Child Abuse Review Voi. 3: 151-157 (1994)

The Satanic Abuse Controversy: Social Workers and the Social Work Press by Gary Clapton, University of North London Press, London, 1993, 64 pp.ISBN 1-85377-154-6 (Pbk), €6.95.

Satanists sexually abusing children, acts of cannibalism, ‘brood mares’ and the sacrifice of new-born babies may seem like ideas more easily relegated to the realm of cheap horror films than on the social services agenda in 1990s Britain. Yet, The Satanic Abuse Conmversy explores the rapid rise of writings on satanic abuse and the ways in which t h i s new discourse dominated social work journals and, Clapton argues, deflected attention from other types of child abuse. He examines this new satanic abuse discourse in the context of three major cases, Nottingham (1989), Rochdale (1990) and Orkney (1991), which attracted critical media attention. In the wake of that criticism, British social services are still struggling to recover morale and credibility in the eyes of the public.

This is only a short book, drawn from a Master’s dissertation, and as such has its limitations. The author’s aim is to examine the process by which the term ‘satanic abuse’ became normalized within and by social services over the 3-year period 1989-1992. He does not, therefore, illuminate the evidence for or against the existence of satanic abuse. Clapton does, how- ever, reveal that in his opinion children are not sexually abused simply as a by-product of the practice of ‘devil worship’.

Clapton focuses on periodicals written for and by social work professionals. This exclusion of television and particularly the popular press is disappointing. Social services do not operate in a cultural vacuum; a broader media sample would have allowed the mapping of satanic abuse in context. A case in point was ‘Orkney’ (1991), when the press and Parents Action Group actively played up the case as ‘satanic’. Significant evidence is produced in the book, however, to illustrate the extent to which the issue of satanic abuse came to dominate social work journals. We are told that betweem March 1989 and September 1992 there were 106 contributions on satanic abuse and of those only 28 were by ‘sceptics’.

Clapton identifies disturbing consequences of this discourse. The role of men as perpetrators in the vast majority of child sexual abuse cases is well documented. Reports of satanic abuse, however, emphasized the active role of women as abusers and obscured male involvement by language which refers to sexual abuse by ‘family’, ‘adults’ or ‘parents’. This ultimately removes useful debates concerning male sexuality and the abuse of power within the family.

A kind of ‘league table’ of abuse is also created in which physical neglect is ignored and sexual abuse of children becomes ‘ordinary’ when faced with the ‘new perversity’ that is satanic abuse. The construction of satanic abuse as the ‘ultimate horror’ results in the displacement of materialist explanations for the motivations of abusers to be replaced by debates using concepts of ‘good’ and ‘evil’.

These points are well demonstrated by Clapton’s critique of Tim Tate’s book Childten for the Devil which offers ‘a precise 0 1994 by John Wiley 8 Sons. Ltd

Book Reviews Edited by David Gough

‘Reports of satanic abuse emphasized the active role of women as abusers and obscured male involvement’

152 Book Reviews

summary of the case for the existence of satanic abuse’ (p.47). Clapton catalogues Tate’s widespread use of unreferenced quotes and anonymous sources. He also criticizes his method of ‘talking up’ indicators of abuse and his use of ‘evidence’ gleaned from interviews with self-confessed Satanists. The Satanic Abuse C m e r s y traces the emergence of the satanic

abuse debate as defined principally by the in-house journals Cm- munity Cure and Social Work Today. Clapton examines shifts in the wider agenda of child abuse. Whether the satanic abuse discourse is indeed responsible for such changes is arguable, but t h i s is an inter- esting book which makes good use of journal material.

Lesley Henderson

Glasgm Universiry Media Group Depamnenr of Sociology

Univemiy of Glasgm

‘Debunk some of the myths surrounding sexual abuse by women’

Female Sexual Abuse of Children: The Ultimate Taboo edited by Michele Elliott, Longman, Harlow, 1993. 261 + xi pp.ISBN 0582214971, E16.95.

The starting point of this book is the fact that sexual abuse is per- petrated by women as well as by men and the majority of the authors take great pains to present a balanced view of the difhulties in dealing with and confronting this issue. However, this balance is disturbed by one contributor who found it necessary to repeatedly reassert the proposition that sexual abuse by women has been wil- fully ignored by professionals and feminists.

Organized into three sections, Part 1 addresses the issues for professionals supporting those who have experienced sexual abuse by women and working with women offenders. Part 2 consists of accounts by both women and men of their experiences of abuse by women, and an introduction to self-help groups. The final section of the book concentrates on a selective review of the literature, gives brief details of some of the available material and lists national support organizations.

Several chapters in this volume provide perceptive and lucid insights into therapeutic work with both survivors of sexual abuse and women abusers. Logically following the mute through h m the general to the particular, these commence with Suzanne Sgroi and Norah Sargent addressing the issues faced by survivors when seeking therapeutic support, through Kate Hunter’s chapter, which offers an account of her work with Lucy, a survivor of abuse by her mother, and combines this with Lucy’s own story. Cianne Langdon offers a view as both a survivor and therapist and attempts to debunk some of the myths surrounding sexual abuse by women.

The book then moves through the issues involved in working with those women who have admitted sexually abusing children, with a chapter by Jane Kinder Matthews which focuses on 36 women abusers. This chapter interestingly addresses those areas of working with male and female abusers which are both different and similar. This is followed by a chapter by Hilary Eldridge detailing the experience of Barbara, who had sexually abused her daughter.