Mass hysteria is a form of groupthink, in which several people with something in common begin to think in the same way. In mass hysteria, the group members all develop a common fear that often spirals into a panic. The group members feed off each other's emotional reactions, causing the panic to escalate.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Chronological order of events
Although Nachlaot is only a small neighborhood in Jerusalem, over 60 people have been accused of pedophilia there. The only constant of "facts" there is the moral panic and mass hysteria reminiscent of the Salem witch hunts which took place in the late 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts. Also reminiscent of the witchhunts that took place in Bakersfield, California in the 1980s. This is brief outline of the chronology of events.
Mother finds bite marks on her child's penis (though from what I heard, it was stated buttocks at the ongoing trial), when her child refuses to take a bath in the Chareidi section of Nachlaot Around Nov. of 2010. (The neighborhood parents called this discovery a miracle.)
Child implicates person in the neighborhood, Benyamin S.
UPDATE(Although this was the incident that started the mass hysteria which led to over a hundred children making claims of abuse, the testimony of this child was thrown out of court in the case in Benyamin S.)
B.S. is arrested.
Under interrogation, B.S. "admits" to child molestation and names other victims (or children who came to his house or to whatever he admitted to).
Parents went around asking other neighbors if their children were also molested.
(This was mostly two mothers who were both American. As I state elsewhere, both these families moved out of the neighborhood when the accusations started to get out of control.)
Talk is that B.S. had an accomplice who moved away from the neighborhood. Parents make an effort to have the accomplice arrested also, but to no avail.
Many children enter therapy for molestation. Therapists are not college trained (or at least the one therapist we met) but rather Cheradim that are trained by a psychologist. This therapy was being lauded as a miracle therapy that was not psychology. Though in truth it was psychology only without a trained psychologist.
January 2011 A lecture is given in Nachlaot about child molestation. The speaker stated that there is an epidemic of child molestation in the Orthodox and ultra Orthodox Jewish world and that the audience of women attending the lecture should be on the lookout to guard their children from potential pedophiles. (Interestingly enough, this lecturer was in the past an ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER FOR VICKI POLIN)
Things quite down in the neighborhood and return to "normal".
Six months later around July 2011, a mother notices that her child is not improving from the "miracle" therapy she in taking him to. She apparently decides that her child is still being molested by someone else.
The mother and another lady go door to door in the neighborhood to talk to other parents to see if their kids are also still being molested.
On Aug. 9, 2011 ( Tisha Be'Av), it is somehow decided who the additional pedophiles are. They are named as Zalman Cohen ,Binyamin P. and one other person, Y.W.
A list is drawn up of other potential molesters.
A few days later after Aug. 9, three people are arrested including B.S. who was arrested in Nov. 2010 and had been released to house arrest in another neighborhood in the interim. (Z.C. was out of the country and was arrested later when he returned.) B.S., B.P., and Z.C. were indicted while Y.W. was released.
Accusations start flying freely in the neighborhood. Rumors start to be spread of a Pedophile Ring
run by S.M. the mastermind.
S.M., the person accused of being the "ringleader" is arrested, and 8 or 10 days later is released for lack of evidence.
Various Jewish Blogs get into the picture from September 2011 or so
In Oct. or November 2011, two families move away from the neighborhood . Both families were involved in the accusations from the beginning. What is interesting is that they did not move away because of the assumed pedophiles but because they both saw that things were getting out of hand with the accusations in the neighborhood which was leading to strife and argument.
Around November, December 2011, a Rabbi prominent in the adjacent Carlebach community becomes very vocal about the problems of a Pedophile ring in Nachlaot.
Money is raised for the prosecution of what is being called the "Most cruel pedophile ring that has ever existed in Israel"
Through public pressure a Knesset subcommittee (governmental) is created in Dec. to "deal with" the Nachlaot Pedophiles.
On the 7th day of Chanuka, a resident of the neighborhood is found hanging in his apt. with his feet and hands bound. Police claim suicide. Many people believe it was murder. (As far as I know he only started to be accused about a week before his death.)
