinterestgroups and theiractivists,
who attemptto focus public attentionon moral evils that they perceive to be
threatsto society. In modern times, many interestgroups direct their efforts
toward presentingtheirconcernsin the mass media in order to influencepublic
opinion. Interestgroups and theirmoral entrepreneursusually sincerelybelieve
thattheirefforts
serve a moral cause beneficialto thewhole society.Nevertheless,
theireffortsalso functionto advance theirown group's social influence,prestige,
wealth and ideological goals. As these interestgroups become increasinglysuccessfulin influencingpublic opinion, theystimulateresistanceand conflictfrom
competinginterestgroups. The interestgroup model suggeststhata moral threat
expressedin a pre-existingcontemporarylegend storymay be consistentwiththe
moral concerns of certaininterestgroups and can be employed by them as an
instrumentto influencepublic opinion. The contemporarylegend may also serve
to enhance an interestgroup's credibilityand authorityin some special area of
moral concern.
An example of a moral panic promptedby interestgroups is the "white slavery"scare,which occurredin the U.S from1907 to 1914. The whiteslaveryscare
was a productof a moral crusade againstprostitutionpromotedby fundamentalist Protestantsand the women's Suffragettemovement.During this scare, the
mass media aroused public opinion by publishing many stories claiming that
organized criminalsyndicates kidnapped young women and forcedthem into
prostitution.Hundreds of unmarried,cohabitingyoung men, as well as adulterous lovers were accused of engaging in white slavery; some of whom were
arrestedand imprisoned(Langum 1994).
Another example of a moral panic sparked by interestgroups is the "baby
parts" scare that occurred in several Latin America countries.A contemporary
legend claims thatpoor childrenare being kidnapped and butcheredforuse of
theirbody partsby wealthyNorthAmericansin transplantsurgery.Communists
and otherleftistsin Latin America used the baby parts contemporarylegend to
attack American capitalism and to benefittheirpolitical and ideological goals
(Campion-Vincent1990, 1997). The rumorshave resultedin physical attackson
Americans. As recently as 1994, two American women in Guatemala were
attackedby mobs, which believed thatthe women were searchingforchildrento
kidnap (Johnson1994;Lopez 1994).
Another example of a moral panic prompted by interestgroups was the
"stranger-danger"during the 1980s. Best (1990) showed how contemporarylegend stories about crimes against childrenincluding,kidnapping,child murder,
child pornography,arose fromto exaggerated claims made by child-protection
organizations.A series of similarmoral panics arose in GreatBritainat about the
same time,thatlinked concernsabout serial sex murders,homosexual pedophile
rings,sexual child abuse and satanic ritual abuse. Jenkins(1992) showed how

MoralPanicsandSocialConstruction
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549

these moral panics were caused by exaggeratedclaims about threatsto children


made by several interestgroups including,child protectionorganizations,Protestantfundamentalists,
and feministgroups.
False Accusations and the Social Constructionof
ImaginaryDeviants
How is it possible that a moral panic could be caused by widespread accusationsof crime,lackingin evidence thatthe criminalseven exist?The key insightis
thataccusations of crimeare a claims-makingactivity.False accusations can constructimaginarydeviants, when social controlauthoritiessystematicallylegitimize the accusations.
CriminologistElliottCurriehas shown how even when deviant acts are purely
imaginary,as is the case of witchcraft,
people can always be found and fittedinto
the stereotypeof the deviants.Currie's (1968) study of the European witch-hunts
suggeststhata particularcombinationof fourcircumstancescaused false accusations of witchcraftto be affirmedby authoritiesas evidence of thatsome people
were witches.First,therewas widespread beliefin and fearof secret,conspiratorial witches who supposedly practicedblack magic to harm people. Second, in
response, there gradually evolved a new occupation of experts specialized in
detectingwitches, the witch-finders.Third, the witch-findersused ambiguous
tests (spectral evidence) to detect witches,so that people accused were almost
automaticallyfound guilty. This confirmedtheir expertise and enhanced the
authorityof the witch-finders.
Fourth,the ideology of traditionalChristianreligion concerningSatan's corruptinginfluencefueled the Inquisition's search for
any kind of potentialheretic.
False accusations are a necessary part of a moral panic. In order for a moral
panic to take hold among a large numberof people, it is necessaryforsome people to be publicly identifiedwith the perceived threat,even if the deviance of
which theyare accused is purelyimaginary.It is necessaryfora group thatfeels
threatenedto find visible scapegoats. Klemke and Tiedeman (1990) studied a
wide varietyof false accusations of crimesand false labeling of persons as deviants,in orderto determinethe kinds of social conditionsthatincrease the prevalence of false accusations. They found that three social conditions tend to be
associated with increases in false accusations. One, there exists a widespread
belief in a societythat a threatexists fromnew kinds of deviants. Two, thereis
competitionbetween newer and more traditionalagencies and authoritiesof
social controlover jurisdictionsof authority.The newer authoritiesattemptto
expand and justifytheirauthority.Three,theinvestigationofthenewly perceived
deviance relies on diagnosticinstrumentsand tests,which are oversimplifiedand
ambiguous; and therefore,easily make errorsin identifyingdeviants. I want to
suggest a fourthsocial conditionthatproduces false accusations drawn frommy
research(Victor1993a). It is one thatresultsin a distinctlymoralisticperceptionof
the deviance: symbolicresonance of the perceived threatwith a demonology (to
be explained shortly).

