Religious Research Association, Inc.

Adolescent Satanism: A Research Note on Exploratory Survey Data

Author(s): William H. Swatos, Jr.
Source: Review of Religious Research, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Dec., 1992), pp. 161-169
Published by: Religious Research Association, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3511132
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 161

ADOLESCENT SATANISM:A RESEARCH NOTE ON

EXPLORATORYSURVEY DATA
WilliamH. Swatos,Jr.

A JournalintheSociologyofReligion
Editor,SociologicalAnalysis:

ReviewofReligiousResearch,Vol. 34,No. 2 (December,1992)

Thisresearchnotepresents and setsin context

findingsfroma three-
wavequestionnaire surveyof a purposivesampleof 1,182 highschool
sophomores and juniorsconductedin a midwestern area
metropolitan
during1989-1990.Students'friends' reported involvementsin Satanic
activityare relatedto otheranti-andprosocialbehaviorsand to thestu-
dents' ownreligiousactivitiesand rockmusicpreferences and activities.
PurportedSatanic involvement is shownto be an extremeformof
deviance,mostprobablyconnectedto otherantisocialactivitiesas a
legitimationratherthana motivation. No evidenceisfoundforSatanism
as an organized movement.

Kindledby a GeraldoRiveratelevision special,"Devil Worship:Exposing

Satan'sUnderground," broadcast inOctober of 1988,theattention ofa broadsector
oftheAmerican publicbecameinflamed bytheprospect oforganized Satanisminits
midst.Thisinterest hasbeenmaintained in theensuing yearsby mass media news
coverageofpurported Satanic"cults"andSatanically inspiredantisocialactivities.
Thepurpose ofthisresearch noteis toexplore theincidence withwhichhighschool
students claimtohavehadcontact through their withSatanicactivity
friends andhow
thispurported activity relates
toother deviant activities
anddemographic variables.
"Satanism" is a labelappliedtoa variety ofgroups thatarediffuse incharacter,
butaresaidtoclaima focusuponworship ofandserviceto thatpowertowhom
Christians referas SatanortheDevil.Ofthese,AntonLaVey'sChurch ofSatan,
founded in 1966,is themostvisibleto adolescents. LaVey'sThe SatanicBible
(withitssequel,The SatanicRitual),published formassdistribution byAvon,a
generalpaperback publisher,servesas a coretextforfledgling This
participants.
maybe supplemented byvarious dictionaries oftheoccult.
It is TheSatanicBible,however, thatprovides thefirst critical ofthe
indicator
thrust ofcontemporary Satanicexpression, forTheSatanicBibleis obviously con-
ceivedvis-a-vis theChristian orHolyBible.TheSatanicBibleis notsacredscrip-
turein anytraditional sense.It lacksboththehistoricity andtheinspirationist
claimsoftheOldandNewTestaments, theQur'an,theBhagavad-Gita, oreventhe
BookofMormon. It is thusconceived as an anti-Bible directlyin referencetoand
withassumptions abouttheChristian Bible.Whenwe observeyoung"Satanists"
whodo go publicinhighschools,we seethemregularly carryTheSatanicBiblein
thesamewayas fundamentalist teenscarry TheLivingBible,pockettestaments, or
KJVs,as particular biblicaltastesdictate-andas personsfroman earliergenera-
tionwillremember copiesofChairman Mao'sLittle RedBook.
Evenwiththerecent collectionon TheSatanism ScarebyRichardson andhis
colleagues(1991),socialscientific literatureon Satanism is relativelylimited.
The
majordocumentary workis Bainbridge's Satan'sPower(1978). Becauseof his

