Introduction 1
Terminology 6
1 A subject of smoke and mirrors: understanding organised abuse 9
Confticting approaches to organised abuse 12
Criminality and violence as a gendered practice 16
Masculinity and sexual offending 18
Abuse, domination and intersubjectivity 20
Organised abuse as a collective masculine performance 22
Conclusion 24
2 Organised abuse cases: network, institutional, familial and ritual 26
The limitations of data on organised abuse 26
Research into organised abuse 27
Network abuse 29
Institutional organised abuse 31
Familial organised abuse 33
Ritualistic abuse 36
Gender, age and power in organised abuse 39
Conclusion 42
3 The historical context: liberalism, libertinism and ideologies of masculine sexuality 44
Ideologies of masculine sadism 45
Liberalism, gender and sexual violence 46
From liberalism to libertinism 50
The Marquis de Sade and libertine excess 51
Sadean abuses in contemporary society 54
Conclusion 57
4 Organised abuse and the pleasures of disbelief 59
The rise of the 'false memory' movement 60
The construction of'satanic ritual abuse' 62
The pleasures of disbelief 67
The consequences of the pleasures of disbelief 70
Conclusion 72
5 Down the rabbit hole: my story 74
Being a friend 76
Being a carer 79
Being an advocate and academic 85
Conclusion 87
6 The experiences of survivors: extraordinary crimes in everyday life 88
Renee's story 89
Power and abuse in the home 92
Abuse in schools, churches and residential care 96
The continuum of abuse and powerlessness 98
Conclusion 102
7 Living in two worlds: familial organised abuse 104
Private abuse, public facade: dissociation and the public-private divide 105
Paternal domination 109
Maternal complicity 110
When one parent doesn't know: the complexities of deceit and denial 114
The colonisation of family relations by organised abuse 116
'It's all a bad dream': parental facilitation of abusive incidents 122
Conclusion 125
8 Sadistic abuse: control, violence and pleasure in organised abuse 127
Grooming and processes of control 128
Sadism and internal colonisation 132
Conclusion 137
9 Ritual and torture in organised abuse 139
Ritualistic abuse and deviant scripturalism 140
From object to abject: dehumanisation in ritualistic abuse 144
Rationalising ritual abuse: coercing victim consent for their own abuse 148
The use of torture to inscribe and trigger obedience 151
Conclusion 155
10 Sexual murder and reproductive harm: the outer limits of organised sexual abuse 157
Sexual murder 160
Reproductive harm and infanticide 163
Conclusion 170
Conclusion 171
Appendix: Research methodology 177
Bibliography 181
Index 199