ONLINE FIRST
published on January 7, 2025
Natasha Bourne
https://doi.org/10.5840/asrr202516121
Psychological Tools, Rene Girard and Studying Moral Panics
Accounting for the Satanic Panic in 1970s¨C1980s America
This article assesses the explanatory utility of Girardian theory against that of sacred-secular factor analysis in accounting for the causes of the Satanic Panic of 1970s¨C1980s America. After establishing the parameters of discussion, the article argues that the efficacy of Ren¨¦ Girard¡¯s ¡°crisis theory¡± is limited as an explanatory mechanism for such social cascades. Instead, a range of psychological, sacred-secular, and cultural factors are discussed, and it is argued that these factors, and the interplay between them, are necessary for the explanation of the Satanic Panic phenomenon.