Children have always been looked upon as innocent or pure of heart. It is a comforting notion, but without foundation in historical or contemporary research.
Witch-Children reveals the devastating role played by children during the hysteria over satanism in the 16th and 17th centuries, sending innocent people to their deaths at the hands of witch-hunters, especially during the Inquisition. Alarmingly similar is the contemporary epidemic of children accusing adults of molestation, often in a setting of satanic rituals and witchcraft. The common circumstances between the two eras are frightening.
Author Hans Sebald examines the unflinching credibility afforded children in these periods of hysteria, providing a glimpse behind the facades of historical as well as well as contemporary claims of victimization. He provides a study in credulity on how lawyers, judges, parents, therapists and counsellors suspend their natural skepticism to honour the allegations of children, an honour with tragic consequences. His sound social-psychological approach provides a clearer understanding of what is proving to be a timeless problem.
Hans Sebald, Ph.D. (Apache Junction, AZ) is professor emeritus of sociology at Arizona State University. His many books include Adolescence: A Social-Psychological Analysis and Witchcraft: The Heritage of Heresy.
258 pages
ISBN 0-87975-965-8