The resident who was found dead was buried in a normal Jewish burial. (A suicide would not have had a normal Jewish burial)
At the same time of the burial, people were busy demonstrating against the lack of police action regarding the supposed pedophiles. Also, two women were busy tearing down his funeral announcements. One of these women Mrs. B. was at the center of the accusations. The second woman was R. C. who claimed she was raped by Z.C. nine years ago. R. C. has also been very active on the internet espousing the rumors of a pedophile ring.
In the beginning of January, 2012, there were 3 more arrests. It is my opinion that these arrests were carried out to appease the public and because of pressure from the Knesset.
By February, over 40 people have been accused, according to a journalist that was investigating the events in Nachlaot.
A number of people were interrogated by the police and are awaiting the possibility of further interrogation or indictment.
Elderly woman is beaten to within inches of death and left for dead. (end of February, 2012)
Various Rabbis, social workers, etc. get involved in investigating matters. (See English translation of Letters from the Rabbis) http://nachlaotchildabuse.blogspot.com/search/label/English%20Translation%20of%20Rabbis%27%20Letters
Police are now viewing the supposed suicide as murder. ( Heard from a 3rd source)(This is incorrect. I heard what the lead investigator said was reasons they thought it was a suicide and why the police have always believed it was a suicide.)
Sept. 12 , 2012 Additional accusations are being made.
(added Feb. 2015) In between Sept. 12 till Feb. 2015, the trail of the 3 people that were indicted has finished. B. S. was found guilty and given a 15 year prison sentence. B.P. was acquitted . Z. C. was found guilty and given a 9 year prison sentence.
A little bit of analysis.
All in all, I can think of 6 families that were the main force behind the accusations. 3 of these families left around Oct. November. This left 3 families. It is my opinion that one of these families Mrs. B. and Mrs C. were the main inciters. Mrs. B befriended a non religious lady R.C. who through her efforts, spread whatever the religious woman told her.
Both women Mrs. C and Mrs. G.that went house to house asking (suggesting?) that children were molested both left the neighborhood. From what I understand, they both left because of the insanity that gripped the neighborhood. After the "fire was started" while the two women were still in the neighborhood, there were basically 3 families that were spreading the rumours. . It seems to me that most of the rumours were started by Mrs. . (Interesting to note that a former friend of Mrs. B. said that Mrs. B. was prone to panic attacks 15 years ago. Mrs. B became friends with a woman outside the neighborhood, R.C., who helped spread the rumours. This seems to coincide with the time that rumors spread to R.C.'s neighborhood. At that point, around Sept. 2011, Mrs. J. W., another woman in that neighborhood started blogging and later appearing on television about the cruelest pedophile ring in Israel history. Also, several bloggers translated articles that were published in Israeli newspapers and tabloids. Interesting to note that much of the content of these articles was based on the 'facts' that the families that were making the accusations fed to them. Around Dec, 2011, things got pushed up to the Knesset. Shortly thereafter in Jan. 2012, the police arrested 3 additional "suspects". 2 were released and one was put in an insane asylum. Additional "suspects" were brought in for interrogation.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
A letter of introduction
Nachlaot is a small neighborhood in Jerusalem where over 60 people have been accused of child molestation. It is in my hopes that by posting about the mass hysteria that is going on there in regards to child molestation, an awareness of this will put a stop to the hysteria and incitement and bring some sanity back to the neighborhood of Nachlaot.
Eleven months ago, I was accused of molesting children in my neighborhood. I did not take it seriously and in fact did not even know people were talking about me since nobody bothered to come and ask me if the accusations were true or not. Only one person whose brother was arrested told me that I was also being accused, but I brushed it off as nonsense. When I came back from a trip for Rosh HaShana, things were much different. Apparently it was claimed that I ran away because I was afraid of being arrested. No matter that I was back. No one was talking to me and I was being treated with great disrespect in all regards. This continued for a couple of months. Things continued to deteriorate until people started calling me a Poshea to my face and saying to me that I molested all the kids in the neighborhood and took pictures etc.
I was not the only one falsely accused. Many people were. I was told by a journalist that was working on a story of what occurred in Nachlaot that over 40 (60 last I heard) people were accused of child molestation in the little neighborhood.