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SOCIOLOGICALPERSPECTIVES Volume41,Number3,1998
THE CAUSES OF MORAL PANICS:
THE CASE OF RITUAL CHILD ABUSE

The followinginterpretation
of the causes of the moral panic over satanic ritual
abuse is offeredas a case study illustrationof social dynamics of the interest
group model of moral panics. It also illustrateshow false accusationsof deviance
duringmoral panics can constructpurelyimaginarydeviants.
Widespread Belief in a Threat fromNew Forms of Deviance
Beliefin a potentialthreatfrommoral deviantsmustspread widely in a society,
beforea moral panic can get started.How did beliefin a threatfromsecretsatanic
cults spread widely in American society? Most past studies of moral panics
assume that belief in a new threatfrommoral deviants is largely a product of
mass media sensationalism(McRobbie and Thornton1995). However, this was
not the case in the satanic cult scare. Instead, the mass media basically disseminated the claims of authoritiespresentedas being so-called expertsin detecting
satanic cultcrime.
Crouch and Damphousse (1992) carried out a contentanalysis of satanic cult
scare storiesin eightmajor citynewspapers in the U.S. They concluded thatthe
newspapers provided a forumforpurportedexpertswho claimed to be able to
identifythe symptomsof sataniccult crime(local police, clergy,and psychotherapists). However, the newspapers did not deliberatelytryto inflamerumorsabout
these crimes.In my own research,I came to a similarconclusionabout the role of
the mass media. The moral panic involvingSRA spread widely only aftersome
segmentsof the mass media popularized the claims of authoritieswho lentcredibilityto rumorsand accusations about satanic cult crime (Victor1993a:253-255).
Specifically,claims-makingfromthe so-called expertswas rarein large citynewspapers and largelyabsenton nationaltelevisionnews. In contrast,claims-making
by theseexpertsabout sataniccult crimewas commonon nationaltelevisiontalkshows, in small-townnewspapers,and in Christianreligiousbooks.
Timing is also crucial to the emergence of a moral panic. The moral panic
involving SRA began at a time,in the early 1980s, when several similar moral
panics involving the motif of violent victimizationof children had emerged.
There was already widespread belief that child sexual abuse was much more
common than had previously been thought (Howitt 1992). In the early 1980s,
therewas already moral panic over crimesagainst children,involvingclaims that
thousands of childrenwere being kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered
(Best 1990). As a result,the general public was more receptiveto the authorities
thatlentcredibilityto SRA stories,thanhad the timingbeen different.
The Expansion of Authorityin Social Control
Authorityplays a key role in definingformsof deviantbehavior.Authorityalso
provides legitimacyforclaims about new threatsto society.Established institutionalauthoritiesdo not easily regardnew claims about threatsto societyas being
credible.However, when new formsof authoritybegin to develop and to compete for power over a jurisdictionwith previously established authorities,the

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newer authoritiesmay be temptedto use a newlyperceivedthreatto expand their


