{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:31:54Z","timestamp":1777854714503,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":57,"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>The articles and comments in this issue bear out the enduring impact of The Witchhunt Narrative. There is not sufficient space to acknowledge or respond to most of this feedback. This response corrects an error that was identified by one commenter and it responds to questions raised by another commenter about my analysis of the \u201cConcerned Scientists\u201d brief. This response also documents how Wood, Nathan, and others have misapplied the term ritual abuse, misstated the facts of many cases, and promoted \u201cmythical numbers\u201d that significantly exaggerate the number of false convictions. These critics are wrong about the only three cases they discuss in detail. The McMartin Preschool case began with credible evidence of child sexual abuse that continues to be distorted by critics. The Keller case began with even stronger medical evidence that is not diminished by the dubious and incomplete \u201cretraction\u201d of the Emeregency Room doctor. The Fuster case involved overwhelming evidence of abuse, medical and testimonial, that continues to be distored or overlooked by critics. Those who promote the witchhunt narrative rely on selective use of evidence to reach an apparently predetermined result. That is politics and advocacy, not scholarship. This dismissive approach to children\u2019s testimony has caused documented harm to children.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/0886260516688889","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,23]],"date-time":"2017-02-23T05:33:25Z","timestamp":1487828005000},"page":"1002-1023","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["A Response to Articles and Commentaries on\n                    <i>The Witch-Hunt Narrative<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"32","author":[{"given":"Ross E.","family":"Cheit","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Brown University, Providence, RI, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-0886260516688889","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0886260516657354"},{"key":"bibr2-0886260516688889","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1099\/jmm.0.46108-0"},{"key":"bibr3-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Beck R. (2011, November 18). Willis and happiness, n + 1."},{"key":"bibr4-0886260516688889","volume-title":"We believe the children: A moral panic in the 1980s","author":"Beck R.","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr5-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Berry J. (2014, July 12). How the \u201cwitch hunt\u201d myth undermined American justice. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/articles\/2014\/07\/12\/how-the-witch-hunt-myth-undermined-american-justice.html"},{"key":"bibr6-0886260516688889","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02535.x"},{"key":"bibr7-0886260516688889","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/lsi.12178"},{"key":"bibr8-0886260516688889","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15299732.2016.1114357"},{"key":"bibr9-0886260516688889","first-page":"1","author":"Ceci S. J.","year":"1993","journal-title":"Social Policy Reports"},{"key":"bibr10-0886260516688889","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/10180-000"},{"key":"bibr11-0886260516688889","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/1076-8971.1.2.494"},{"key":"bibr12-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Ceci Shapes Judicial Policy. (2005, August 11). Cornell institute for research on children home page. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.human.cornell.edu\/hd\/circ\/index.cfm"},{"key":"bibr13-0886260516688889","first-page":"79","volume":"28","author":"Cheit R. E.","year":"2007","journal-title":"Justice System Journal"},{"key":"bibr14-0886260516688889","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199931224.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr15-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Cheit R. E. (2014b, April 9). Describing abusive behavior as young love [Web log post]. Retrieved from http:\/\/blogs.brown.edu\/rcheit\/2014\/04\/09\/describing-abusive-behavior-as-young-love\/"},{"key":"bibr16-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Cheit R. E. (2014c, July 10). Evidence in the Keller case [Web log post]. Retrieved from http:\/\/blogs.brown.edu\/rcheit\/2014\/07\/10\/keller\/"},{"key":"bibr17-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Cheit R. E. (2014d, July 11). Mythical numbers and satanic ritual abuse. Huffington Post. Retrieved form http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/ross-cheit\/mythical-numbers-and-sata_b_5578078.html"},{"key":"bibr18-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Cheit R. E. (2014e, October 28). Kathy Young\u2019s junk science [Web log post]. Retrieved from http:\/\/blogs.brown.edu\/rcheit\/2014\/10\/28\/cathy-youngs-junk-science\/"},{"key":"bibr19-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Cheit R. E. (2015a, June 3). More misinformation in the media about the Keller case [Web log post]. Retrieved from http:\/\/blogs.brown.edu\/rcheit\/2015\/06\/03\/more-misinformation-about-the-keller-case\/"},{"key":"bibr20-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Cheit R. E. (2015b, July 30). Correspondence to James Wood. Available at http:\/\/blogs.brown.edu\/rcheit\/related-documents\/"},{"key":"bibr21-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Cheit R. E. (2016a, April 28). Faux first amendment advocate, Debbie Nathan [Web log post]. Retrieved from http:\/\/blogs.brown.edu\/rcheit\/2016\/04\/28\/faux-first-amendment-advocate-debbie-nathan\/"},{"key":"bibr22-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Cheit R. E. (2016b, August 28). Spotlight and those who still defend Paul Shanley [Web log post]. Retrieved from http:\/\/blogs.brown.edu\/rcheit\/2016\/08\/28\/spotlight-and-those-who-still-defend-paul-shanley\/"},{"key":"bibr23-0886260516688889","unstructured":"Cheit R. E. (2016c, September 6). What Ceci said [Web log post]. 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