The Legal System and Child Sex Abuse—Ross Cheit's The Witch‐Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology, and the Sexual Abuse of Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (01) ◽  
pp. 267-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Grant Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Sex Abuse ◽  
Narrative Politics ◽  
Child Sex Abuse ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Witch Hunt

The prosecution of child sex abuse in cases involving very young children presents difficult problems for the justice system. Ross Cheit's book The Witch‐Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology, and the Sexual Abuse of Children (2014) addresses these problems in the context of the 1980s cases involving daycare centers. While the conventional conclusion drawn from these cases is that young children are not credible witnesses, Cheit's examination of the trial records in these cases reveals credible evidence of abuse in many, as well as evidence of injustice attributable to untrained and/or overenthusiastic interviewers. Cheit's examination of this litigation provides an opportunity to evaluate the legal system's treatment of child witnesses in sex abuse cases, as well as to discuss the appropriate use of social scientific evidence in litigation, the impact of mass media accounts on public policy, and the respective merits of criminal versus civil lawsuits in child sex abuse cases.

The Witch-Hunt Narrative

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 956-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther H. Gillies
Keyword(s):  
Social Issue ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Los Angeles County ◽  
The Witch ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Witch Hunt ◽  
Insight Into

Responding to Ross E. Cheit’s Witch-Hunt Narrative, this article is a commentary chronicling the emergence of child sexual abuse as a social issue in Los Angeles County in the 1980s. Based on the responses to child sexual abuse in Los Angeles County as experienced by one social worker during the McMartin years, it discusses the impact of the McMartin case on the identification and intervention in child sexual abuse cases and tracks the evolution and changes that took place in the 1980s and 1990s in Southern California. It offers some insight into a rationale for the denial of child sexual abuse which continues to this day.

A Response to “The Legacy of the Witch-Hunt Narrative”

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 979-1001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Friend ◽  
Susan M. Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Multidisciplinary Team ◽  
Forensic Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
Narrative Politics ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Witch Hunt ◽  
And Training ◽  
Complex Cases

The article provides an overview of and commentary on the last chapter of Cheit’s book, The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology and the Sexual Abuse of Children. The chapter is divided into two sections called “Recent Developments” and “The Legacy of the Witch-Hunt Narrative.” We respond to the key assertions in each of those sections, providing discussion points of agreement and disagreement with Cheit, and note some areas Cheit does not cover, including important advances in the aftermath of the witch-hunt narrative (WHN). The article takes the position that there is cause for optimism with these advances in systems responses, child forensic interviewing research, and multidisciplinary team and training approaches; some of these advances are related to the WHN. The conclusion warns of the need to be vigilant about continuing Cheit’s work, we suggest this could take place in six key areas: (a) enhanced teacher training, (b) improved court responses to child sexual abuse (CSA) victims, (c) expanded use of Extended Forensic Interviews so that the complex cases (children with disabilities, children from multi problem households) might be thoroughly considered for prosecution, (d) broadened focus on CSA validation, recovery, and prevention, (e) engaged multistate research on the actual occurrence of day care CSA allegations, and (f) expanded efforts to educate the public and potential jury pools about the nuances of CSA prosecution, and the illusion of toughness in how we respond to convicted offenders. Cheit’s detailed research enables us to see where we came from, and what else needs to be done to understand the legacy of the WHN.

The Witch-Hunt Narrative

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 784-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Coulborn Faller
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Day Care ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Dade County ◽  
Ritual Abuse ◽  
Forensic Interview ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Day Nursery ◽  
Witch Hunt

This article provides an overview of The Witch-Hunt Narrative, focusing on the challenges of gathering information from young children, such as those involved in sexual abuse allegations in day care. The article summarizes the research methodology of The Witch-Hunt Narrative, which involves a series of case studies. The article articulates Cheit’s hypothesis, which is that the witch-hunt narrative originated in two key publications, a series of articles by two journalists, Tom Charlier and Shirley Dowling, and the book, Satan’s Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern-Day Witch-Hunt, by Debbie Nathan and Michael Snedeker, and notes his disputes with the evidence from these two publications. Cheit deals in depth with three hotly contested day care center cases: the McMartin Pre-School case in Manhattan Beach, California, the Wee Care Day Nursery case in Maplewood, New Jersey, and the Country Walk Babysitting Service case in Dade County, Florida. The article summarizes Cheit’s research and conclusions related to these three cases and also notes how forensic interview practices used in these cases would not be supported today. The article concludes with noting that despite the impressive progress in forensic interviewing of children when sexual abuse is alleged, methods for gathering information from young children remain inadequate. Moreover, there are no easy answers to the reasons for the rise and fall of allegations of sexual abuse in day care and of allegations of ritual abuse.