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162

compensator theoryofreligion, however, Bainbridge seesThePowerprimarily as

a "deviantpsychotherapy cult,"whilegivingshorter shrift
tobroader cultural
mani-
festations.
Another thrust intheliterature is exemplifiedbyMarcello Truzzi'soften
reprintedarticle(1974) that tends to treatSatanism ratherlightly an adolescent
as
fad.Thishas beendisputed byMichalBodeman(1974),butone suspectsthatit
tendsto remaina popularassessment amongthosesecularsocialscientists who
constitutetheprocontents of modernity (see Lechner,1987).Occasionalbizarre
newsstories areseeninthisframework torepresentmerely youthfulrebelliongone
to excess. Bothof theseinterpretations obviouslystandagainstevangelical
Christians'andSatanists' claimstorealspiritual powersinrealconfrontation-i.e.,
a genuinely Satanism.
religious (Itmay,ofcourse,be thecase thatall threeofthe
dynamics presupposed by thesetheoretical perspectives-psychotherapy, youth
andreligion-areoperating
rebellion, simultaneously, as mayalso be thecase at
timesinmainstream religions.) Othersocialscientific forexamplethatof
literature,
psychology orsocialwork(e.g.,Bourget etal., 1988;Wheeler etal., 1988),tends
to lookat a generalized delinquent amongyouthwhoexpressSatanic
life-style
Itis unclear
interests. inthesecaseswhether Satanism a motivation
represents ora
legitimationforantisocial acts.Inall thesecases,however, thesubjects arePersons
withextensive historiesof antisocial behavior. Thereis no research on theinci-
denceofSatanicinterests amonga normal teenpopulation.

A SURVEY APPROACH
Methods

In an attempt to investigatemorethoroughly youthinvolvement in Satanic

students
activity, andI developedandadministered a questionnaire to purposive,
nonrandom samples(classesandgroups, chosenfrom schoolsofdifferent sizesand
composition throughout a midwestern metropolitan area and itshinterland) of
unmarried highschoolsophomores andjuniorsin threewaves,spring1989,fall
1989,andfall1990,fora totalof 1,182subjects. Refinements weremadein the
instrument at eachwave.Thedatadisplayconsistency on a number ofitems, but
notonall.
Therearecertainly tothistypeofapproach
limitations ' Theinitialdecisionto
adoptitwasbasedona desiretoaddressas diverse as possiblea spectrum ofcom-
munity sizes, interest groups,and schooltypes-and,indeed,thiscontinued
throughout eachwave.We hadhopedthata pattern might developin onetypeof
samplethatwas sufficiently distinct
from anothersampletypethata moresystem-
aticandintensive study couldbe mounted, butthiswasnotthecase.Thedata,then,
maybe mostsignificant forwhattheydonotshow.
Becausewe wereinvestigating areasthatmanystudents wouldknowwerecon-
sidereddeviant, we useda "closefriend" approachto askquestions aboutseveral
kindsofbehaviors. Research byStarkandBainbridge (1980),inreference toreli-
gionspecifically,andReissinhisstudies ofpremaritalsexualpermissiveness (e.g.,
1960,1967),has shownthatespecially amongteenagers, patterns ofbehavior in
whichclosefriends engagearelikelytobe similar tothoseinwhichtheindividual
engagesandareatleastonestowhichtheindividual is open.Bothprosocial (e.g.,
gettingall "A's" orparticipating andantisocial
in athletics) (e.g.,Satanicinvolve-

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 163

mentorcocaineuse) activities
wereincluded onthequestionnaire.In addition,we
askedstudentsabouttheirownreligious their
involvements, favoritemusicgroups
andradiostations,
andtheir attendance
atrockconcerts.We wanted tolookpartic-
closelyattheclaimmadebymanyantisatanist
ularly writersthatthereis a connec-
tionbetween rockmusicandSatanicinvolvement (see,e.g.,Evans,1990).In the
lastwavetherewas also a seriesofattitude
andbeliefitemsthatincluded oneon
theexistence
ofSatan.Thisitemwasincluded totestthepossibility
thatpurported
Satanismamongfriends was merelya reflectionof beliefsin theexistenceof
Satan.

