User:Neil Brick/Sandbox/Cult and Ritual Abuse (book)

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"Cult and ritual abuse : Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America" is a book by James Randall Noblitt and Pamela Sue Perskin, first published in 1995 with a revised edition in 2000. . Noblitt is a clinical psychologist, Director of the Psychology program at Alliant International University, and is the executive director of a professional organization dedicated to treating survivors of cult and ritual abuse. The book discusses the idea that ritual abuse is an age-old phenomenon and it is found in many cultures throughout the world. It explores the psychiatric symptoms caused by ritual abuse, including dissociative identity disorder, and suggests ways to deal with the legal and social problems that can result from it. A new diagnosis “Cult and ritual trauma disorder” is proposed in this edition.

Comments and critiques

Kenneth E. Fletcher in a Psychiatric services review, discusses evidence of ritual abuse from the book and states that parts of the book are interesting and intriguing with uneven writing at times. Fletcher concludes that those interested in the topic of cult and ritual abuse will find it a worthwhile read.

An article in the American Journal of Psychotherapy stated that “Whether or not one believes in MPD and/or Ritual Abuse, this book provides one with what is probably the most comprehensive and reasonable review of the subject that has appeared up to now.”

Articles

Noblitt, J.R. (1995). “Psychometric measures of trauma among psychiatric patients reporting ritual abuse”. Psychological Reports 77(3):743-747. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8559911