Children's Religious Knowledge: Implications for Understanding Satanic Ritual Abuse Allegations

• NCJ Number: 170473
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 21 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1997) Pages: 1111-1130
• Author(s): G S Goodman; J A Quas; B L Bottoms; J Qin; P R Shaver; H Orcutt; C Shapiro
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 20 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examines the extent of children's religious, especially satanic, knowledge, and attempts to understand the influence of children's age, religious training, family, and media exposure on that knowledge.

Abstract

Using a structured interview, researchers questioned 48 3- to 16-year-old children about their knowledge of religion and religious worship; religion-related symbols and pictures; and movies, music and television shows with religious and horror themes. Although few children evinced direct knowledge of ritual abuse, many revealed general knowledge of satanism and satanic worship. With age, children's religious knowledge increased and became more sophisticated. Increased exposure to nonsatanic horror media was associated with more nonreligious knowledge that could be considered precursory to satanic knowledge, and increased exposure to satanic media was associated with more knowledge related to satanism. The study suggests that children do not generally possess sufficient knowledge of satanic ritual abuse to make up false allegations on their own. Tables, references, appendixes