As a moral panic
SRA is considered a
moral panic[132] and compared to the
blood libel and
witch-hunts of historical
Europe,
[1][6][56][133][134] and
McCarthyism in the United States during the 20th century.
[135][136][137][138] Stanley Cohen, who originated the term "moral panic," called the episode "one of the purest cases of moral panic."
[139] The initial investigations of SRA were performed by anthropologists and sociologists, who failed to find evidence of SRA actually occurring; instead they concluded that SRA was a result of rumors and
folk legends that were spread by "media hype, Christian fundamentalism, mental health and law enforcement professionals and child abuse advocates."
[85] Sociologists and journalists noted the vigorous nature with which some evangelical activists and groups were using claims of SRA to further their religious and political goals.
[138] Other commentators suggested that the entire phenomenon may be evidence of a moral panic over Satanism and child abuse.
[140] Skeptical explanations for allegations of SRA have included an attempt by
"radical feminists" to undermine the
nuclear family,
[141] a backlash against working women,
[135] homophobic attacks on gay childcare workers,
[142] a universal need to believe in evil,
[7] fear of alternative spiritualities,
[91] "end of the millennium" anxieties,
[143] or a transient form of temporal lobe epilepsy.
[144]
Jeffrey Victor says that in the United States the groups most likely to believe rumours of SRA are rural, poorly educated religiously
conservative Protestant blue-collar families with an unquestioning belief in
American values who feel significant anxieties over job loss, economic decline and family disintegration. Victor considers rumours of SRA a symptom of a moral crisis and form of
scapegoating for economic and social ills.
[145]