This vacillation between assertion and denial in discussions about organised abuse can be understood as functional, in that it serves to contain the traumatic kernel at the heart of allegations of organised abuse. In his influential just world theory, Lerner (1980) argued that emotional wellbeing is predicated on the assumption that the world is an orderly, predictable and just place in which people get what they deserve. Whilst such assumptions are objectively false, Lerner argued that individuals have considerable investment in maintaining them since they are conducive to feelings of selfefficacy and trust in others. When they encounter evidence contradicting the view that the world is just, individuals are motivated to defend this belief either by helping the victim (and thus restoring a sense of justice) or by persuading themselves that no injustice has occurred. Lerner (1980) focused on the ways in which the just world fallacy motivates victim-blaming, but there are other defences available to bystanders who seek to dispel troubling knowledge. Organised abuse highlights the severity of sexual violence in the lives of some children and the desire of some adults to inflict considerable, and sometimes irreversible, harm upon the powerless. Such knowledge is so toxic to common presumptions about the orderly nature of society, and the generally benevolent motivations of others, that it seems as though a defensive scaffold of disbelief, minimisation and scorn has been erected to inhibit a full understanding of organised abuse. Despite these efforts, there has been a recent resurgence of interest in organised abuse and particularly ritualistic abuse (eg Sachs and Galton 2008, Epstein et al. 2011, Miller 2012).
accusations attack authority beliefs blame child-abuse child-protection child-sex confabulation cover-up coverup crime cult cult-abuse debate defence denial disbelief discrediting epstein evidence fairness galton horror hysteria injustice innocence investigation just-world justice karma law legal media memory mental-health miller minimisation miscarriages-of-justice misunderstanding moral-panic organised-abuse organized-abuse paedophiles pedophile pedophile-rings prosecution recovered-memories ritual-abuse ritualised-abuse sachs safe-world satanic-ritual-abuse scorn self-efficiacy sense-of-safety sexual-abuse sexual-violence social-justice social-workers society-denial testimony therapists toxic trauma traumatic trust understanding victim victim-blaming world-view
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Michael Salter, Organised Sexual Abuse.

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