FINDINGS

Ofall theantisocial behaviors listedontheinstrument-including usingcocaine

frequently,havinganabortion, andbeingarrested-involvement inoccult,Satanic,
or witchcraft activitieswas themostrare.'Only10 percent(118) of thetotal
claimedtohavefriends involved intheseactivities.Therangeofclaimedinvolve-
mentwas 12.4percent of209 subjects inthefirst wave--closest tothetimeofthe
Riverabroadcast-and9.3 percent (of375) and9.5 percent (of598) inthesecond
andthird waves,respectively. Thisdoesnotmeanthat10 percent ofhighschool
students areinvolved in occultactivities; itmeansonlythat10 percent ofthestu-
dentsclaimtohavea closefriend insuchactivities.Sincestudents tendtorelatein
cliques,itis likelythatsomegroups offriends include onepurported "Satanist." In
interviews, we couldnotfindmention ofmorethanoneor twostudents in a high
schoolwhowereknownas Satanists. Thissmallnumber, however, is probably too
low,sincesomestudents wouldnotwantoccultactivity knowngenerally butmight
revealittoclosefriends.3
*Table 1 displaysbivariate relationships withregardto relevant behavioral and
attitudinalattributesbetweenthosewhoclaimSatanically involvedfriends and
thosewhodo not.A clear,consistent, and significant associationof antisocial
behaviors within thefriendship patterns ofthosewhoclaimedtohavefriends who
areSatanically involved emerges. Themoreextreme thebehavior, themorethisis
true.Thus,46 percent of thosewithpurported Satanically involvedfriends also
claimedtohavefriends whousedcocainefrequently, whileonly8 percent ofthose
whodidnotclaimSatanically involvedfriends didso. Similarrelationships per-
tainedformarijuana use,alcoholconsumption, arrests,skipping school,dropping
outofschool,pregnancy, andabortion.'
Atthesametime,however, thesplitwasneverso dramatic as tosuggest causal-
ity.For example, threequarters of those who claimed Satanically involved friends
alsoclaimedmarijuana smoking friends(whocouldorcouldnotbe thesamepeo-
ple),buta quarter ofthosedidnotclaimSatanically involved friends alsoclaimed
marijuana smoking friends.Thepurported cocaineusersamongthosewhoclaimed
Satanically involvedfriends, though almostfivetimesthenumber forthosewho
didnotclaimSatanically involvedfriends, stillwas less thanhalfthepurported
Satanically involvedfriendship group.Thesesubstance abuseproblems mayat
least partiallyaccountforthemuchhighertendencyof thosewho claimed
Satanically involved friends toclaimfriends whoalsohadbeenarrested orintrou-
ble withthepolice.Whatseemsto ringmostclearlythrough thesefindings is a
selectiveanti-institutionalismconsistent withpostmodern culturegenerally.

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 164

Table 1
SUMMARYOF BIVARIATE ASSOCIATIONS OF BEHAVIORS OF STUDENTS 1WHO
CLAIMED A SATANICALLY INVOLVED FRIEND AND THOSE WHO DID NOT

INVOLVED NOT INVOLVED CHI PHI n

(percent) (percent)

CLOSE FRIEND

Skips school 83 36 9.928** 0.089 1,182

Dropped out 66 28 7.151*" 0.078 1,182
Legal trouble 88 31 9.144** 0.094 973a
All A's
Wave 1 54 77 6.397* 0.176 209
Waves 2 & 3 83 68 0.793 973
Activities 71 69 1,182b
Alcohol 93 67 3.412 1,182c
Marijuana 75 28 10.787" 0.094 1,182c
Cocaine 46 8 14.938"** 0.114 1,182c
Pregnant 87 37 5.697* 0.100 584d
Abortion 53 20 6.051* 0.071 1,182
Conversion 37 22 1.417 1,182

SELF
Youth group 28 32 1,182
Church
Waves 1 & 2 35 52 0.646 584
Wave 3 56 56 598
Rock radio 69 48 0.916 584d
Rock groups 72 52 0.875 584d

