THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

INTRODUCTION
The decade of the 1980s saw an extraordinary social phenomenon, the historical
resurrection of Satan as a personified principle of evil, and the belief that secret societies
of Satanic worshippers were infiltrating and undermining Western society. This
perception flies in the face ofhistorical trends toward the modernisation and secularisation
of Western society. Social theorists had confidently predicted that the combined
modernising influences of technological progress, economic growth, urbanisation,
education, liberal humanist ideologies, and increasing mass media exposure would hasten
secularisation, and possibly even eliminate orthodox religion. Instead the opposite has
occurred, and we are now witnessing not merely a widespread religious revival, but a new
wave of religious fundamentalism. Central to this fundamentalist worldview is the
apocalyptic belief in an internecine battle between good and evil, the latter personified by
Satan, whose literal existence directly threatens Christian civilisation. At the same time
there has been a revival of interest in magic, witchcraft, neo-pagan spirituality and other
occult traditions, including Satanism. This has fuelled the fundamentalist Christian belief
in a global spiritual onslaught by the forces ofdarkness.
In response to this perceived Satanic threat a vigorous anti-Satanist ideology has emerged,
the social impact ofwhich has been considerable. In America an Antisatanism Movement,
comprising a coalition of conservative religious interest groups, mental health
professionals and police officers, have mobilised to combat the threat of organised Satanic
evil. A new category of psychological trauma and legal offence, ritual abuse, has given
Satanism a sinister criminal identity. In response to the alleged atrocities committed by
Satanists law enforcement officials have investigated day-care centres, scrutinised
unsolved crime files for evidence of satanic connections, and launched ritual child abuse
investigations in more than 100 American communities between 1983 and 1988 (Bromley,
1991). Legislation expediting prosecution of ritual crime and controlling the activities of
religions related to Satanism or witchcraft has been introduced in some American states
(Bromley, 1991). Mental health professionals began reporting incidents of satanic ritual