Cult and Ritual Abuse

This personal yet scholarly journey into the confusing and clandestine world of ritual abuse survivors sheds light on their catastrophic experiences and their efforts to heal afterward. Revised, updated, and expanded, this third edition of a classic study is one of the most authoritative and evenhanded volumes to tackle its hotly debated subject matter. Incorporating the authors' firsthand observations, the book provides historical, anthropological, and psychological context for contemporary reports of both ritual abuse and ritual crime. In addition to sharing patient vignettes and a history of cult and ritual abuse in society, the authors explore fascinating topics related to these practices, among them what triggers personality shifts for victims even many years after the abuse has stopped. Importantly, the book shows how ritual abuse affects society as a whole, influencing civil and criminal law, politics, legislation, social movements, social welfare, and psychological theory. It provides unique insights into the scientific study, forensic investigation, and implementation of social services for survivors of cult and ritual abuse, discusses new research and treatment strategies, and establishes the foundation for a psychological diagnosis to be called Cult and Ritual Trauma Disorder.

James Randall Noblitt, PhD, is professor of clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in Los Angeles, CA.
Pamela Perskin Noblitt is a non-attorney representative advocating on behalf of Social Security Disability claimants.

Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Church in Thetford Forest
Chapter 2 On the Borderline
Chapter 3 Entering Uncharted Territory
Chapter 4 Multiple Personalities
Chapter 5 Possession, Ritual Abuse, and Dissociation
Chapter 6 Empirical and Forensic Evidence of Ritual Abuse
Chapter 7 Breaking the Code
Chapter 8 The African Connection
Chapter 9 Other Cultures
Chapter 10 1990: The Year of the Awakening
Chapter 11 Investigating Western Occultism
Chapter 12 An Introduction to Wicca
Chapter 13 Satanism?
Chapter 14 Nihilists and Revisionists
Chapter 15 The Politics of Psychotherapy
Chapter 16 The Media
Chapter 17 Will "the System" Protect Them?
Chapter 18 Cult and Ritual Trauma Disorder
Chapter 19 Where Do We Go from Here?
Appendix A Cult and Ritual Trauma Disorder: A Proposed Diagnosis in DSM Format
Appendix B Letter from the FBI, January 18, 1993
Notes
References
Name Index
Subject Index
About the Authors