Kenneth Lanning vs Ingrid Carlqvist

Nu har så Ingrid Carlqvist tagit upp frågan om ”rituella övergrepp”. Och precis som vanligt i sådana sammanhang väljer hon att länka till FBI:s Special Agent Kenneth Lanning.

Hon presenterar hans artikel från 1992 på detta sätt: ”1992 gick FBI till botten med alla anklagelser om satanistövergrepp i Amerika. FBI granskade i stort sett varenda anmälan som gjorts och fann - ingenting. Det fanns inte tillstymmelse till bevis för att det någon enda gång inträffat att en "satanistring" kidnappat, torterat, våldtagit och ritualmördat något enda barn.”

Nu är i och för sig hans artikel inte en ”rapport”, utan just en debattartikel som diskuterar rapporterna om ”rituella övergrepp”.

Men det är inte det mest väsentliga.

Det väsentliga i detta sammanhang är att Lanning faktiskt inte skulle vilja ta i Ingrid Carlqvists åsikter med tång. Jag delar sannerligen inte Lannings grundsyn, men han har helt andra utgångspunkter än Carlqvist.

Min huvudsakliga konkreta kritik mot Kenneth Lanning är att han alltför rapsodiskt avvisar berättelser om barnamord i ”ritualer” med hjälp av bland annat USA:s officiella statistik över försvunna barn. Han missar uppenbara fakta – som att USA har en bakgård i Latinamerika, där barn kan försvinna utan att de kommer i någon USA-statistik. Eller att barn kan födas utan att registreras, eller existensen av olagliga ”adoptioner”.

Mer allmänt kan sägas att Lannings artikel var ett led i ett försök att lugna ner stämningen i debatten om "rituella övergrepp". Hans artikel är mycket svepande, oklar, och tar egentligen inte ställning till om sådana övergrepp existerar eller inte. Det handlar mer om definitions- och begreppsdiskussioner.

Till hans fördel kan dock sägas att han i motsats till Ingrid Carlqvist definitivt inte avfärdar sådana berättelser rakt av. Han tillhör helt enkelt inte samma förnekarläger som hon gör.

För att visa detta kommer jag att citera utförligt från Kenneth Lannings artikel. Den finns utlagd på flera ställen på internet, bland annat här och på den adress som Ingrid länkar till. På en punkt där internetversionen skiljer sig från den ursprungliga pappersversionen har jag valt pappersversionen (Lanning 1992).

I början av texten skriver Lanning:
”I have spoken out and published on this issue because I am concerned about the credibility of the child sexual abuse issue and outraged that, in some cases, individuals are getting away with molesting children because we can't prove they are satanic devil worshippers who engage in brainwashing, human sacrifice, and cannibalism as part of a large conspiracy. “

Observera skillnaden! Lanning är orolig för att förövare kommer undan för att anklagelserna innehåller element som verkar osannolika - Carlqvist tvärtom använder sig av dessa element för att ifrågasätta att de anklagade begick övergrepp överhuvudtaget.

Lanning rekommenderar feministen Florence Rushs bok “The Best Kept Secret: Sexual Abuse of Children" (1980), som hårt betonar hur det patriarkala samhället tystar ner sexuella övergrepp.

Lanning är på samma linje. Han skriver:
“Society's attitude about child sexual abuse and exploitation can be summed up in one word: denial. Most people do not want to hear about it and would prefer to pretend that child sexual victimization just does not occur.”

I motsats till Carlqvist inser han också att majoriteten av barn utnyttjas i familjen:
“During the 1970s, primarily as a result of the women's movement, society began to learn more about the sexual victimization of children. We began to realize that most children are sexually molested by someone they know who is usually a relative - a father, step-father, uncle, grandfather, older brother, or even a female relative. “

Och: “Intrafamilial incest between an adult and child may be the most common form of child sexual abuse”.

Han varnar för de som fortfarande vill se sexuella övergrepp mot barn som ett resultat av “fula gubbars” aktiviteter:
“The progress of the 1970s in recognizing that child sexual abuse was not simply a result of "stranger danger" was an important breakthrough in dealing with society's denial. The battle, however, is not over. The persistent voice of society luring us back to the simpler concept of "stranger danger" may never go away. It is the voice of denial.”