Rock concerts 56 38 0.230 1,182

Satan belief 67 43 1.178 598e

NOTES

awaves two and three. In wave two the item was phrased, "llas had a serious run-in with
the police." In wave three, "Has been arrested."
In wave one working at a job for pay 20 or more hours per being on a school
week;
athletic team or cheerleaders being in school band, chorus, or publications work
were tested as (3) separate items. In wave two only working at a job for pay 20 or
more hours per week was used. In wave three, only being on a school team or cheerleader
was used. No significant differences even in percentages ever appeared.
CIn all cases the usage was qualified to suggest something more than casual or occasional
usel Drinks alcoholic beverages often, smokes marijuana regularly, uses cocaine
frequently.
dWaves one and two.
eWave 3.

*p<.05 "*p<.01 ***p<.O01

A similarpattern
didnotemergein as consistent a manner between prosocial
activities
anda lackofSatanicallyinvolvedfriends.
A significantnegativerelation-
shipthatexistedbetween highgradesandpurported involved
Satanically friendsin
thefirstwavewasinsignificantlyreversedin subsequent
waves.Itis alsoclearthat
"responsible"after-school
activities
likesports,band,cheerleading,ora job do not
differentiate
between thegroups.Thuswe can makelesscertain statements about
theoutcomes ofa positive thana negative
life-style oneas faras putativeSatanism
is concerned.

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 165

Therewas, indeed,a tendency forthosewhoclaimedSatanically involved

friendstobe morelikelytolistentoheavymetalrockandto attend rockconcerts,
as frequentlyclaimedby antisatanists;
however, aboutone-in-two of all students
preferheavymetalrockgroupsandrockradiostations. Thus,thiscan hardly be
arguedtobe causaltoSatanicformation. Rockconcerts involvelowerproportions
but,again,amongboththosewithand without purported Satanically involved
Thesesmaller
friends. numbersarelikelytobe a reflectionofboththecostofthe
concertsand,inatleastsomecases,ofagelimits.
Perhapsmostinteresting, however, werethereligious measures. Youthgroup
involvement neverencompassed morethana third oftheseyoungsters, andthedif-
ferencesbetween thoseclaiming Satanicfriendshipsandthosewithout themwere
Church
negligible. attendancewasinconsistent.'
Butwhenwe askedyoungpeople
aboutfriends havingundergone religiousconversion experiences,there wasa con-
butnotstatistically
sistent, significant,
tendency forthosewho claimed Satanic
friendshipstohavebeenmorelikelytoclaimtohavehadfriends alsoundergo reli-
giousconversion Therewereno significant
experiences.6 differences,furthermore,
relatedto denominational affiliation
or beliefin a "real"Satanbetweenthetwo
groups.
Variousexplanations maybe offeredfortheconversion relationship.In viewof
thelife-style
pattern bytheantisocial
suggested as a whole,themost
constellation
likelyexplanation fortheconversion
is a tendency tooccuras a resultofanexperi-
enceinwhicha seriesofdeviant expressionscombined to produce overalllife-
an
stylechange.Thiswouldvaryindependently fromanystructured setofprosocial
religiousbehaviors. Becauseof thelimitationsof thequestionnaire results, it is
impossible stylesofconversion
hereto differentiate experiences between thetwo
groups.One can speculatethatthosewhoclaimedSatanicfriendships would,if
asked,giveaccountsof moreradicalconversion experiencesthan those without
thesekindsoffriendships.

