Barbara Snow (therapist)

Last updated

Barbara W. Snow is a practicing therapist based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. [1] She was a central figure in the Satanic ritual abuse moral panic in Utah in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Contents

Academic career

In the 1980s, Snow was a member of the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP) and published research centered on the issue of sexual abuse. [2]

In collaboration with Teena Sorenson, she developed a framework that identified four stages children go through when disclosing sexual abuse. According to the study, the first stage, denial, occurs when a child claims the abuse did not happen. Disclosure is subdivided into two phases, tentative and active, which occurs when a child acknowledges the occurrence of abuse. Recant is a retraction of a prior disclosure. The final stage, reaffirm, is the final reassertion that the abuse happened. [3]

Also in collaboration with Sorenson, in 1990 Snow authored a major academic article that helped fuel the Satanic panic titled "Ritualistic Child Abuse in a Neighborhood Setting." [4] [5] The study supported the notion that secretive ritualistic abuse was widespread but difficult to detect. The abstract states, "The majority of children showed little symptomology at initial referral with significant increases during the disclosure process. ... This study suggests that ritual abuse in neighborhood settings appears secretive, coercive and complex." [4] The study attributes the difficulty in detection in part to disassociation and repression of memories by victims. [5]

Therapeutic career

In the 1980s, Snow worked as the clinical director of the Intermountain Sexual Abuse Treatment Center in Salt Lake City. [6] [7]

Snow was involved in a string of prosecutions in Utah during the 1980s. She led the investigation that in December 1986 convicted Arden Bullock of sexually abusing his children. The case was appealed to the Utah State Supreme Court in 1989, which upheld the conviction, but criticized Snow's "disturbing and irresponsible conduct." [7] Snow responded to the criticism by saying, "Probably the best statement is simply that the jury heard the information that I heard and they convicted him on felony counts, ... It was my role to offer the information that the children had offered me. I testified to what I had heard and what I had seen." [7]

In 2018, a daughter and son-in-law of Russell M. Nelson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were accused of participating in a Satanic ritual abuse ring in Bountiful, Utah, in 1985. Nelson himself was accused of using his influence to cover up the abuse. [8] Snow was the therapist of the accusers in the 1980s, a fact used by defense attorneys to discredit both the lawsuit, and the therapeutic techniques used in uncovering the memories of the alleged abuse. [9] The suit was dismissed in July 2020 due to it exceeding the statute of limitations. [10]

Snow continues to believe Satanic ritual abuse (SRA) is a problem, but feels the term is too general. In 2018 she wrote, "It's not accurately portrayed by the generalized term SRA. Child abuse in this context may include any one or combination of the following: multi-dimensional child abuse sex rings, medical/military sponsored mind control, commercial pornography and domestic sex trafficking of children, etc." [4]

Barbara Snow was the therapist of Teal Swan in the early 2000s. [4]

Lehi child sexual abuse scare

Snow was the therapist at the center of the high profile and controversial Allan Hadfield sex abuse case in 1987 in Lehi, Utah. [11] [12] [13]

In the summer 1985, a resident of Lehi, Sheila Bowers took her children to see Snow, who divulged that they had been sexually abused by their babysitter, the teenage daughter of the local LDS Church bishop. Other parents who had their children babysat by the same sitter took their children to see Snow for therapy. [14] These children also began to disclose sexual abuse by others, with eventually around forty adults were accused of being satanic ritual abusers of children. [15] [16] The Utah County Sheriff's Office and Utah Attorney General's Office began an extensive two-and-a-half-year investigation. The bishop's children were taken away by family services, but returned in several weeks after no evidence of harm was discovered. After the investigation, a Lehi resident named Alan Hadfield was the only one to be charged with abuse. [14]

Before the trial of Hadfield, Snow resigned her position at the Intermountain Sexual Abuse Treatment Center amid controversy over her interviewing methods and opened a private practice in Salt Lake City. [14]