The Methodology of The Witch-Hunt Narrative

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 853-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen M. Staller
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Complex I ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
Narrative Politics ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Witch Hunt

From an evidentiary point of view, the project Ross Cheit seeks to accomplish in his book, The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology, and the Sexual Abuse of Children, is remarkably complex. I examine the methodology that underlies Cheit’s scholarship to assess the strength of his claims. Cheit’s work has a strong methodological core in which he asserts the existence of a “Witch-Hunt Narrative” (WHN), public perception that there are “hundreds” of legal cases involving innocent adults wrongly criminally pursued for child sexual abuse. He identifies three foundational cases in this WHN, McMartin, Michaels, and Fuster, along with dozens of others, which he distills from published lists. Using broadly collected archival and other data, Cheit investigates the veracity of this WHN. He concludes there is insufficient evidence to substantiate the witch-hunt claim. Methodologically, Cheit’s research veers into more problematic territory when he seeks to extend his WHN claims beyond this central core and extend it to the academy, particularly the research of several prominent academics, including psychologists Stephen J. Ceci and Maggie Bruck. I examine these claims and argue Cheit has not paid sufficient attention to the methods and methodology upon which he bases his claims. I conclude by noting the complexity of evaluating evidence produced and utilized in, and across, disciplinary boundaries, including journalism, law, and the academy. Nonetheless, Cheit’s scholarship raises a plethora of important questions and possibilities for future research.

A Narrative on The Witch-Hunt Narrative

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 875-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic G. Reamer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Whistle Blowing ◽  
Institutional Review ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Sexual Abuse Victims ◽  
Witch Hunt

Ross Cheit’s The Witch-Hunt Narrative raises a number of complex moral issues. Cheit’s principal purpose is to challenge the belief that our society has overreacted to claims about the sexual abuse of children. Both directly and indirectly, Cheit’s in-depth analysis broaches moral concerns pertaining to the integrity of child abuse allegations, investigations, civil litigation, and criminal prosecution, with an emphasis on the mixed motives of the parties involved in key cases. This article provides an overview of ethical questions pertaining to gathering information from very vulnerable individuals, informed consent, institutional review, protection of research participants, the use of deception and coercion, confidentiality and privacy, reporting research results, and conflicts of interest. In addition, the author discusses the phenomenon of whistle-blowing as it pertains to professionals’ ethical judgments about disclosure of wrongdoing and misconduct. The author outlines key ethics-related concepts, applies relevant moral theory, and explores the implications of the moral issues raised by The Witch-Hunt Narrative for child sexual abuse victims, perpetrators, child welfare and law enforcement professionals, scholars and researchers, and the public at large.

A Response to Articles and Commentaries on The Witch-Hunt Narrative

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1002-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross E. Cheit
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Medical Evidence ◽  
Ritual Abuse ◽  
Overwhelming Evidence ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Children's Testimony ◽  
Witch Hunt ◽  
Sufficient Space

The articles and comments in this issue bear out the enduring impact of The Witchhunt Narrative. There is not sufficient space to acknowledge or respond to most of this feedback. This response corrects an error that was identified by one commenter and it responds to questions raised by another commenter about my analysis of the “Concerned Scientists” brief. This response also documents how Wood, Nathan, and others have misapplied the term ritual abuse, misstated the facts of many cases, and promoted “mythical numbers” that significantly exaggerate the number of false convictions. These critics are wrong about the only three cases they discuss in detail. The McMartin Preschool case began with credible evidence of child sexual abuse that continues to be distorted by critics. The Keller case began with even stronger medical evidence that is not diminished by the dubious and incomplete “retraction” of the Emeregency Room doctor. The Fuster case involved overwhelming evidence of abuse, medical and testimonial, that continues to be distored or overlooked by critics. Those who promote the witchhunt narrative rely on selective use of evidence to reach an apparently predetermined result. That is politics and advocacy, not scholarship. This dismissive approach to children’s testimony has caused documented harm to children.

Is There Consensus About Children’s Memory and Suggestibility?

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 926-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail S. Goodman ◽  
Olivia Jones ◽  
Cynthia McLeod
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Scientific Enterprise ◽  
Scholarly Book ◽  
Children's Memory ◽  
Scientific Laboratory ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Witch Hunt

The modern scientific study of children’s eyewitness memory was initially motivated, in important part, by the sensational preschool investigations and prosecutions of the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., the McMartin case, the Kelly Michaels case, the Country Walk case). These cases form the centerpiece of Professor Cheit’s scholarly book, The Witch-Hunt Narrative. In recent years, researchers have made great strides in helping the legal system tackle some of the complex issues involved in child sexual abuse investigations. While commenting on Professor Cheit’s book, we review areas of consensus regarding child forensic interviewing, areas of disconnect between scientific laboratory studies and needs of the legal system, and the potential effects of bias on the scientific enterprise relevant to Professor Cheit’s treatise. Although we find that there is consensus in the field regarding a set of general principles, there is often room for disagreement in evaluating a particular case, and there is still much to be learned about how best to interview children when allegations of sexual abuse arise.

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