DISCUSSION

These datatendto be generally consistent withtheclinicians'claimsthat

Satanism forms partof an antisocial behavioral constellation.
Thesefindings also
show,however, thatSatanism is attheextreme ofthisset.Itis reactiveratherthan
causal,a legitimationrather thana motivation.7 Itis thisaspect,infact,thatmakes
thesedatasignificant; thatis,although a specificcausalsequencecannotbe estab-
lished,itis clearthatSatanicinvolvement is relativelyunusualin thesequelaeof
teenage deviance and is of a
part larger pattern of selectionamongnorms ina semi-
anomicdominant culture. Itis alsoclearthatneither goodgradesnorinvolvement
inschoolactivitiesnorresponsible employment presentenvironments thatcurbsig-
nificantly forantisocial
thepossibilities activity.Indeed,church attendanceremains
themostpowerful prosocialforce,though so.
weakly (In view of theantisocial
constellation,onewonders howmuchwaking up intimetoattend morning church
servicesmaynotbe theunderlying behavioral dynamic; thismightexplain,for
example,whychurchattendance is a morepowerful discriminator thanchurch
youthgroupparticipation, sinceyouth groupsusuallymeetinthelateafternoon or
evening. Thismatutinal deficiency wouldblendnicelywithboththeaftereffects of

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166

somesubstanceabuse and withthefindings thatthosewhoclaimSatanically

involved friends alsoaremorelikelytohavefriends whoskipschoolandwhohave
dropped outofschool.)8
Onemayreasonably asktowhatextent Satanism is a partofteenage conscious-
nessinthelocaleinwhichthissurvey wasconducted. Is Satanicinvolvement taken
seriously orourcreation as researchers? Twokindsofindicators suggest that Satan
is takenrelatively seriously amongthispopulation.
First,thebeliefitemsaskedinthethird sampling waveincluded onereferring to
Satan"as a realbeingwhoactspowerfully intheworldtoday."Thisitemdidnot
discriminate significantly between thosewhoclaimedtohaveSatanically involved
friends andthosewhodidnot,as we hadhopeditmight. However, two-thirds of
thosewhoclaimedSatanically involved friends, and43 percent ofthosewhodid
not,agreedwiththisstatement ofbeliefinthereality andpowerofSatan.9
A secondkindofevidencecomesfromlocalnewspaper accounts,particularly
ofa number of"classes"aboutSatanism offered notonlybyconservative Christian
groups, butalsobylawenforcement agenciesandbya localpubliccommunity col-
lege,sometimes intandem. (Thecommunity collegecoursewastaught byoutside
faculty--one timebyprofessional antisatanists,another bya "policespecialist"-
andwasoffered atleastonceforcredit inpsychology.) Thesereceived a greatdeal
ofmediaattention, andthecommunity collegeoffered morethanonetypeofclass
becausethefirst filledso rapidly.
the
Perhaps singlemostinteresting item, however, is a newsarticle on a region-
al winner in thefirst stepoftheMissAmerica pageant(Davis,1991).Theyoung
collegestudent indicated thathercareergoalis "togetherdoctorate witha desire
to workwithSataniccultcases. 'Did youknowthereis moreinvolvement in
SataniccultsherethaninChicago?'sheasks.'I'm interested intheeducation and
prevention oftheir activities.'" Thearticle goesontostatethatsheis a member of
a localAssembly of God congregation---once one ofthatdenomination's fastest
growing megachurches-and hopestouse herpageantscholarship fundstomove
fromthelocalcommunity college(thesameone thatoffered theSatanism semi-
nars)toanevangelical denominational college.By inference, we alsolearn thather
family hasbeenbroken bydivorce. Thesesourcesindicate theseveralchannels in
thecommunity thatprovidelegitimacy forandlenda back-handed credibility to
Satanicbelief.Thus,I do notthink thatwe as researchers introduced a spurious
variable intothesestudents' consciousness.
Onewaytoaddress muchofthedebatethatattends thequestion oftheextent of
currentSatanicinvolvement is tomakea sociological distinctionbetween Satanists,
thosewhoappearto practicesomebeliefsrelatedto thepowerof Satanin the
world,andSatanism as a putatively organized socialmovement. The research at
hand(andmuchelse) confirms thattherearesomepersonswhocall themselves
Satanists, butitdoesnotpointtoorganized Satanism, exceptintherhetoric ofits
opposition. Ifthisis true,thentwoconsiderations maybe offered bywayofcon-
clusion.
The firsthas alreadybeenmadein reference tognosticism byRodneyStark(
1991:85),namely, that"theorigins ofideasandofmovements neednot,andoften
are not,thesame."Thatis, ifby "Satanism" we meanan idea system-beliefs
aboutSatanorevenbeliefsabouthowSatanmight be worshiped-this is properly
matter fortheology, intellectualhistory,and the sociology of knowledge. Certainly

