In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the Occult
by Robert D. Hicks
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert D. HicksEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-05
ISBN: 0879756047
Number of pages: 420
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Book Reviews of In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the Occult
Book Review: A must-read for those interested in witch hunts.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Communists, the traditional demon-designees, went by the wayside. Lo and behold, an alternative was found, none other than the Prince of Darkness himself! The author does a thorough job of exposing the cult-like obsession with alleged cults, Dungeons and Dragons, and various teen rebellions, which they, the cult cops and their disciples, with a comical lack of evidence, have made into a global, multi-generational conspiracy of devil-worshipping cannibals. Indeed, it's such a thorough job that this ain't no 2 1/2 hour read, but it's scholarly and well-researched. If nothing else, it may lead one to ask: at what point does government (i.e., police) intervention become inappropriate and a manifestation of a police state? The book is from the early '90s. If you think then that it's dated, note that the with hunt trial, in which a young man in Arkansas was condemned to death--partially on the word of a cult-cup whom the book exposes--because he dresses in black and listens to Metallica took place in 1996. No, the threat is still there, and gaining steam! Finally--and the only fun I can get out of the real threat the witch hunt represents--is on the obsession with the game Dungeons and Dragons: picture a group of leftists terrified that their kids playing monopoly would convert them into conservative Republicans. As likely to happen...
Summary of In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the Occult
Mutilated animals, defaced tombstones, sexual abuse in day-care centres: Is America threatened by a satanic conspiracy? In this book, Robert D Hicks exposes law enforcement's obsessive preoccupation with satanism as a model for criminal behaviour. While satanic belief has played a part in crimes ranging from petty vandalism to serial murders, Hicks avows that there is no substantial evidence for the existence of a nation-wide satanic crime continuum. Hicks points out that the satanic criminal model is expedient largely due to its simplicity and economy, reducing to simple formulas such complex problems as drug abuse, teen suicide, and sexual molestation. His research utilises a unique blend of law-enforcement methodology, anthropology, folklore, history, sociology, psychology and psychiatry. He attributes the cult conspiracy theory to beliefs fuelled by Christian fundamentalist sects and to the ungovernable mechanisms of rumour-panics, subversive mythology, and urban legend. "In Pursuit of Satan" documents examples of rumour-panics in which the police have fomented fear by attributing crimes to satanists, indulging in sheer speculation and promulgating misinformation through the sensationalist news media. Hicks examines the construction of the satanic ideology among law enforcement officials, focusing on the exploitation of satanism as a new scapegoat for public fears and addressing the phenomenon of credulity among police forces and allied professionals in social work, psychiatry, and psychology.Murder & Mayhem Books
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