Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1996, page 45
similar to that for overt presentations. Even so, the results indicate a very high rate of false
positives. As when using any unreliable and questionably valid assessment protocol, the
problem lies in the practitioner‟s belief in and use of the procedure.
Further, the major problem is not even the proportion of false positives it is with their
implications. If a therapist errs and initially identifies dysthymic disorder as generalized
anxiety disorder or thinks someone is suffering from an obsessive/compulsive disorder when
they are not, time may be wasted and unnecessary suffering allowed. This is unfortunate,
but rarely tragic as long as therapists correctly identify and respond to life-threatening
situations. The process of psychotherapy is, as noted above, generally beneficent.
Further, when diagnosis is based on DSM-IV criteria, overt symptoms should be continually
assessed and, despite confirmation bias, self- correction is possible. However, when a
patient is misdiagnosed as a hidden ICA victim, the disastrous sequence discussed at the
beginning of this paper may unfold. At the least, basic familial relationships will be brought
into question and may often be severely disrupted (Esman, 1994 McElroy &Keck, 1995).
Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD): Childhood Defense or Adult Role?
For those studying ICA and related phenomena, SRA cases such as that of Joan Borawick
are interesting because they seemingly contain high levels of fantasy. There is no evidence
for the existence of a multigenerational satanic cult that performs ritual murders and
abortions while it programs young women with multiple personalities. Despite enormous
effort by law enforcement officials to track down such a cult, no trace has ever been found.
The witches‟ sabbaths regularly described by alleged victims are similar to those that were
described in the Middle Ages. Conversely, careful historians and anthropologists have
established that such orgiastic festivals of evil didn‟t happen in the Middle Ages either
(Mulhern, 1994). They were the product of vivid imagination then as well as now. As
Lanning, the agent in charge of the FBI‟s investigation of this putative cult, wrote “this is
not a law enforcement problem” (Lanning, 1991).
One of the intriguing aspects of fantasies of satanic ritual abuse is that, almost universally,
those expressing this fantasy are diagnosed as having multiple personality disorder (MPD).
Patients who recall SRA constitute a significant minority of those currently diagnosed as
multiple personalities (Braun, 1992 Hammond, 1992 Ofshe &Singer, 1994). In the view
held by mental health professionals who routinely diagnose MPD, the disorder results when
a child is overwhelmed by the horror of a traumatic situation, escapes by dissociating, but
leaves a part of herself to deal with the horror. This part then becomes autonomous, an
alter, and the original self becomes amnesic for the traumatic events. The alter reemerges
in later instances where the child has to cope with similar traumas. If new traumas occur
with which neither the original self nor its alter can cope, another alter will be “born” (Kluft,
1991, Putnam, 1989).
Like hypnosis, MPD has a checkered history with periods of strong interest and excessive
claims followed by barren periods in which the phenomenon is ignored. Multiple personality
disorder also resembles hypnosis in that it seems to take on the characteristics expected by
the patient and therapist. Prior to 1970, an MPD diagnosis did not necessarily imply a
severe and disabling condition. If one examines classic cases, such as Morton Prince‟s case
of Miss Beauchamp, multiple personalities included only two or three alters who were not
seriously harmful. For example, Miss Beauchamp‟s Devil alter, Sally, is described as a
mischievous imp, not an immoral devil. Prince also notes, “For although the characters of
the personalities widely differ, the variations are along the lines of mood, temperament, and
tastes. Each personality is incapable of doing evil to others” (Prince, 1908, 1957, as cited in
Orne &Bates, 1992). Prince‟s other cases were similar with all the alters being relatively
beneficent, although one might be morose and the other flamboyant.
similar to that for overt presentations. Even so, the results indicate a very high rate of false
positives. As when using any unreliable and questionably valid assessment protocol, the
problem lies in the practitioner‟s belief in and use of the procedure.
Further, the major problem is not even the proportion of false positives it is with their
implications. If a therapist errs and initially identifies dysthymic disorder as generalized
anxiety disorder or thinks someone is suffering from an obsessive/compulsive disorder when
they are not, time may be wasted and unnecessary suffering allowed. This is unfortunate,
but rarely tragic as long as therapists correctly identify and respond to life-threatening
situations. The process of psychotherapy is, as noted above, generally beneficent.
Further, when diagnosis is based on DSM-IV criteria, overt symptoms should be continually
assessed and, despite confirmation bias, self- correction is possible. However, when a
patient is misdiagnosed as a hidden ICA victim, the disastrous sequence discussed at the
beginning of this paper may unfold. At the least, basic familial relationships will be brought
into question and may often be severely disrupted (Esman, 1994 McElroy &Keck, 1995).
Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD): Childhood Defense or Adult Role?
For those studying ICA and related phenomena, SRA cases such as that of Joan Borawick
are interesting because they seemingly contain high levels of fantasy. There is no evidence
for the existence of a multigenerational satanic cult that performs ritual murders and
abortions while it programs young women with multiple personalities. Despite enormous
effort by law enforcement officials to track down such a cult, no trace has ever been found.
The witches‟ sabbaths regularly described by alleged victims are similar to those that were
described in the Middle Ages. Conversely, careful historians and anthropologists have
established that such orgiastic festivals of evil didn‟t happen in the Middle Ages either
(Mulhern, 1994). They were the product of vivid imagination then as well as now. As
Lanning, the agent in charge of the FBI‟s investigation of this putative cult, wrote “this is
not a law enforcement problem” (Lanning, 1991).
One of the intriguing aspects of fantasies of satanic ritual abuse is that, almost universally,
those expressing this fantasy are diagnosed as having multiple personality disorder (MPD).
Patients who recall SRA constitute a significant minority of those currently diagnosed as
multiple personalities (Braun, 1992 Hammond, 1992 Ofshe &Singer, 1994). In the view
held by mental health professionals who routinely diagnose MPD, the disorder results when
a child is overwhelmed by the horror of a traumatic situation, escapes by dissociating, but
leaves a part of herself to deal with the horror. This part then becomes autonomous, an
alter, and the original self becomes amnesic for the traumatic events. The alter reemerges
in later instances where the child has to cope with similar traumas. If new traumas occur
with which neither the original self nor its alter can cope, another alter will be “born” (Kluft,
1991, Putnam, 1989).
Like hypnosis, MPD has a checkered history with periods of strong interest and excessive
claims followed by barren periods in which the phenomenon is ignored. Multiple personality
disorder also resembles hypnosis in that it seems to take on the characteristics expected by
the patient and therapist. Prior to 1970, an MPD diagnosis did not necessarily imply a
severe and disabling condition. If one examines classic cases, such as Morton Prince‟s case
of Miss Beauchamp, multiple personalities included only two or three alters who were not
seriously harmful. For example, Miss Beauchamp‟s Devil alter, Sally, is described as a
mischievous imp, not an immoral devil. Prince also notes, “For although the characters of
the personalities widely differ, the variations are along the lines of mood, temperament, and
tastes. Each personality is incapable of doing evil to others” (Prince, 1908, 1957, as cited in
Orne &Bates, 1992). Prince‟s other cases were similar with all the alters being relatively
beneficent, although one might be morose and the other flamboyant.
