-Caveat Lector- 10/10/99 Below please find excerpts from the article: Measuring the Impact of Media Exposure and Hospital Treatment on Patients Alleging Satanic Ritual Abuse by Frank Leavitt, Ph.D. [From Treating Abuse Today 8(4), July/Aug 1998, pp. 28-29.] Sincerely, Neil Brick PS This may be triggering for survivors of abuse. excerpts from http://idealist.com/tat/leavitt.shtml The Word Association Test was utilized to determine the impact of these environmental influences on satanic word association knowledge of patients who report such incidents. These two exposure variables were not found to be significant predictors of satanic word associations in 43 patients reporting sexual abuse. Paradoxically, less media exposure was associated with significantly higher rates of satanic word associations in patients reporting satanic ritual abuse. The production of satanic word associations was not found to be an artifact of hospital exposure; and word association repertoires of patients with and without histories of satanic ritual abuse were not found to be contaminated by interactions with hospital staff or other patients. Media and hospital exposure may allow patients to respond conversationally about satanic abuse, but these variables do not account for unique satanic word association knowledge found among patients reporting satanic ritual abuse. Reports of satanic ritual abuse (SRA) often come to clinical attention based on testimony of patients about events remembered from childhood (Hill & Goodwin, 1989; Young, Sachs, Braun, & Watkins, l991). These memories, often dating to the early years of development, contain intriguing similarities suggesting a special information base. Since little direct evidence to corroborate the amnestic memories is often the case (Lanning, 1991), similarity of detail and recurrence of patterns in patient accounts often serve to weigh these accounts in favor of personal experience. The fact that patients making the allegations come from vastly distant geographic regions, yet share an unique knowledge base, further adds to the sense of credibility (Van Benschoten, 1990; Young, Sachs, Braun & Watkins, 1991). Leavitt and Labott (in press) found that a unique knowledge base was operative in SRA patients that mimics the SRA history reported by patients alleging ritual abuse. SRA patients differed from other patient groups along 3 dimensions: (1) they were more cognitively active to the test stimuli producing, on average, an additional 14 associations; (2) despite the large associational inequality, SRA patients produced fewer common associations in the normative domain; and (3) they showed a strong response bias for associations linked to the satanic domain. The mean common response in the normative domain was 16.0 for SRA patients and 20.1 for other SA patients; the mean response in the satanic domain was 9.8 for SRA patients and 1.3 for SA patients. The major purpose of the present study was to examine exposure to, and the effects of, media exposure (movies, television shows, books, magazines and newspapers) on the production of associations as measured by the WAT. A second purpose was to examine the impact of inpatient hospital stay on a specialized dissociative disorders unit dealing with sexual trauma as measured by word association performance. Leavitt & Labott (in press) found that patients who reported SA in the context of satanic rituals differed in measurable ways from other patients groups on a WAT specifically formatted to take into account their allegations of functioning in a trauma domain during their childhood years. They showed an unusually strong bias for satanic word associations. The two questions addressed in this study were whether this novel information base was linked to (a) knowledge gained about SRA from listening and observing media reports, or (b) knowledge gained as the result of exposure to the environment created by treatment on an inpatient unit specializing in sexual trauma. The present study confirms that patients who allege SRA produce significantly more satanic word associations. However, the broad prevalence of satanic word associations among SRA reporters does not appear to be an artifact of either demand characteristics of the hospital environment or knowledge gained through media exposure. Thus, patients who deny SRA experience are not more likely to produce satanic responses because they have read literature or have been exposed to movies and television shows on this subject matter. If satanic responses do not flow from actual experience, then from where do they arise? Exposure to media materials does not appear to be a plausible explanation, nor does exposure to a hospital setting. In a similar vein, it is difficult to understand the reverse media effect in the SRA group. Why do only SRA patients with minimal or no media information respond to the WAT (i.e., show the base rate satanic associations) in a manner consistent with their report of clinical information? Why are higher levels of media exposure among SRA patients related to substantially lower satanic associations? CONCLUSION This study provides evidence that clients who report SRA exhibit a set of associations to SRA-related words that cannot be explained by exposure to the popular media or from inpatient treatment. The subtle set of associations shared by those claiming SRA, are similar to those of SRA cases reported in the literature. As such, these associations may be the indelible imprints of past trauma. In addition, this study describes a new method for evaluating claims of satanic ritual abuse that relies less heavily on self reports. Putting new lenses in an old pair of word association glasses enabled the influence of media input and hospital treatment exposure to be evaluated with fewer confounds than encountered with more familiar dependent variables such as counts of content extracted from descriptions of abuse. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! 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