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 167

thisbeliefexists;peopleclaimto "know"whatSatanism is. We can,ifwe wish,

traceouttheoriginsand developments of thisknowledge system.ElliotRose
(1989) has done thisalreadyto a considerable extentand demonstrated that
Satanismis preeminently Christian-i.e.,it was madeup and perpetuated by
Christians at differing timesand placesto servevariousneeds.Thisin no way
provesthatthere haseverbeena socialmovement thatmaybe termed "Satanism,"
any more than knowing all aboutthe Hobbit provestheexistence ofMiddleEarth.
The reality oftheidea system, however, does helpexplainthesecondreality,
thatis,theexistence ofSatanists. In a pluralistic,
literate
culture,itis possiblefora
broadspectrum ofthepopulation, individuallyoringroups, to accessa variety of
and
philosophical theological world views and claim them or
fully partially as their
own.In short, I maycallmyself a Christian ora Satanist ora Buddhist oran athe-
ist,andmyprofession maybe onlypartially gainsaid. Thus,there areSatanists. To
denythisis as empirically ungrounded as toaccepttheexistence ofSatanism as a
socialmovement.
Thereare peoplewhoclaimtheyworshipSataneitherby themselves or in
groups. Somemayactually do so,andsomemaydo harmtoothers intheprocess
ofdoingso. These"devotees" mayrangefrom dabblers tophilosophers, from sane
toinsane.Conceivably thereareas manypossiblereasonstoworship Satanas any
number ofothergodfigures, malevolent orbenign. Thatsomeoftheseindividuals
mayat timesactouttheir beliefsprovesnothing morethanthatsomeindividuals
actoutbeliefs. Thereis,forexample, a clinicalliterature
onbodilyself-mutilation
(see,e.g.,Greilsheimer andGroves,1979;Goldenberg andSata,1978)thatshows
thata proportion of theseindividuals giveas theirreasonMatthew 5:29-30("If
thinearmoffend thee,cutit off...")or otherbiblicaltexts,butthesebehavioral
aberrations areneverresponsibly saidto "prove"anything aboutChristianity as a
socialmovement.
Ourdataprovide someevidence thatthereareprobably Satanicdaddlers among
thishighschoolpopulation. Theyarealsoprobably engagedinother forms ofanti-
socialbehavior, notparticularly enthused aboutschool,though possiblyearning
goodgrades,notlikelytobe inchurch on Sundaymorning, associating withstu-
dentswhohavesimilar patterns,someofwhom,however, mayhaveresolved their
conflictsthrough a Christian conversion experience. Thereis no evidencefor
Satanism as a socialmovement, norforconsidering Satanism a motivating force
foraction.Formost,Satanismseemsto be a lastresortforrejecting dominant
socialnorms, something thatmaybe reflected in tehlyricsofrockmusicandin
substance abuse,butis notcausallyrelated tothem.'0

NOTES

1. One commentator on thearticlein reviewrightly

notes,forexample,thatthereis
no wayto"compensate fordatadegreesoffreedom basedon thevarying
effects, sizesof
samplesand thefriendship networks withingroups."This needsto be bornein mind
whenassessingthedatapresented inTable 1.
2. Strictly
speaking,thereareconsiderable differences
betweentheoccultin general
Satanism, andwitchcraft.Yet Rose (1989) has shownthatin boththepopularandtheo-
logicalimaginationtheyhavegenerally beenconflated andpreliminary
historically, inter-
viewworkon ourpartalso showedthissameeffect amongbothstudents andprofession-
als (e.g.,highschoolteachers,guidancecounselors,andministers).
Onlycollegestudents
whowerethemselves involvedinwitchcraft andacademicsinvolvedthestudyofreligion