power. In such conditions,the newer authoritiesare likely to over-reachtheir
expertiseand attributecredibilityto false accusations of victimizationby a newly
discovered threat.I believe thatthisis the key factorthatled to the legitimization
of SRA accusations.
Some sociologistswho specialize in the study of deviant behavior believe that
the most importantcontemporarysocial change affectingauthorityto definethe
meanings of deviance is the process of the medicalizationof social control(Conrad 1992; Conrad and Schneider1992). In thetwentiethcentury,thesocial authorityto defineand interpretdeviant behavior has gradually shiftedfromreligious
and political authorities,to medical and mental health authorities.Medical and
mental health authoritiescommonlyview deviant behavior throughthe lens of
themedical model, as being a formof sicknessratherthanas sin or crime.Increasingly,lawmakers, courts and the general public call upon medical and mental
healthauthoritiesto functionas social controlauthorities.When these authorities
offerjudgements about psychological health and illness, they make implicit
judgements about good and evil. (The concept of sickness as a departurefrom
biological homeostasis is relativelyvalue-free.However, it is difficultto escape
moral judgements implicitin any concept of "abnormality",when applied to
human behavior.) A good example is how homosexual behaviorwas firstdefined
by religious authoritiesas a sin, and then redefinedby medical authorities(psychiatrists)as a psychologicalsickness.More recently,in 1973,homosexual behavior was again redefinedby psychiatristsunder politicalpressure,and normalized
as an expressionof a gender-orientation
(Bayer 1987). Medical and mentalhealth
authoritiesstillcommonlyinterpretthenatureof deviantalcohol and drug use, as
being formsof mentalillnesses (Johnsonand Waltezko 1992; Roman 1988).
One consequence of the medicalization of social controlis that medical and
mentalhealth authoritieshave been drawn,however reluctantly,into the arenas
of politics,lawmaking,and legal judgements.Other authorities,such as legislators,police,judges, and juries,increasinglyrelyupon their"expertise".The medicalization of social control is a product of American society's confidence in
medical techniquesto manage life'sproblems.It is not theresultof any deliberate
planning on the part of medical and mentalhealth authorities.The metaphorof
deviance as sicknessnow has such a powerfulinfluencein Americanpopular culture that rapists,serial murderers,child molesters,habitual gamblers,excessive
dieters,people who commitsuicide, and even membersof unconventionalreligious "cults" are commonlyportraryedas "sick" people in mass media entertainment. As a consequence, allegations of psychological abnormalityoftenreplace
allegationsof immoralityin everydaydiscourse.
Pfohl(1977) provides an excellentsocial constructionist
analysis of the political
developments leading to the redefinitionof violent physical aggressionby parents against childrenfroma crime,to a public health concern relabeled "child
abuse" (see also Howitt 1992). Indicationsof severe physicaltraumain a child,in
cases of a suspected crimewere initiallyredefinedas "symptoms"of thebattered
child "syndrome". Thereafter,medical and mental health experts,ratherthan
police, became the authoritiesrelied upon to define the indicators of criminal

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behavior. Parents suspected of "child abuse" were redefinedas possibly "sick"


personalitiesand treatedas "patients",ratherthan being treatedas suspects of
crime,and therefore,fullyprotectedby civil libertieslaws. Medical and mental
health authoritieswere inevitablydrawn, however reluctantly,into legal judgementsofparentssuspected ofengagingin child abuse. Some ofthemlobbied governmentfornew laws and more funds to deal with what theyclaimed was the
discoveryofthenew and widespread public healthproblemof "child abuse". The
mass media sensationalizedreportsabout a newly discovered epidemic of "child
abuse", even though there was no scientificevidence that violent physical
assaults againstchildrenhad increasedover past decades.
We can understandthesocial constructiontheofconceptofritualchild abuse as
similarlya product of the medicalization of social control.The concept is an
extensionof sensationalized concernabout an epidemic of child abuse, and later
sexual child abuse. Initially,some mentalhealth specialistswho claimed to have
developed new medical techniques capable of detectingillegal sexual contact
between adults and children ("sexual child abuse") believed that theirclients'
accountsof sexual victimizationby secretsatanic cultsmightbe true.These mental health professionalsincluded some psychotherapistsspecialized in the treatment of mental disorderscharacterizedby dissociated memoryprocesses. They
claimed thatthesedisorderswere caused primarilyby sexual activityforcedupon
a childby an adult. (Mulhern1991,1994,provides a detailed historyoftheroles of
thesementalhealthprofessionalsin the social constructionof SRA.) These mental
health professionalsalso included some child protectionsocial workersspecialized in the detectionand treatmentof sexually victimizedchildren.(Nathan and
Snedeker 1995,provide a detailed studyof the historyof the role of these mental
healthprofessionalsin the social constructionofSRA.)
Psychotherapistsspecialized in the treatmentof dissociative disorders and
social workersspecialized in the treatmentof sexually victimizedchildrenwere
drawn into collaborationwith each other.They shared a similarfocus of professional interestin sexual child abuse and theyalso shared a similarsocial situation.
These specialists were both strugglingto gain greaterrecognitionand respect
withintheirlargercommunityof professionals.If thisimportantdiscoverycould
be confirmedin the courtsof law and science,thesespecialistswould obtainwelldeserved recognitionand respectfortheirnewly developing expertise.
These interestgroups attemptedto publicize their"discovery"ofSRA, by communicatingthemto otherprofessionalspecialists,and also to the general public.
In doing so, theyinfluencedprofessionaland public opinion about claims concerningsatanic cult crimes against children.At first,these specialists organized
professionaltrainingseminarsfocusingon the theirtechniquesfordetectingritual child abuse. Their audiences included diverse types of othertherapists;but
such as police, clergy,
also self-proclaimedvictims,and interestednon-therapists,
Victor
1993a). Some of these
nurses, and medical doctors (Mulhern 1991; 1994;
of
their
"discovery" SRA, by publishingarticlesin spetherapistscommunicated
in popular culture books. (Examples can be
and
cialized professionaljournals
found in: Cozolino 1989; 1990; Feldman 1993; Fewster 1990; Friesen 1991; Gould
and Cozolino 1992; Hill and Goodwin 1989; Hudson 1991; Kelley 1988; 1989;