At the trial, a Utah County chief deputy attorney testified that he observed Snow coaching children through a two way mirror. "I was appalled", said the deputy attorney, "[Snow] had so conditioned those children that I had serious concern about using them as witnesses in cases." [14] Snow countered that as a therapist, not a law enforcement investigator, she needed to create an environment where hesitant children who might have been threatened to be silent could feel comfortable disclosing abuse. Judy Pugh, a colleague of Snows at the Intermountain Sexual Abuse Treatment Center, told the court that she was concerned about how children's stories would homogeneously emerge after interviews with Snow. One ten-year-old girl testified that Snow asked her as many as fifty times in one session if Hadfield had touched her, and that she finally relented when she became afraid that Snow would yell at her otherwise. [14]

Stephen Golding, director of clinical psychology at the University of Utah, testified that Snow's techniques were "subtly coercive and highly questionable. There were several inconsistencies in the testimonies of the children. On April 6th, the children accused Hadfield of fondling them as they watched a television program, however telephone records showed that Hadfield was on the phone with Snow at the time the abuse was to have occurred. The children said their father had promised to buy them a toy four wheeler for not revealing abuse, but receipts showed that the toy was purchased before the abuse was to have occurred. Hadfield was convicted by an eight member jury on December 19, 1987, and the judge sentenced Hadfield to 6 months in the Utah County Jail. [14] The court placed an order that barred Gay Hadfield, the mother, from hiring Snow as their therapist. [17]

In 2002, Snow wrote an op-ed in the Deseret News defending her actions, writing, "Sexual predators are master manipulators. ... We cannot have it both ways, ... We cannot decry child abuse publicly and tolerate it privately if the offender is a white, upper-middle-class member of our religious congregation." [7]

Probation

In 2008, Snow agreed to probation by the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing to avoid protracted litigation, for violating the Utah codes of professional conduct and ethical principles defined by the National Association of Social Workers. The state alleged that Snow had convinced her relatives that they were victims of satanic ritual abuse and military testing and that Snow provided fabricated notes from her sessions. Snow admitted to destroying her relative's computer with a baseball bat. [18] [19]

Publications

See also

Related Research Articles

The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse starting in the United States in the 1980s, spreading throughout many parts of the world by the late 1990s, and persisting today. The panic originated in 1980 with the publication of Michelle Remembers, a book co-written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his patient, Michelle Smith, which used the discredited practice of recovered-memory therapy to make sweeping lurid claims about satanic ritual abuse involving Smith. The allegations, which arose afterward throughout much of the United States, involved reports of physical and sexual abuse of people in the context of occult or Satanic rituals. In its most extreme form, allegations involve a conspiracy of a global Satanic cult that includes the wealthy and elite in which children are abducted or bred for human sacrifices, pornography, and prostitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints</span> Latter-Day Saints denomination

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a religious sect of the fundamentalist Mormon denominations whose members practice polygamy. It is variously defined as a cult, a sect, or a new religious movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bountiful (Book of Mormon)</span> Name of two places described in the Book of Mormon

Bountiful is the name of two places described in the Book of Mormon, a religious text dictated in 1829 by Joseph Smith. The first location is set in the Old World near Jerusalem, and the second location is set somewhere in the Americas. While secular and non-LDS scholars consider the Book of Mormon to be a work of fiction, Latter Day Saints view the book as a chronicle of actual indigenous American people. Accordingly, several scholars in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have attempted to coordinate the Book of Mormon text relating to Bountiful with actual locations in the Old World and the New World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nahom</span> Place in the Book of Mormon

Nahom is a place referenced in the Book of Mormon as one of the stops on the Old World segment of Lehi's journey. This location is referred to as the place where Ishmael is laid to rest. It was also at this location that the path of Lehi's journey changed from a southern to an eastern direction before continuing toward the coast and the land Bountiful.

The Little Rascals Day Care Center was a day care in Edenton, North Carolina, where, from 1989 to 1995, there were arrests, charges and trials of seven people associated with the day care center, including the owner-operators, Bob and Betsy Kelly. In retrospect, the case reflected day care sex abuse hysteria, including allegations of satanic ritual abuse. The testimony of the children was coached.

