THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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therapeutic function distinguishes him from most psychological authors who portray
Satanism and satanic involvement as inherently maladaptive and destructive.
Summary
This chapter presents the argument that the perceived current increase in satanic cult
involvement is a real reflection of pathogenic processes within individuals and/or their
societies. At a sociological level, rapid economic, technological, and ideological change
in the last four decades of Western society's history has produced generations ofalienated
youths, profoundly disaffected with traditional Christian religion and morality.
Contemporary Christian societies embody contradictory elements of rational-scientific
and patriarchal religious ideologies. Countercultures based on occult magic, hedonism,
individualism and Dionysian spirituality have consequently flourished in opposition to
Christianity. Satanism's attraction lies in its integration and packaging of these
components into a radically oppositional Dionysian spiritual path which appears to
promise participants the recovery of a mythical pre-Christian beatitude. At an
institutional level, dysfunctional family dynamics, characterised by parental violence,
neglect, abuse, double standards, separation and divorce, undermine parental authority,
prevent the formation of adaptive moral values in children, and incline them toward
Satanism. Certain authors contend that there is a pre-Satanist personality profile which
predisposes individuals to satanic cult involvement. These vulnerable individuals tend to
be socially isolated, self-estranged, have low self-esteem, feel powerless, abuse
substances, have negative attitudes toward education and religion, are emotionally
disconnected from their families, and experience little peer recognition. Erikson's
concept of negative identity was employed to describe the process whereby alienated
individuals adopt values, roles and behaviours perceived as undesirable by parental
figures. Satanism provides a perfect negative identity in Christian cultures and serves to
resolve identity confusion by providing an alternative set of values, roles, and in-group
acceptance. General and specific attractions of Satanism were discussed, and the a priori
bias toward pathologising satanic involvement in the professional literature was
mentioned as an obstacle to objective social scientific research.