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Mayer 1991; Noblittand Perskin1995; Ross 1995; Ryder 1992; Shafferand Cozolino 1992; Sakheim and Devine 1992; Smith1993; Smithand Pazder, 1980; Young,
Sachs, Braun,and Watkins1991).
The "discovery" of the ritual sexual abuse of childrenby secret satanic cults
thrustthese marginalspecialistsinto the spotlightof mass media attention,even
when theydid not seek it,because theirdiscoverywas so sensational.The mass
media quickly responded to the bizarre accounts of SRA and invitedthese SRA
"experts"to discuss theirdiscoveryon televisiontalk-shows,on radio programs,
and in newspaper and magazine articles(Victor1993a). The mass media used the
dramaticclaims of these "experts"to attractaudiences.
Some were also asked to be professionaladvisors to social movementorganizationsconcernedwithsexual child abuse. Some of themeven helped to lobby state
legislaturesfornew laws to protectchildrenfromcriminalsatanic cults and were
successful in obtaininglaws in at least four states. The passage of special laws
against SRA then functionedto provide political legitimacyto SRA accusations.
to claims about SRA.
All of these activitiesset the stage fora counter-reaction
When some interestgroups expand their authorityand power, they almost
inevitablyencounter opposing interestgroups. The SRA claims of "recovered
memory"therapistsand child protectionsocial workersaroused the concernsof
many behavioral scientists,as well as psychotherapistswhose therapy was
grounded in behavioral and biomedical treatments.In response,theseprofessionals organized themselvesto influenceprofessionaland public opinion, framing
the issue in a civil libertiescontext(possibly false accusations and false memories), ratherthan one focused on the purported symptoms of psychologically
abnormalbehavior (Beckett1996).
Faulty Techniques forInvestigatingDeviant Behavior
Widespread false accusations of deviance are produced, when authoritiesrely
upon faultytechniquesfordistinguishingbetween trueand falseaccusations.The
key problemin investigationsof accusationsof sexual child abuse, includingSRA
accusations,is thatreliable,scientifictechniqueshave not yetbeen developed for
distinguishingbetween true and false accusations of child sexual abuse (Ofshe
and Watters 1994; Pendergrast1995; Wakefield and Underwager 1994; Yapko
1994). Three types of faultyinvestigativetechniques have been used to detect
SRA: 1) those employingunreliable indicators,2) those resultingin false confessions and false accusations;and 3) those resultingin falsememories.
UnreliableIndicators
Faulty techniques in the investigationof sexual child abuse include highly
ambiguous check-listsof indicatorsused by child protectioncounselors to identifysupposed "symptoms"of sexual abuse in a child's personality(Nathan and
Snedeker 1995). Ambiguous lists of indicatorsare also used by psychotherapists
to identifythe supposed long-rangeeffectsof sexual abuse in thebehavioroftheir
adult patients(Lindsay and Read 1994; Loftus1993). When authoritiesrelyupon
ambiguous indicators of deviance, false accusations become inevitable. When

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authoritiesbelieve thattheirindicatorsare reliable,an accusationby an authority