Samtidigt varnar han för att en del som accepterar existensen av sexuella övergrepp inom familjen ofta ser det som något som endast sker i socialt marginaliserade grupper:
“People seem more willing to accept a father or stepfather, particularly one from another socio-economic group, as a child molester than a parish priest, a next-door neighbor, a police officer, a pediatrician, an FBI agent, or a Scout leader. The acquaintance molester, by definition, is one of us. These kinds of molesters have always existed, but our society has not been willing to accept that fact. “

När han tar upp “rituella övergrepp” väljer han att istället kalla det för “multidimensionella sexringar”. Han ogillar termen ”rituella övergrepp” bland annat för att den överbetonar de “andliga” elementen i övergreppen:
“Evidence of satanic or occult activity may help explain certain aspects of the case, but even offenders who commit crimes in a spiritual context are usually motivated by power, sex, and money.”

Lanning ger för övrigt en av de bästa översikterna av dynamiken i denna typ av övergrepp som någonsin gjorts.

“---- (1) MULTIPLE YOUNG VICTIMS.

In almost all the cases the sexual abuse was alleged to have taken
place or at least begun when the victims were between the ages of
birth and six. This very young age may be an important key to
understanding these cases. In addition the victims all described
multiple children being abused. The numbers ranged from three or
four to as many as several hundred victims.

---- (2) MULTIPLE OFFENDERS.

In almost all the cases the victims reported numerous offenders. The
numbers ranged from two or three all the way up to dozens of
offenders. In one recent case the victims alleged 400-500 offenders
were involved. Interestingly many of the offenders (perhaps as many
as 40-50 percent) were reported to be females. The multiple
offenders were often family members and were described as being part of a cult, occult, or satanic group.

---- (3) FEAR AS CONTROLLING TACTIC.

Child molesters in general are able to maintain control and ensure
the secrecy of their victims in a variety of ways. These include
attention and affection, coercion, blackmail, embarrassment,
threats, and violence. In almost all of these cases I have studied,
the victims described being frightened and reported threats against
themselves, their families, their friends, and even their pets. They
reported witnessing acts of violence perpetrated to reinforce this
fear. It is my belief that this fear and the traumatic memory of the
events may be another key to understanding many of these cases.

---- (4) BIZARRE OR RITUALISTIC ACTIVITY.

This is the most difficult dynamic of these cases to describe.
"Bizarre" is a relative term. Is the use of urine or feces in sexual
activity bizarre, or is it a well-documented aspect of sexual
deviancy, or is it part of established satanic rituals? As
previously discussed, the ritualistic aspect is even more difficult
to define. How do you distinguish acts performed in a precise manner
to enhance or allow sexual arousal from those acts that fulfill
spiritual needs or comply with "religious" ceremonies? Victims in
these cases report ceremonies, chanting, robes and costumes, drugs,
use of urine and feces, animal sacrifice, torture, abduction,
mutilation, murder, and even cannibalism and vampirism. All things
considered, the word "bizarre" is probably preferable to the word
"ritual" to describe this activity.”


Han fortsätter beskrivningen med ytterligare kännetecken:


“---- (1) FEMALE OFFENDERS.

As many as 40-50 percent of the offenders in these cases are
reported to be women. This is in marked contrast to historical child
sex rings in which almost all the offenders are men.

---- (2) SITUATIONAL MOLESTERS.

The offenders appear to be sexually interacting with the child
victims for reasons other than a true sexual preference for
children. The children are substitute victims, and the abusive
activity may have little to do with pedophilia [see my monograph
_Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis_ (1987) for a further
explanation about types of molesters].

---- (3) MALE AND FEMALE VICTIMS.

Both boys and girls appear to be targeted, but with an apparent
preference for girls. Almost all the adult survivors are female, but
day care cases frequently involve male as well as female victims.
The most striking characteristic of the victims, however, is their
young age (generally birth to six years old when the abuse began).

---- (4) MULTIDIMENSIONAL MOTIVATION.

Sexual gratification appears to be only part of the motivation for
the "sexual" activity. Many people today argue that the motivation
is "spiritual" - possibly part of an occult ceremony. It is my
opinion that the motivation may have more to do with anger,
hostility, rage and resentment carried out against weak and
vulnerable victims. Much of the ritualistic abuse of children may
not be sexual in nature. Some of the activity may, in fact, be
physical abuse directed at sexually-significant body parts (penis,
anus, nipples). This may also partially explain the large percentage
of female offenders. Physical abuse of children by females is well-
documented.