As my life has been destroyed as I knew it before being accused, and since there is so much misinformation and outright lies being printed, I have taken it upon myself to publish the other side of the story.
I am doing this for several reasons.
1. I hope to clear my name and the name of the other falsely accused.
2. Many children are getting therapy for something that did not happen.
3. If kids were molested, it was by family members or friends or someone with access to the kids. If this is the case, then they are in all likelihood still being molested.
4. Things will continue to spin out of control as long as the mass hysteria continues.
For this purpose of revealing the truth, I have started this blog.
You are welcome to comment or ask questions.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Similarities between the Salem Witch Hunt and Events in Nachlaot
http://slusterbubble.hubpages.com/hub/The-Salem-Witches-and-Mass-Hysteria
I found this article in a search for mass hysteria and was amazed at the similarities of the Salem Witch Hunts and what is going on in Nachlaot.
Just as in Salem, where people labeled as "witches" were feared and this fear helped fuel a witchhunt, also in the case of Nachlaot, the fear of child molestation has helped fuel a "witchhunt".
Of course, the fact that two women went door-to-door in Nachlaot telling their neighbors stories about molestation, and asking them if their kids had also been molested, helped to create this hysteria.
It didn't take long before parents were being told their kids WERE molested from the stories the children started to make up.
Although there has been no precedent of such things ever happening before , such as the story that there were 6 pedophiles together with a group of 20 children, the stories were believed. No matter that many children that were claimed to be in these groups by other children who made up the stories denied that they were and show no symptons of child abuse. Not to mention the many conflicting versions of the story ie as one child said, we didn't have girls in our group because we didn't want them in our group.
There is one more more aspect that I think is important. Whenever you have a person or community that holds itself to be "holier than thou", the person or community is going to project whatever they are not able to deal with in themselves onto others. So if molestion is going on, as I suspect, of course they will not be able to admit to themselves that someone from their own family or social circle is doing it. The first people that were blamed were people that "didn't fit in" just like in Salem. Afterwards, when the "symptoms" of child abuse didn't diminish, anyone that was slightly different was also accused. Just like in the Salem Witch Hunts when more and more children there showed "symptoms" of witch abuse, more and more people were accused of being witches. Similarly, in Nachlaot, when more and more children showed "symptoms" of child molestation, more and more people were accused of being pedophiles.
I found this article in a search for mass hysteria and was amazed at the similarities of the Salem Witch Hunts and what is going on in Nachlaot.
Just as in Salem, where people labeled as "witches" were feared and this fear helped fuel a witchhunt, also in the case of Nachlaot, the fear of child molestation has helped fuel a "witchhunt".
Of course, the fact that two women went door-to-door in Nachlaot telling their neighbors stories about molestation, and asking them if their kids had also been molested, helped to create this hysteria.
It didn't take long before parents were being told their kids WERE molested from the stories the children started to make up.
Although there has been no precedent of such things ever happening before , such as the story that there were 6 pedophiles together with a group of 20 children, the stories were believed. No matter that many children that were claimed to be in these groups by other children who made up the stories denied that they were and show no symptons of child abuse. Not to mention the many conflicting versions of the story ie as one child said, we didn't have girls in our group because we didn't want them in our group.
There is one more more aspect that I think is important. Whenever you have a person or community that holds itself to be "holier than thou", the person or community is going to project whatever they are not able to deal with in themselves onto others. So if molestion is going on, as I suspect, of course they will not be able to admit to themselves that someone from their own family or social circle is doing it. The first people that were blamed were people that "didn't fit in" just like in Salem. Afterwards, when the "symptoms" of child abuse didn't diminish, anyone that was slightly different was also accused. Just like in the Salem Witch Hunts when more and more children there showed "symptoms" of witch abuse, more and more people were accused of being witches. Similarly, in Nachlaot, when more and more children showed "symptoms" of child molestation, more and more people were accused of being pedophiles.
The Salem Witches and Mass Hysteria
The Salem Witches and Mass Hysteria
the Puritan Salem Village
In Salem (Massachusetts) the main attraction is the Salem Witch Museum, where a detailed, if rather static representation of the trial, surrounding this story can be visited.