figureeasily leads to thepresumptionof guilt.
False Confessionsand False Accusations
It was commonforinvestigatorsin past moralpanics to relyupon manipulative
or coercive interrogationsto produce false confessions and false accusations.
False confessionscoerced by torturewere common during the European witchhunts.However, voluntaryfalse confessionsof witchcraftalso occurred.Frightened women sometimesvoluntarilyconfessedto being witchesand to having had
intercoursewith the Devil, therebycondemningthemselvesto death (Cohn 1975;
Jackson1995; Sebald 1990). The elaboratelydetailed SRA accounts fromchildren
can also be explained by certaininterrogationtechniques(Nathan and Snedeker
1995). Interactionresearchhas shown how commonlyused conversationalpatternsduring interrogationsbetween child protectionworkersand childrensuspected ofbeing sexually abused, can easily prompta child's falseconfirmation
of
abuse, due to the adult's authorityand child's fearof coercion.(Lloyd 1992).
False Memories
Survey researchhas found thatthose psychotherapistswho claim to have had
patientswith memoriesof SRA, are also those who are most likelyto use "memory recovery"techniques(Bottoms,Shaver,and Goodman 1996). Many cognitive
psychologistssuggestthatthe "memoryrecovery"techniquesemployed by some
therapiststo uncover long forgotten"repressed" memoriesof childhood sexual
abuse, are the means by which false memories are elicited (Lindsay and Read
1994; Loftus 1993). (Currently,thereis heated scientificdebate about whetheror
not unconscious,"repressed" memoriesactuallyexist.)The label "memoryrecovery" technique encompasses a very wide variety of questionable techniques.
These include: hypnosis,guided imageryand visualization exercises,stream-ofconsciousness daily journal writing,interpretingdreams as messages fromthe
unconscious,interpreting
physicalsymptomsas "body memories",and interpreting unconscious memoriesin a patient'sdrawings.
Memoryrecoverytechniqueseasily createfalse memoriesresultingfromtherapist suggestioneffects(Lindsay and Read 1994). In the interactionbetween therapist and patient, patients respond to direct or subtle suggestions from their
therapists,by offeringaccountsof SRA thattheythinkwill please theirtherapists.
In theirsearch forexplanationsfortheirambiguous anxieties,patientsgradually
come to believe that theiraccounts of SRA are theirown, genuine memoriesof
past events.The crucialfactoris the effectof the therapist'sauthorityin influencing a suggestiblepatient'sperceptionsabout ambiguous anxieties.
Symbolic Resonance with a Demonology
What is the mechanismwhereby shared moral beliefs lead to the consensual
validationofparticularclaims and accusationsofdeviance? The conceptofa masterframeand framingprocesses has been employed by sociologiststo studyhow
the ideologies of social movementsare linkedto the cognitiveschema of individual participants(Hunt, Benford,and Snow 1994; Snow and Benford1992; Snow,

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Rochford,Worden, and Benford 1986). A master frame functionsto organize


selectiveattentionto particularproblems,to attributemeaning to them,to articulate relevanteventsand experiences,to explain the underlyingcauses and to propose solutions. A demonology cognitivelyfunctionslike a master frame for
interpretingpossible threatsto people's shared moral values. Claims about a
threatfrommoral deviants are viewed throughthe perceptual lens of culturally
shared demonologies,especiallywhen thereis greatambiguityand littlemanifest
evidence to verifythe claims.
Some anthropologistsuse theterm"demonology" to referto thecore of a moral
beliefsystem,thatcognitivelyorganizes thatsystemof moral thought.A demonology is an explanationof the ultimatepower thatthreatensto destroythe moral
orderof a society.Stevens (1991:21) definesa demonologyas "an ideology ofevil,
a elaboratebody ofbeliefabout an evil forcethatis inexorablyunderminingsociety's most cherishedvalues and institutions".I use the term"symbolicresonance
with a demonology",to indicate thatcertainpurportedthreatsmay be symbolically consistent,or resonant,with a demonology and are more likelyto be attributed credibility,whereas others are ignored and disregarded because they are
inconsistent.The culturalsymbolsof specificclaims about moral threatsmay be
consistent(or resonant)with the demonologies held by specificinterestgroups.
This consistencycontributesto theirconsensual validation of the realityof those
3
claims withingroups3.
In otherwords, people who share a moral beliefsystemare likelyto selectively
definecertainpurportedmoral threats,and not others,as ones to be taken seriously by society.For example, in my researchon the disseminationof satanic cult
crime stories, I found that fearfulsatanic cult rumors spread more rapidly
throughparticularsocial networksin which people shared moral beliefs. Curiously, specificsocial and communicationnetworks,and not others,functionedas
claims about
selectiveconduitsforthe contemporarylegend stories,transmitting
threatsand giving the claims consensual validation (Victor 1993a). My research
found that claims and accusations about SRA are symbolicallyresonant with
threedifferent
demonologies. These are 1) Christiantraditionalist,2) social conservativeand 3) feminist.

TheTraditionalChristianDemonology
People who accept the Christiantraditionalistdemonologyregardthe ultimate
cause of evil, as being due to the activitiesor workingsof Satan. In this frame,
Satan-worshippersare seen as being actual agents of Satan, who are tryingto
spread immoralityof all kinds, in order to destroythe moral order of American
societyand hastenSatan's take over of the world. The logic is thatifgood people
are workingforGod, than evil people must be workingforSatan. Thus, satanic
cult crimeand SRA in particularare simplymore examples of the growingmoral
corruptionin Americansocietyby "evil" people, who rejectGod and trueChristianity(Jenkins1992; Jenkinsand Maier-Katkin1992; Lippert 1990; Victor1994).
An increasingnumber of psychotherapistsidentifythemselvesas being "Christian therapists".(Goleman 1991).

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TheSocial Conservative
Demonology
People who hold the social conservativedemonology regard "liberal permissiveness" as the underlyingcause of most social evils. In this frame,"ritualistic
crime"is seen as being a productof thehedonisticpursuitof pleasure and power
and the increasingclimateof moral permissiveness.SRA is viewed as being one
more manifestationof the moral decline and corruptionof American society,
which has its source in the moral anarchyof the 1960s. The social conservative
demonology is most likely to be found among local police who are self-proclaimed expertsin investigatingsatanic cultcrime(Hicks 1991).

