{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:31:48Z","timestamp":1777854708280,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,1]],"date-time":"2017-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1488326400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Interpers Violence"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>From an evidentiary point of view, the project Ross Cheit seeks to accomplish in his book, The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology, and the Sexual Abuse of Children, is remarkably complex. I examine the methodology that underlies Cheit\u2019s scholarship to assess the strength of his claims. Cheit\u2019s work has a strong methodological core in which he asserts the existence of a \u201cWitch-Hunt Narrative\u201d (WHN), public perception that there are \u201chundreds\u201d of legal cases involving innocent adults wrongly criminally pursued for child sexual abuse. He identifies three foundational cases in this WHN, McMartin, Michaels, and Fuster, along with dozens of others, which he distills from published lists. Using broadly collected archival and other data, Cheit investigates the veracity of this WHN. He concludes there is insufficient evidence to substantiate the witch-hunt claim. Methodologically, Cheit\u2019s research veers into more problematic territory when he seeks to extend his WHN claims beyond this central core and extend it to the academy, particularly the research of several prominent academics, including psychologists Stephen J. Ceci and Maggie Bruck. I examine these claims and argue Cheit has not paid sufficient attention to the methods and methodology upon which he bases his claims. I conclude by noting the complexity of evaluating evidence produced and utilized in, and across, disciplinary boundaries, including journalism, law, and the academy. Nonetheless, Cheit\u2019s scholarship raises a plethora of important questions and possibilities for future research.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/0886260516657350","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,23]],"date-time":"2017-02-23T05:33:25Z","timestamp":1487828005000},"page":"853-874","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["The Methodology of\n                    <i>The Witch-Hunt Narrative<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"32","author":[{"given":"Karen M.","family":"Staller","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-0886260516657350","volume-title":"Threatened children: Rhetoric and concern about child victims","author":"Best J.","year":"1990"},{"key":"bibr2-0886260516657350","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/1076-8971.1.2.272"},{"key":"bibr3-0886260516657350","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00004583-199707000-00017"},{"key":"bibr4-0886260516657350","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/ccog.1994.1022"},{"key":"bibr5-0886260516657350","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00207149408409361"},{"key":"bibr6-0886260516657350","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199931224.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr7-0886260516657350","first-page":"A23","author":"Goleman D.","year":"1993","journal-title":"The New York Times"},{"issue":"2","key":"bibr8-0886260516657350","first-page":"330","volume":"53","author":"Staller K. 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