The background of this tragedy is that the Salem Village congregation had always been rather quarrelsome,and that for years there were many disputes between neighbors. Mostly they had to do with property and grazing rights, but there was also a lot of discontent and personal animosity. Over the course of twenty years, three ministers had left the parish !
In 1689, Puritan Reverend Samuel Parris accepted the position of ordained minister in Salem Village, after taking almost a year to decide. Only half of his parish was actually in support of him.
Unfortunately, the Reverend didn't seem to have the gift of mediation, and to ensure his standing (and probably to bolster his self-confidence ), he sought out "sinners" and publicly blamed them for the slightest misbehavior. This did nothing to relieve the tension in the village, but rather enhanced it.
The background of this tragedy is that the Salem Village congregation had always been rather quarrelsome,and that for years there were many disputes between neighbors. Mostly they had to do with property and grazing rights, but there was also a lot of discontent and personal animosity. Over the course of twenty years, three ministers had left the parish !
In 1689, Puritan Reverend Samuel Parris accepted the position of ordained minister in Salem Village, after taking almost a year to decide. Only half of his parish was actually in support of him.
Unfortunately, the Reverend didn't seem to have the gift of mediation, and to ensure his standing (and probably to bolster his self-confidence ), he sought out "sinners" and publicly blamed them for the slightest misbehavior. This did nothing to relieve the tension in the village, but rather enhanced it.
How the tragedy started
There had been rumors ofwitchcraft in neighboring villages, and in January 1692, the daughter and the niece of Reverend Parris became ill. The girls screamed, threw things about, uttered strange sounds, and crawled all over the place. According to eyewitnesses, they complained of being pinched and stabbed with pins !
Doctor William Griggs was called in, but he was unable to discover the cause of the illness. Other young women started to show similar symptoms, even during the sermons in the church. The fanatically religious Puritans strongly believed in the existence of the devil and witchcraft, so under the circumstances, reverend Parris quickly reached a diagnosis of possession, witchcraft, spells and black magic...This conclusion, coupled with the "standing" of the Reverend and the doctor, was enough to develop the situation into a sad string of events, whereby nineteen people were hanged, one man was crushed, and seven others died in prison !Hundreds of others saw their lives completely upset or destroyed.
Since the leaders of the congregation had both clerical and administrative power, they brought the matter directly to court. In practice, this meant that they retained complete control of the story, while being able to wash their hands of any personal responsibility. This convenient "technique" is still used today in political circles...
The first victims of the wild accusations were people that were "slightly different",and could not defend themselves. Sarah Good was a homeless person, who begged for food or shelter. Sarah Osborne committed the "serious crime" of rarely attending church meetings. Finally, Tituba was a black slave. They were severely interrogated by the magistrates, and sent to prison.
Since the proceedings seemed to be so very easy, and "convenient" convictions were reached without a single shred of proof, soon more than 150 people from surrounding villages were accused by the girls ! These were immediatelyimprisoned for witchcraft, in anticipation of a "fair" trial. Needless to say, that the girls and the village prominents basked in the general attention and the glory of their righteousness...
Doctor William Griggs was called in, but he was unable to discover the cause of the illness. Other young women started to show similar symptoms, even during the sermons in the church. The fanatically religious Puritans strongly believed in the existence of the devil and witchcraft, so under the circumstances, reverend Parris quickly reached a diagnosis of possession, witchcraft, spells and black magic...This conclusion, coupled with the "standing" of the Reverend and the doctor, was enough to develop the situation into a sad string of events, whereby nineteen people were hanged, one man was crushed, and seven others died in prison !Hundreds of others saw their lives completely upset or destroyed.
Since the leaders of the congregation had both clerical and administrative power, they brought the matter directly to court. In practice, this meant that they retained complete control of the story, while being able to wash their hands of any personal responsibility. This convenient "technique" is still used today in political circles...
The first victims of the wild accusations were people that were "slightly different",and could not defend themselves. Sarah Good was a homeless person, who begged for food or shelter. Sarah Osborne committed the "serious crime" of rarely attending church meetings. Finally, Tituba was a black slave. They were severely interrogated by the magistrates, and sent to prison.