---- (5) PORNOGRAPHY AND PARAPHERNALIA.

Although many of the victims of multidimensional child sex rings
claim that pictures and videotapes of the activity were made, no
such visual record has been found by law enforcement. In recent
years, American law enforcement has seized large amounts of child
pornography portraying children in a wide variety of sexual activity
and perversions. None of it, however, portrays the kind of bizarre
and/or ritualistic activity described by these victims. Perhaps
these offenders use and store their pornography and paraphernalia in
ways different from preferential child molesters (pedophiles). This
is an area needing additional research and investigation.

---- (6) CONTROL THROUGH FEAR.

Control through fear may be the overriding characteristic of these
cases. Control is maintained by frightening the children. A very
young child might not be able to understand the significance of much
of the sexual activity but certainly understands fear. The stories
that the victims tell may be their perceived versions of severe
traumatic memories. They may be the victims of a severely
traumatized childhood in which being sexually abused was just one of
the many negative events affecting their lives.”

Är de ”multidimensionella sexringarna” verkliga existerande grupper eller fantasier? Lanning tar en mellanposition. Den andra meningen i nedanstående stycke skulle kunna vara riktad direkt till Ingrid Carlqvist:

“Most people would agree that just because a victim tells you one
detail that turns out to be true, this does not mean that every
detail is true. But many people seem to believe that if you can
disprove one part of a victim's story, then the entire story is
false. As previously stated, one of my main concerns in these cases
is that people are getting away with sexually abusing children or
committing other crimes because we cannot prove that they are
members of organized cults that murder and eat people.”

Och vidare:
“Everyone seems to demand that one choose a side. On one side of the issue are those who say that nothing really happened and it is all a big witch hunt led by overzealous fanatics and incompetent "experts". The other side says, in essence, that everything happened; victims never lie about child sexual abuse, and so it must be true.”

Lanning skriver också, i den ursprungliga pappersversionen : "I believe that the vast majority of victims alleging "ritualistic" abuse are in fact victims of some form of abuse or trauma." (Lanning 1992:135, i den version som finns på nätet har ordet "vast" fallit bort, "ritualistic" ersatts med "ritual" och en extramening som betonar att traumat inte nödvändigtvis behöver vara av kriminell natur lagts till...)

Lanning tar en ibland inte helt lättbegriplig mellanposition. Exakt vad som är sant eller inte sant i anklagelserna verkar han inte helt klar över, även om han hela tiden är skeptisk till berättelser om just rituella barnamord.

Han vill som sagt även tona ner diskussionen om satanism och skriver bland annat helt riktigt: ”It serves no purpose to ”prove” someone is a satanist”.

Lanning är bland annat oroad over att överbetoningen av de “satanistiska” elementen i debatten i själva verket kan användas av försvaret för att fria förövare:
“As a matter of fact, if it is alleged that the subject committed certain criminal acts under the influence of or in order to conjure up supernatural spirits or forces, this may very well be the basis for an insanity or diminished capacity defense, or may damage the intent aspect of a sexually motivated crime. The defense may very well be more interested in all the "evidence of satanic activity". Some of the satanic crime "experts" who train law enforcement wind up working or testifying for the defense in these cases.”

Den övergripande bilden i Lannings artikel verkar dock vara att han anser att de ”multidimensionella sexringarna” existerar, men att den speciella situationen som existerar i dem gör att vi får en ovanligt hög grad av förvrängda minnesbilder. Och han oroar sig som sagt för att det ska gynna förövarna.

Lanning har alltid varit på milslångt avstånd från Carlqvists favoriter i USA – Gardner, Underwager et consortes. Hans artikel från 1992 synes ju som sagt ha huvudsakligen två syften: att verka lugnande i den upprörda debatten om ”sataniska rituella övergrepp”, men också att bidra till att inte de (ofta till synes, skulle JAG vilja säga) osannolika inslagen i de berättelser som kommer från de ”multidimensionella sexringarnas” offer inte försvårar arbetet för att fälla de anklagade.

Även om IC skulle kunna sympatisera med det första syftet lär hon inte direkt gilla det andra...

REFERENS: Kenneth Lanning, A Law-Enforcement Perspective on Allegations of Ritual Abuse, I David K Sakheim, Susan E Devine, Out of Darkness: Exploring Satanism and Ritual Abuse, Lexington Books, New York – Toronto 1992..