Customer Reviews

The Psychology of Adolescent Satanism: A Guide for Parents, Counselors, Clergy, and Teachers

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The author ignores his own writing, really.

He starts off explaining his first encounter with a Satanist. He describes a self assured, confident individual. Not the whiny goth or the hapless victim. Not the social misfit who gets picked on and can't do anything about it and just "hates everybody."

He ignores whole portions of the Satanic Bible, and whole concepts. I've seen it. I've broken it down. Compared comments from this book and the Satanic Bible. Its assessment is totally inaccurate. This isn't just me complaining. The author contradicts direct statements by Anton LaVey!

Of course, it does also ignore the other works of Satanic literature. Granted, this may have been "before" all that, but I doubt it. Amazon says 1992. So there's no excuse for that either.

Its assessment is largely of teen "Satanists" (used so because I doubt whether the teens he evaluated were actually Satanists). Ignoring the many adults that are Satanists today.

I do think it deserves one star. It has a grain of intelligence. There are people who try to claim Satanism for totally the wrong reasons, as he identifies. But to suggest that all Satanists fit into those four types is foolish.

So? Largely inaccurate where Satanism is concerned. About teens? Somewhat accurate. But there are too many generalizations for this book to be that useful to anybody but paranoid Christians.

NOTE: This is not a book written by some "Christian Psychologist" that can simply be dismissed by some.
The essence of this book is what common sense knows : Satanism is a religion for anti-social misfits. Too many people try to treat Satanism as an equal and viable religion along side the world's religions. The Complete Idiot's Guide To Religions on the Internet for example has an entire chapter on Satanism, while ignoring dozens of Christian denominations...any of which would probably have ten times the number of Satanists in the world. If you look at the Satanic Bible on this site, there are hundreds of comments supporting it. A case of a goth being beat up in New York is being treated as a hate crime because the victim was a Satanist. It's time for a reality check, and time to stop treating Satanism as something normal people get involved in.

While geared more for Psychologists, Psychiatrists, and mental health professionals, members of the clergy, law enforcement, and parents will benefit tremendously from the book. The book lists and refutes 7 myths of Satanism, namely, you can't be happy and be religious, man is naturally violent, good and evil are reversed, satanism is now, satanism will make you powerful, and you have to chose between religion and sex.

The book lists the 4 types that become Satanists, the pseudo intellectual, the angry individual, the psychotic, and the impulsive suicidal type. It also list the appropriate treatment for each.