Scope and method of study. The method used for the purpose of this study was a content analysis of literature, a content analysis of legal documents and a content analysis of interviews of persons that were important to the framing of the topic in the 1980s and 1990s. Methods techniques were also borrowed from phenomenological perspectives for the interviews with individuals. Inductive Logic was used for the content analysis of literature and documents.

Findings and conclusions. The findings of this research found that ritual abuse laws were formed and passed through a process that involved fear factors among several different groups and parties with various perspectives and agendas. These fear factors coupled with the legitimacy of these different groups led to the eventual passage of ritual abuse laws in some states. The two specific case studies in this research are California and Idaho. These laws were found to be social constructions that emerged from belief systems and ideology rather than any hard empirical proofs of large scale conspiracies of groups such as Satanists that were believed at the time by some segments of the population to exist among the general public. This social construction of reality is ongoing and the debate still continues among involved parties.

This research is important because individuals were wrongfully convicted in the past and the potential still exists in the future if sensationalized triggering events bring all the social structural elements to a point of critical mass. It is for this reason that understanding of human behaviors and patterns of actions in similar conditions are important for dealing with this type of phenomena as it arises. It is believed by this author that these patterns are deeply embedded in Western cultures and societies.