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168

evermadeanydistinctions amongtheseactivities - although thesedistinctionsareprob-

ablysharedbywitchcraft groupsgenerally. By contrast, somesemipopular academiclit-
erature (e.g.,Truzzi,1974) and anticult literature (e.g.,Langoneand Blood, 1990) has
worked toblurthedistinction.
3. Indeed,bydefinition publicity is contrary tooccultism. Onemight wellsuspectthat
ifoccultactivities wereeverto becometoopublictheywouldlose muchoftheirappeal
and"power."
4. Ourfindings werehigher than,butgenerally consistentwith,another surveyofhigh
schoolstudents takenin 1988 in thelargestcityin themetropolitan area (Kauffman,
1989).Theirquestions, rather thanrelying on students' askeddirectly
perceptions, about
behaviorin thelasttwoweeks.Theyalso usedtheentirefour-year gradespan,whereas
we restricted oursto thecentralyearsofthequadrennium. Theyalso usedthetwomost
socially"upscale"(one public,one parochial)highschoolsamongthefourin thecity.
Nevertheless, theyfoundthat55 percent had drunka beer,34 percent had drunkhard
liquor,and 10.6percent hadsmokedmarijuana inthetwoweekspriortotheirsurvey.
5. Probably thisinconsistency is due to thefactthatin thelastwavewe includedan
evangelicalChristianschool thathas strictrulesaboutSundaychurchattendance.
Although thesestudents didnotdiffer systematically from thesampleas a whole,thisone
pointwas likelyto have beeneffective enoughto raisethepercentage of thosewho
claimedtohavefriends whowereSatanically involved.
6. Thispositiverelationship heldtruethrough threedifferentphrasings oftheitem.In
thefirstwave,theitemread,"Has had a religiousconversion experience." Whenthis
relationship appeared, we considered thepossibility thatsomeofthestudents might have
thought beingSatanicallyinvolvedimplieda religiousconversion experience(i.e., to
Satanism)
hencethismightexplainthehigherfrequency amongthosewhoclaimedSatanically
involvedfriends. In thesecondwave,we changedtheitemto read,"Has hada Christian
conversion experience." Thismadenodifference tothepersistence oftherelationship.In
thethirdwave,we alteredthephrasing to "Has hada 'bornagain'religious experience."
Again,therelationship persisted.It mightwellbe in thisareaandothers, as theresearch
ofCochranandBeeghley(1991) suggests, thata moreintensive setofitemstodetermine
respondents' religiousworldviewswouldlead to a clearerexplanation of thedynamics
involvedinthesefindings.
7. As is thecase fortherelationship betweenanysociologicalgeneralization and a
specificcase,thisdoesnotmeanthatin someconcrete instanceSatanicinterestsmaynot
havemotivated a student to a specificacthe or shemight nototherwise havecommitted
or evenconsidered. (The same,of course,is trueof Christianity or anyotherreligious
beliefsystem.)Amongthestudent population as a whole,as represented in thesample,
however, thereare considerably morepowerful inducements to antisocial
behaviorthan
Satanism.
8. Unfortunately, ourinstrument was notdesignedto inquireaboutthetimeat which
therespondent attended church, if she or he did so. Matutinal maybe a
responsibility
nonreligious function of morning religiousliturgical participationthatneedsfurther
investigation, particularly onthepartofthoseconcerned withyouth development.
9. A nationalGallup telephonepoll of 1,226adultsconducted14-17June1990
showedthat55 percentof Americans believein thedeviland 49 percentbelievethat
"peopleonthiseartharesometimes possessedbythedevil"(Times,1990).
10. In spiteofthreerevisions ofthequestionnaire, whentheprojectwas finally con-
cluded,we realizedwe neveraskeda questionabouta closefriend committed suicide.If
we wereto do theprojectagain,thiswouldbe a highpriority item,as itcouldconceiv-
ablyshedsignificant lightontheorderandgravity ofantisocialbehaviors.

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