TheFeministDemonology
There are differentfeministideologies. Some emphasize socio-economicinequalityas being theessentialdestructiveforcein society.However, otherfeminist
ideologies hold a demonology that regards male dominance in society (patriarchy) and itsexploitationofwomen and childrenas theessentialunderlyingthreat
to the moral orderof society.Feministpsychotherapistsand social workers,who
hold thelatterdemonology,are thosemostlikelyto attributecredibilityto accusationsof SRA (Nathan 1991; Nathan and Snedeker 1995;Victor1993a). They frame
SRA accusationsin termsof an analogy withthe victimizationofwomen by male
sexual aggression,as in cases of rape, incestand sexual harassment.They see ritual child abuse as one more example of thehidden sexual exploitationof women
and children They regard skepticismabout accusations of SRA, as one more
attemptby men to discreditwomen and children'stestimonyabout theirsexual
victimizationby men. Yet,theyignorethe factthatmany of the people who have
been accused ofSRA are mothersand femalechildcareworkers.
PART III CROSS-NATIONAL CULTURAL
DIFFUSION OF MORAL PANICS
Accusations,claims and rumorsabout satanic cult crimehave surfacedin many
countries other than the United States since the mid-1980s. These countries
include: Canada (Lippert 1990), the United Kingdom (Jenkins1992; La Fontaine
1994), Australia (Guilliantt1996; Richardson 1997), New Zealand (Hill and Barnett 1994), the Netherlands (Netherlands Ministryof Justice 1994), Norway
(Dyrendal 1998), and Sweden. Some psychotherapistssuggest that the vivid
accounts of SRA, given by childrenand adult psychotherapypatientsin so many
different
nations,are evidence thatsecret,criminalsatanic cults exist around the
world. They assume thatit is impossible foraccounts of victimizationthatare so
similar,to surfaceabout the same time,in so many distantcountries.However,
sociologistsand anthropologistswho are familiarwith past examples of cultural
diffusionare likelyto be quite skepticalof such an assumption.
One informativeexample took place in the twelfthcenturyand involved accusations remarkablysimilar to those of ritual child abuse. Accusations of ritual
child murdermade against the Jewsoriginatedin twelfthcenturyEngland, then
traveledquicklyacross the EnglishChannel to northernFrance,and fromthereto

ofDeviantBehavior
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Germany,Spain and the rest of ChristianEurope (Langmuir 1990). These false


accusations spread across many differentsocieties,long before the existenceof
modernmass media. The accusations are known as "the blood libel".
A study of cross-nationalcultural diffusionbetween social movements by
McAdam and Rucht (1993) offersuseful theoreticalprinciplesforunderstanding
the culturaldiffusionof collectivebehavior.McAdam and Rucht'sstudyis particularly important,because moral panics are spread by social movements,at least
in part. In the case of SRA accusations, Christianfundamentalistand feminist
social movementsplayed a centralrole. McAdam and Rucht emphasize thatthe
transmissionof new ideas fromone societyto anotheris more likely,the more
similar the culture,social organization and social roles in the recipientsociety.
Particularlyimportantfor the transmissionof new ideas between social movements are similaritiesin language, ideologies and the occupations of activists.
Secondly, McAdam and Rucht suggest that theremust exist social networksof
contactand channels of communicationbetween people playing similarinstitutional roles in the sending and recipientsocieties. More specifically,theremust
firstbe to be direct,interpersonalcontacts.These directcontactsactivateselective
attentionto indirectchannelsof communication,such as newspapers,magazines,
television,radio,books, and professionaljournals.
There are significantdifferencesbetween the cross-nationaldiffusionof new
ideas used by social movementsand the diffusionof the causes of moral panics.
between social movementsinvolves movementtacThe main contenttransmitted
tics and the elaborationof ideological theory.In contrast,the main contenttransmitted in moral panics involves: 1) contemporarylegend stories, claims, and
accusations about a newly perceived threatfromdeviants,and 2) new techniques
thereis space in this articleonly to outline
fordetectingdeviants.Unfortunately,
my findingsabout the transmissionof these contentsabout satanic cult crime
fromthe United States to othercountries.My sources included newspaper and
magazine articles,as well as personal communicationswith scholars in other
countries(Victor1993a).
Similaritiesbetween Transmitterand Adopters
One obvious similaritybetween thevarious societiesin which sataniccultcrime
storieshave appeared is that of language. All are societies in which English is
eithertheprimarylanguage, or a common second language. The shared language
facilitatesrapid communication,both throughdirectinterpersonalcontactsand
throughindirectchannelsof communication.
A second similarityis the existenceof sizable population subgroups thatshare
ideologies containingthe same demonologies. More specifically,all the societies
where SRA accusationshave surfacedcontainrelativelyinfluentialgroups offundamentalistProtestantChristians,as well as feminists.
Anotherkey similarityis the existenceof similaroccupations.In these societies,
medical and mental health professionals(especially psychotherapistsand child
protectionworkers),fundamentalistclergymen,local police, and journalistshave
publicized claims about satanic cult crime. Many of the claims-makersin these
occupations hold eithera Christiantraditionalistor feministdemonology.These