Since the proceedings seemed to be so very easy, and "convenient" convictions were reached without a single shred of proof, soon more than 150 people from surrounding villages were accused by the girls ! These were immediatelyimprisoned for witchcraft, in anticipation of a "fair" trial. Needless to say, that the girls and the village prominents basked in the general attention and the glory of their righteousness...
The Witch Tribunal
In June 1692, the special Court of Oyer and Terminer (ancient French for "to hear" and "to end") convened in Salem. The chairman was Chief Justice William Stoughton, who was assisted by church magistrates and judges.
The first of the accused to appear was Bridget Bishop, who was promptly found guilty. According to the magistrates, she had used her "invisible astral spectrum" to torture the victims... She was hanged on June 10.
Thirteen women and five men underwent a similar fate, before governor William Phipps dissolved the Witch Tribunal in October, and appointed a new court. This "Superior Court of Judicature" no longer accepted alleged "astral proof", freed the prisoners and pardoned those who already were convicted.
Though the litigation over the Witches of Salem was over, the persons that were responsible for these terrible events were never held accountable...
The first of the accused to appear was Bridget Bishop, who was promptly found guilty. According to the magistrates, she had used her "invisible astral spectrum" to torture the victims... She was hanged on June 10.
Thirteen women and five men underwent a similar fate, before governor William Phipps dissolved the Witch Tribunal in October, and appointed a new court. This "Superior Court of Judicature" no longer accepted alleged "astral proof", freed the prisoners and pardoned those who already were convicted.
Though the litigation over the Witches of Salem was over, the persons that were responsible for these terrible events were never held accountable...
Mass Hysteria and "Mass Sociogenic Illness"
These remarkable events have since been thoroughly studied in various universities, to learn from this bizarre combination of events and the accompanying mass hysteria. TheJudiciary were eager to declare that such a chain of events simply cannot happen anymore. Nevertheless, it is remarkable to discover similarities in modern times.
In 1938, Orson Welles presented the radio drama War of the Worlds.A tremendous panic ensued, and many believed that an actual alien invasion was taking place. The crowds of New York and New Jersey could hardly be kept under control by the police.
In the early 1950's, Senator McCarthy's interrogation techniques and hearings about the "communist astral spectra" in the US bore an astounding resemblance to the Salem Witch trials...
In 1992, a group of 150 disabled children received a packed lunch in Florida. One of the girls felt sick, and almost instantly other children also began to complain. Some had headaches, others felt a tingling in their hands and feet, and still others had stomachs cramps. The supervisor was concerned about food poisoning, and promptly removed the lunch packages.
Within forty minutes sixty-three children were sick ! They were transported to hospitals, but within the hour the problems ceased. Not a single test revealed anything wrong with the food, nor did the same packed lunches produce any problem elsewhere.
In June 1999, several Belgian schoolchildren got sick after drinking a can of Coca Cola. In no time at all, some 250 children had similar complaints, in five different schools. In a country plagued by widely publicized reports of transformer oil and dioxin, and PCB's in eggs, chicken, meat, and even in milk, an unusual scent in a bottle or can is apparently enough to provoke a strong headache or severe abdominal cramps. However, tests revealed no trace of any poisoning in blood or urine samples.
Coca Cola Belgium stated that maybe the wrong carbon dioxide had been used in the bottling plant in Antwerp-Wilrijk, but later examination showed no connection between the contaminant and the symptoms. The Belgian Health Council came to the conclusion that the crisis had been due to Mass Sociogenic Illness, a form of mass hysteria.
Coca Cola Enterprises did sue its insurers for more than 132 million dollars, to compensate it for the recall and destruction of millions of bottles and cans in Belgium and Luxemburg...
In 1938, Orson Welles presented the radio drama War of the Worlds.A tremendous panic ensued, and many believed that an actual alien invasion was taking place. The crowds of New York and New Jersey could hardly be kept under control by the police.
In the early 1950's, Senator McCarthy's interrogation techniques and hearings about the "communist astral spectra" in the US bore an astounding resemblance to the Salem Witch trials...
