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Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'
We Believe the Children: The Story of a Moral Panic by Richard Beck
4 reviews
embre's review against another edition
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Medical trauma, Incest, and Forced institutionalization
adam_ant's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
4.25
In the present day, the American cultural memory of the satanic panic has mostly focused on the absurd horror-movie substance of the accusations. What's faded away over the years is our memory of the real-world consequences. A large chunk of this book is stories of lives being ruined for all involved- not just the accused and the victims (both real and fabulated), but also the accusing parents and the broader communities where these cases happened. Very depressing. Not a read for the faint of heart, as child sexual abuse is described in detail.
Outside of the true crime cases, the book also delves into how the satanic panic contextually relates to where politics, science, and culture were at that time- criminal justice, forensic psychology, child psychology, the feminist political movement, the religious right, psychiatry (specifically its nascent understanding of repressed memory and dissociative identities)... It's in these sections, when the book zooms out from the gruesome details of individual cases, that I found it most interesting and informative.
Outside of the true crime cases, the book also delves into how the satanic panic contextually relates to where politics, science, and culture were at that time- criminal justice, forensic psychology, child psychology, the feminist political movement, the religious right, psychiatry (specifically its nascent understanding of repressed memory and dissociative identities)... It's in these sections, when the book zooms out from the gruesome details of individual cases, that I found it most interesting and informative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Incest, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
jennifer_bush_73's review
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
thatdistantlake's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Excrement, Incest, Mental illness, and Alcoholism
The author discusses the allegations of ritual abuse, & while they didn't actually happen, the descriptions themselves are disturbing. There's also some discussion of actual child abuse & pedophilia.
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