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professionalsare able to make personal contactwiththeirAmericancounterparts


at internationalconferencesin theUnited Statesor in theirhome countries.Thereafter,theyestablishmore personal social networksand channels of communication.
A contrastwith a culturewhere claims about satanic cult crimehave not taken
root is useful. In France,SRA accusations being made in American society and
nearby England are regarded with ridicule,if they are known at all. Journalists
and popular writersare oftenquite criticalof the foiblesof Americancultureand
oftenresistantto what theyconsiderto be culturalfads comingfromAmerica.In
France,only 17% of thepopulation believe in the existenceof theDevil compared
with65% in theU.S., accordingto opinion polls (Gallup 1982:98).Fundamentalist
Protestantismhas no political significance.French feminism,which centersits
demonologyupon a critiqueof the capitalistelite and socioeconomicinjustice,is
ideologically quite differentfrom Anglo-Americanfeminism.It is likely that
cross-national,personal contactsbetween people in thesame occupations,such as
medical doctors,psychotherapistsand police, are relativelyuncommon,due in
partto language and culturaldifferences.
Channels of Communication
Americans communicatedclaims about satanic cult crimeto foreignnationals
throughdirectinterpersonalcontactsat professionalconferencesfor therapists,
social workers,police, clergy,and journalists.These conferenceswere located in
theUnited States,or in thehome countries,where American"experts"were often
invitedto share theirnew ideas. Some of these conferencesofferedtrainingsessions in how to identifysatanic cult crime,or symptomsof SRA (Mulhern 1994).
(The spread of new ideas via this means is familiarto many scholars.) It is
throughdirectcontactssuch as these,thatclaims about secretsatanic cultsspread
veryquicklyfromtheU.S., to Canada and theUnited Kingdom The indirect,nonrelational channels which transmittedsatanic cult crime stories fromthe U.S.
included elements of the mass media. Christianbooks about satanic cult crime
were quickly reprintedforProtestantfundamentalistsin othercountries,or sold
in English-languageversions.Americantelevisiontalkshows presentingtestimonials by SRA survivorswere broadcast in some Englishspeaking countries.They
quicklyproduced theirown homegrownproductswithsimilarcontent.American
pop culturemagazines circulatein English-speakingcountries.Foreignnewspapers and magazines reportedstoriesabout SRA, oftencitingAmerican"experts"
in the study of SRA. The existenceof these mass media presentationsmeans that
some patientsin psychotherapyand some childrenwere familiarwith SRA allegations,shortlyaftertheyfirstsurfacedin theUnited States.
More importantthan indirectmass media channels of communicationwere
professionalchannels. Foreign medical doctors and psychotherapistscommonly
subscribeto specialized Americanprofessionaljournals,as a source ofnew ideas.
The journal of the InternationalSocietyforthe Study of Multiple Personalityand
Dissociation (Dissociation)offeredseveral early articlesidentifyingSRA as a real
and serious concern(Hill and Goodwin 1989). In addition,American-madelistsof
symptomsof SRA and mimeographedconferencepapers about SRA writtenby

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American "experts" circulatedwidely in Europe (Kaye and Klein 1987). These