In 1992, a group of 150 disabled children received a packed lunch in Florida. One of the girls felt sick, and almost instantly other children also began to complain. Some had headaches, others felt a tingling in their hands and feet, and still others had stomachs cramps. The supervisor was concerned about food poisoning, and promptly removed the lunch packages.
Within forty minutes sixty-three children were sick ! They were transported to hospitals, but within the hour the problems ceased. Not a single test revealed anything wrong with the food, nor did the same packed lunches produce any problem elsewhere.
In June 1999, several Belgian schoolchildren got sick after drinking a can of Coca Cola. In no time at all, some 250 children had similar complaints, in five different schools. In a country plagued by widely publicized reports of transformer oil and dioxin, and PCB's in eggs, chicken, meat, and even in milk, an unusual scent in a bottle or can is apparently enough to provoke a strong headache or severe abdominal cramps. However, tests revealed no trace of any poisoning in blood or urine samples.
Coca Cola Belgium stated that maybe the wrong carbon dioxide had been used in the bottling plant in Antwerp-Wilrijk, but later examination showed no connection between the contaminant and the symptoms. The Belgian Health Council came to the conclusion that the crisis had been due to Mass Sociogenic Illness, a form of mass hysteria.
Coca Cola Enterprises did sue its insurers for more than 132 million dollars, to compensate it for the recall and destruction of millions of bottles and cans in Belgium and Luxemburg...
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Moral Panic or a Modern Day Witch Hunt
The following article was published in the Nachlaot Community user group way back in January.
To: nachlaotcommunity@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 02:43
Subject: [nachlaotcommunity] On Child Abuse and Moral Panic in the Nachlaot Community
I think most people in any society will agree that it is important to protect children from sexual and physical abuse. However, because the topic is regarded as taboo, many societies in the past did not take adequate measures to deal with the problem. Many experts have begun to address the issue of how best to prevent abuse, and how to best treat children to help them recover when instances of abuse have occurred.
However, I believe there is another important aspect to the issue which has not yet been addressed. Namely, when sexual and physical abuse of children occurs, it is very easy for the societal members to enter into a state of "Moral Panic" (as described below in a brief excerpt from Wikipedia):
A moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. According to Stanley Cohen, author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972) and credited as creator of the term, a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests." Those who start the panic when they fear a threat to prevailing social or cultural values are known by researchers as "moral entrepreneurs," while people who supposedly threaten the social order have been described as "folk devils."
Moral panics are in essence controversies that involve arguments and social tension and in which disagreement is difficult because the matter at its center is taboo. The media have long operated as agents of moral indignation, even when they are not self-consciously engaged in crusading or muckraking. Simply reporting the facts can be enough to generate concern, anxiety or panic. (end of quote from Wikipedia)
In my opinion, the major problem in the Nachlaot community today is not the child abuse which occurred. It is the moral panic which has developed as a result of the child abuse. I believe there may have been an initial small number of adults who carried out acts of abuse against children. Afterwards, when the children undergoing therapeutic treatment did not seem to recover quickly from the acts of abuse, the community started to panic and believe that there was a huge ring of tens of pedophiles continually harming hundreds of children. The belief in the existence of a huge pedophile ring was a symptom of the moral panic, and not a sign that the pedophile ring actually existed in reality. This panic has caused more damage to the children than the initial abuse, because it places the children in a continual state of anxiety and fear. Also, many of the parents entered into a state of anxiety and fear as well, decreasing their capability to provide positive, nurturing love ! to their children. They, too, may need to have some kind of therapeutic intervention in order to help them cope with the situation. Finally, many innocent people are being suspected and accused of being perpetrators of child abuse. This is itself also an injustice, but the parents of children who have been abused don't even realize that they themselves are doing anything wrong when they accuse innocent people of perpetrating abuse. In short, the situation of all parties involved is very difficult, to say the least.
In addition, it seems the media always assumes that everyone accused of being a child abuser is guilty, and most of the public assume that as well. The media publishes many stories fanning the flames of fear. Rumors and gossip also fan the flames of fear. I personally think that this is not helpful for resolving the overall situation. Someone needs to explain the significance of moral panic, and why we need to approach the whole problem in a more rational manner that repairs lives rather than destroying them.
