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Handbook of Dissociation pp 569–594Cite as

Clinical Aspects of Sadistic Ritual Abuse

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Abstract

In recent years, therapists have been confronted with thousands of cases in which both children and adults are alleging horrendous abuse at the hands of satanic cults. These patients have been labeled as “ritually abused” and/or “satanic cult survivors.”1 How to make sense of the memories of atrocities described by such individuals has resulted in tremendous controversy within the field. Unfortunately, both clinicians and researchers tend to take strong emotionally based positions, despite the absence of sufficient empirical data to do so in an educated fashion. This chapter is an attempt to discuss and clarify some of the issues that arise in this area and to give an overview of what is currently known in the field.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1610 Ellington Road, South Windsor, Connecticut, 06074, USA

    David K. Sakheim

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  1. David K. Sakheim
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Larry K. Michelson  & William J. Ray  & 

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© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Sakheim, D.K. (1996). Clinical Aspects of Sadistic Ritual Abuse. In: Michelson, L.K., Ray, W.J. (eds) Handbook of Dissociation. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0310-5_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0310-5_27

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0312-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0310-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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