were thencited as authoritativesources about SRA, in the professionalpapers of
English-speaking,European mental health specialists. As a result, Europeans
were quick to apply the very same faultyinvestigativetechniques that contributed to causing theAmericanmoral panic over SRA.
In conclusion, the cross-nationaldiffusionof claims, accusations and rumors
about deviance which cause moral panics, occurs throughsimilarsocial processes
as thosewhich account fortheirdiffusionwithina heterogeneous,industrialsociety. Claims about a threatfromnewly perceived deviance travel fasterthrough
specificsocial networksand communicationchannels,where theyare attributed
credibilityby authoritiesand by a shared demonology. The key phenonmena is
differential
social and communicationnetworks.
SUMMARY
This articledeveloped a theoryof moral panics and illustratedthe theorywith
researchabout themoral panic over ritualchild abuse by sataniccults.The theory
is designed to explain forms of collective behavior previously labeled witchhunts,persecutions,panics, scares,and purges. It is drawn fromsymbolicinteractionisttheoryand a social constructionist
perspectiveon deviance perspective.
A moral panic can be defined as a societal response to beliefs about a threat
fromnewly perceivedmoral deviants.A moral panic has fivedistinguishingcharacteristics.First,the societal reaction shows volatilityin the formof a sudden
eruptionand subsidingof concernabout thethreat.Second, the concernabout the
threatis widespread in a society.Third,the purporteddeviants are regarded as a
threatto thebasic moral values of the society.Fourth,thereis consensus in significant segmentsof the population that the threatis real. Fifth,concernabout the
threatis disproportionalto empiricalmeasures of harm fromthe purporteddeviants.The possible causes of moral panics can be analyzed by employing three
models of moral panics: 1) a grass rootsmodel, 2) an elite-engineeredmodel, and
3) an interestgroup model
The moral panic over satanic ritualabuse is best understoodthroughuse of the
interestgroup model. The underlyingcauses of a moral panic promotedby interest groups include the following four social conditions. First,there is a widespread beliefin the existenceof a threatfromnew formsof deviance, spread by
contemporarylegend rumorsand the mass media. Social controlauthoritiesthen
legitimizethebelief.Second, a new formof authorityis expanding itsjurisdiction
over the social controlof deviance. Third,thenew authoritiesemploy faultytechniques for investigatingdeviance that cannot adequately distinguishbetween
trueand false accusationsof deviance. Fourth,thereexistsa symbolicconsistency
(resonance) between the purportedthreatand a widely held demonology,which
functionsas a cognitive frame about the ultimate nature of "evil". These four
social conditionsoperate simultaneouslyto socially constructdefinitionsof deviance. The definitionsof deviance constructedby a moral panic take the formof
stereotypesof actual deviants, or even imaginary deviants (as is the case of
satanic cult criminals).The key social processes influencingbeliefin a threatfrom

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SOCIOLOGICALPERSPECTIVES Volume41,Number3, 1998

moral deviants withininterestgroups are: 1) legitimizationof beliefby authority


and 2) theconsensual validationof reality.
The cross-nationaldiffusionof the causes of moral panics involves: 1) the communicationof claims, rumorsand accusations about the newly perceived threat
frommoral deviants and 2) the communicationof faultytechniquesfordetecting
the deviants.Cross-nationalcommunicationrequirescertainsimilaritiesbetween
in one society and adopters in the receivingsociety;particularlyin
transmitters
language, culturallyinheriteddemonology, and occupational roles. The crossnational diffusionof the conditionsthatcause moral panics also requiresspecific
channels of communication.Initially,theremustbe directinterpersonalcontacts.
That encouragesselectiveattentionto indirectchannelsof communication,via the
mass media and special interestpublications.Requirementsforthe cross-national
diffusionof a moral panic are essentiallysimilar to those that account for the
internaldiffusionwithina societyof claims,rumorsand accusations of deviance:
differential
social and communicationnetworks.
NOTES
characprocessesand notpsychological
1. Moralpanicsare a productofsocio-political
delusions,or
to fantasize,
a disposition
suchas suggestibility,
teristics
ofindividuals,
confrompsychiatric
Theimplications
ofthisconceptsharplydiffer
personalanxieties.
conceptsfocus
cepts,such as "mass hysteria"or "emotionalcontagion".Psychiatric
In contrast,
the conceptof moralpanic
(labeledas "irrational").
upon emotionality
behavior.A sociologicalanalysisof the
focusesupon cognitionand communication
mass adoptionof the sick role in outbreaksof unusual collectivebehavior,often
(1994)and Gehlen
illness",can be foundin Bartholomew
labeled"masspsychogenic
(1990)and Stallings(1994)forrecentcritiquesof the
(1977).Also,see Bartholomew
and emotionalcontagion
concepts.
masshysteria
ignoresthe
has emphasizedthatthisperspective
of social constructionism
2. Criticism
verifiable
physical,
"objective"realitiesof deviantbehavior,such as theempirically
and interpersonal
harmsthatmayresultfromcertainbehaviors(Miller
psychological
perspective
suggeststhatthesocialconstructionist
and Holstein1993).The criticism
unrelated
entirely
aboutdeviance,as ifitcomesintoexistence
regardsclaims-making
to anyobjectiveempiricalmeasuresofharmdonebydeviantbehaviorin a society.In
formofsocialconstructionarguethata "contextual"
response,socialconstructionists
ist researchdoes relatetheclaimsdefiningdevianceto empiricalmeasuresof those
formof
claims(Best 1993).My analysisof SRA accusationsfollowsthe contextual
socialconstructionist
abilitycan lead themto be
3. I don'twishto denythatmanypeople'scriticalthinking
withtheirmoralbeliefs.However,
skepticalaboutclaimsthatareconsistent
personally
pressuresthat
it is quiteanothermatterforindividualsto challengetheconformity
enforce
consensualbeliefswithintheirownsocialnetworks.
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