Day-care sex-abuse hysteria was a moral panic that occurred primarily during the 1980s and early 1990s, and featured charges against day-care providers accused of committing several forms of child abuse, including Satanic ritual abuse. The collective cases are often considered a part of the Satanic panic. A 1982 case in Kern County, California, United States, first publicized the issue of day-care sexual abuse, and the issue figured prominently in news coverage for almost a decade. The Kern County case was followed by cases elsewhere in the United States, as well as Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, and various European countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limited geography model</span> Theory by Latter Day Saint movement scholars

A limited geography model for the Book of Mormon is one of several proposals by Latter Day Saint scholars that the book's narrative was a historical record of people in a limited geographical region, rather than of the entire Western Hemisphere as believed by nearly all early and present Latter Day Saints.

The San Diego Church ritual abuse case was a case of a developmentally disabled individual charged with child sexual abuse in 1991 as part of the satanic ritual abuse moral panic. After a 9-month trial, the accused was found not guilty by the jury.

Glenn Leroy Pace was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death. As a general authority, he served as a counselor in the presiding bishopric and also in the First Quorum of Seventy. In 2010, he was designated an emeritus general authority.

The Satanic panic in Utah is part of a broader moral panic that began in the 1980s as children in the United States, subjected to coercive interviewing techniques at the hands of zealous social workers, made unsubstantiated allegations of bizarre Satanic rituals and horrific sexual and physical abuse at the hands of day care workers. As the decade unfolded, clients of believing therapists began to make similar allegations, which are now generally seen as confabulations caused by iatrogenic therapeutic techniques such as hypnosis and automatic writing rather than the discovery of repressed memories. Despite the similarities between the allegations of adults and children, investigations produced only circumstantial, and in many cases contradictory evidence of the patients' disclosures. The court cases surrounding satanic ritual abuse (SRA) allegations were among the most expensive and lengthy in history and produced no convictions or convictions based solely on the testimony of children that were frequently overturned or dismissed upon appeal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebenezer Beesley</span>

Ebenezer Beesley was a Latter-day Saint hymn writer and composer. The music for twelve of the hymns in the 1985 English-language hymnal of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were written by him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anson Call</span> American politician

Anson Call was a Mormon pioneer and an early colonizer of many communities in Utah Territory and surrounding states, perhaps best remembered in Mormon history for recording Joseph Smith's Rocky Mountain prophecy. He was the father of LDS Mexican colonizer and Mormon bishop and patriarch Anson Bowen Call (1863–1958).

Anne Johnson Davis was an American author and public speaker who in 2008 published Hell Minus One, a memoir in which she claimed to have been a childhood victim of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA). In the book, Davis further claimed that her allegations of abuse were corroborated through a confession by her mother and stepfather made to Lt. Detective Matt Jacobson of the Utah Attorney General's office.

Paul Robert Cheesman was an American academic and a professor of religion at Brigham Young University (BYU).

Sterling Gray Van Wagenen is an American film and stage producer, writer, director, and convicted sex offender. He is a co-founder of the Sundance Film Festival, and, in association with his former cousin-in-law Robert Redford, he was the founding executive director of the Sundance Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of the Book of Mormon</span> Overview of and topical guide to the Book of Mormon

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Book of Mormon:

Mormon abuse cases are cases of confirmed and alleged abuse, including child sexual abuse, by churches in the Latter Day Saint movement and its agents.

On many occasions spanning over a century, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have taught that adherents should not masturbate as part of obedience to the code of conduct known as the law of chastity. This denomination within Mormonism places great emphasis on the sexual behavior of Mormon adherents as a commitment to follow the law of chastity is required for baptism, and adherence is required to receive a temple recommend, and is part of the temple endowment ceremony covenants devout participants promise by oath to keep. A 2011 church manual quotes former church president Spencer W. Kimball who taught that the law of chastity includes "masturbation ... and every hidden and secret sin and all unholy and impure thoughts and practices." Before serving full-time missions, young adults are required to abandon the practice as it is believed to be a gateway sin that dulls sensitivity to the guidance of the Holy Ghost. The first recorded public mention of masturbation by a general church leader to a broad audience was in 1952 by apostle J. Reuben Clark, and recent notable mentions include in 2016, 2019, and 2021.

