Title: |
Other Altars: Roots and Realities of Cultic and
Satanic Ritual Abuse and Multiple Personality Disorder
|
Author: |
Craig Lockwood |
Publisher: |
CompCare Publishers, © 1993 |
CompCare Publishers
3850 Annapolis Lane, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55447
(800) 328-3330
$17.00 (p)
Description:
This strange 255-page book is divided into three parts and 19 chapters,
ending with a highly selective set of references, some photographs, and a
selective list of prosecutions. The book was written by a journalist
who is the editor of a periodical called Beyond Survival. It is
basically a free-wheeling selective history of satanic ritual abuse
allegations.
Discussion:
The author pits Lee Coleman, Ralph Underwager, Elizabeth Loftus,
Kenneth Lanning, VOCAL, and the False Memory Syndrome Foundation as the
enemies against Gary Stickle (an archeologist who allegedly dug up tunnels
under the McMartin Preschool), Ira Reiner (the Los Angeles prosecutor in
the McMartin case), Frank Putnam (an MPD expert), Bennett Braun (a
proponent of dissociation, MPD, and satanic ritual abuse), and Richard
Kluft (editor of the journal Dissociation). The tone of the book is
expressed by a quote from David Sakheim and Susan Devine: "Clinical
psychiatry is rarely aided directly in applying a generic body of facts to
a particular case."
The author believes his own propaganda and the book contains heavy doses of
conspiracy theory and paranoia. He shows his real motives when he writes
of the Omaha collusion involving senators, the FBI, a newspaper, and a black
leader. All of these people were legally cleared.
This book is not recommended.
Reviewed by LeRoy G. Schultz, Emeritus Professor of Social
Work, West Virginia University.