Another delicate subject which I think needs to be addressed is that children who have been victims of child sexual and physical abuse can sometimes perpetuate a situation of moral panic either by 1) fabricating additional stories about new incidents of abuse that are similar in some way to the abuse they experienced previously, and/or 2) carrying out acts of abuse on other children within their peer group or even within their own family unit. I don't know whether this might be occurring in the Nachlaot community or not, but to my knowledge no one is addressing this possibility. It is understandable that children who have been traumatized might react in these ways, and that possibility needs to be considered and dealt with in a calm, compassionate, and rational manner.
http://nachlaotchildabuse.blogspot.com/2012/06/after-months-of-posting-articles-on.html
To: nachlaotcommunity@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 02:43
Subject: [nachlaotcommunity] On Child Abuse and Moral Panic in the Nachlaot Community
I think most people in any society will agree that it is important to protect children from sexual and physical abuse. However, because the topic is regarded as taboo, many societies in the past did not take adequate measures to deal with the problem. Many experts have begun to address the issue of how best to prevent abuse, and how to best treat children to help them recover when instances of abuse have occurred.
However, I believe there is another important aspect to the issue which has not yet been addressed. Namely, when sexual and physical abuse of children occurs, it is very easy for the societal members to enter into a state of "Moral Panic" (as described below in a brief excerpt from Wikipedia):
A moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. According to Stanley Cohen, author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972) and credited as creator of the term, a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests." Those who start the panic when they fear a threat to prevailing social or cultural values are known by researchers as "moral entrepreneurs," while people who supposedly threaten the social order have been described as "folk devils."
Moral panics are in essence controversies that involve arguments and social tension and in which disagreement is difficult because the matter at its center is taboo. The media have long operated as agents of moral indignation, even when they are not self-consciously engaged in crusading or muckraking. Simply reporting the facts can be enough to generate concern, anxiety or panic. (end of quote from Wikipedia)
In my opinion, the major problem in the Nachlaot community today is not the child abuse which occurred. It is the moral panic which has developed as a result of the child abuse. I believe there may have been an initial small number of adults who carried out acts of abuse against children. Afterwards, when the children undergoing therapeutic treatment did not seem to recover quickly from the acts of abuse, the community started to panic and believe that there was a huge ring of tens of pedophiles continually harming hundreds of children. The belief in the existence of a huge pedophile ring was a symptom of the moral panic, and not a sign that the pedophile ring actually existed in reality. This panic has caused more damage to the children than the initial abuse, because it places the children in a continual state of anxiety and fear. Also, many of the parents entered into a state of anxiety and fear as well, decreasing their capability to provide positive, nurturing love ! to their children. They, too, may need to have some kind of therapeutic intervention in order to help them cope with the situation. Finally, many innocent people are being suspected and accused of being perpetrators of child abuse. This is itself also an injustice, but the parents of children who have been abused don't even realize that they themselves are doing anything wrong when they accuse innocent people of perpetrating abuse. In short, the situation of all parties involved is very difficult, to say the least.
In addition, it seems the media always assumes that everyone accused of being a child abuser is guilty, and most of the public assume that as well. The media publishes many stories fanning the flames of fear. Rumors and gossip also fan the flames of fear. I personally think that this is not helpful for resolving the overall situation. Someone needs to explain the significance of moral panic, and why we need to approach the whole problem in a more rational manner that repairs lives rather than destroying them.
Another delicate subject which I think needs to be addressed is that children who have been victims of child sexual and physical abuse can sometimes perpetuate a situation of moral panic either by 1) fabricating additional stories about new incidents of abuse that are similar in some way to the abuse they experienced previously, and/or 2) carrying out acts of abuse on other children within their peer group or even within their own family unit. I don't know whether this might be occurring in the Nachlaot community or not, but to my knowledge no one is addressing this possibility. It is understandable that children who have been traumatized might react in these ways, and that possibility needs to be considered and dealt with in a calm, compassionate, and rational manner.
http://nachlaotchildabuse.blogspot.com/2012/06/after-months-of-posting-articles-on.html
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