References

  1. ↑ Nathan, D., & Snedeker, M. R. (2001). Satan's silence: Ritual abuse and the making of a modern American witch hunt. New York: Authors Choice Press. Page 158
  2. ↑ Swedin, E. G. (2003). Healing souls psychotherapy in the Latter-day Saint community. Urbana, IL: Univ. of Illinois Press. page 174
  3. ↑ Charles B. Schudson, "What Children Can't Tell Us and Why: Child sexual abuse, hearsay and the rule of completeness", Family Advocate published by: American Bar Association, Vol. 19 No. 1 (Summer 1996) pp. 56-61 online at:https://www.jstor.org/stable/25805819
  4. 1 2 3 4 Jennings Brown, host "The Gateway:Teal Swan", Gizmodo Part 5: Memories, time 21:00, 27 June 2018. see: https://gizmodo.com/weve-launched-an-investigative-podcast-about-a-controve-1826416613
  5. 1 2 Barbara Snow and Teena Sorenson, "Ritualistic abuse in a neighborhood setting", (Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 474-487)
  6. ↑ Snow, Barbara (1985) "Mild to Wild: Assessment and Treatment of Sexually Abused Children," Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy:Vol. 11 : No. 1, Article 14. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/irp/vol11/iss1/14
  7. 1 2 3 4 Derek Jenson "Inmate is still adamant abuse conviction off-base" By Deseret News Sep 24, 2002, 2:53pm MDT online at:https://www.deseret.com/2002/9/24/19678220/inmate-is-still-adamant-abuse-conviction-off-base
  8. ↑ Tad Walch "Decades-old Bountiful case alleges church connection to abuse allegations" Oct 3, 2018, 6:12pm MDT. Online at:https://www.deseret.com/2018/10/3/20655037/decades-old-bountiful-case-alleges-church-connection-to-abuse-allegations
  9. ↑ Jim Spiewak "Daughter of LDS Church president at center of decades-old sex abuse cover-up allegations" Wednesday, October 3rd 2018 online at:https://kutv.com/news/local/daughter-of-lds-church-president-at-center-of-decades-old-sex-abuse-cover-up-allegations
  10. ↑ Ben Winslow "Abuse lawsuit against Latter-day Saint church president's family is dismissed" Fox 13 News, Jul 24, 2020
  11. ↑ Mauss, A. L. (1994). The angel and the beehive: The Mormon struggle with assimilation. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. page 187
  12. ↑ Chris Hicks, "'PROMISE NOT TO TELL' IS COMPELLING AND FASCINATION" Deseret News Jan 20, 1992, 12:00am MST online at:https://www.deseret.com/1992/1/20/18976085/promise-not-to-tell-is-compelling-and-fascination
  13. ↑ Jay Evensen, "THERAPIST WAS PUTTING DISSERTATION INTO PRACTICE, HADFIELD LAWYER SAYS" By Deseret News Feb 16, 1989, 12:00am MST online at:https://www.deseret.com/1989/2/16/18795369/therapist-was-putting-dissertation-into-practice-hadfield-lawyer-says
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Shupe, A. D. (1991). The darker side of virtue: Corruption, scandal, and the Mormon empire. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books. Chapter 5 pp 106-123
  15. ↑ Massimo Introvigne "A Rumor of Devils: Allegations of Satanic Child Abuse and Mormonism, 1985-1994" Annual Conference of The Mormon History Association (MHA) - Park City, Utah, May 21, 1994
  16. ↑ Rhea (Gavry) Monroe "Promise Not to Tell" Independent Media Network 1992.
  17. ↑ Ellen Fagg, "GAY HADFIELD DESCRIBES DREAM WORLD GONE BAD" By Deseret News Mar 3, 1989, 12:00am MST online at:https://www.deseret.com/1989/3/3/18797286/gay-hadfield-describes-dream-world-gone-bad
  18. ↑ Lisa Rosetta "Embattled therapist agrees to probation" The Salt Lake Tribune February 22, 2008 1:49 am online at:https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=8332832&itype=NGPSID
  19. ↑ Lisa Rosetta "Therapist under investigation" The Salt Lake Tribune, January 20, 2007. online at:https://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=%2Fnews%2Fci_5051155
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.