In the 1980s, conspiracy theories that children were becoming victims of satanic rituals began to spread like wildfire, and mistrust fueled anxieties in schools and neighborhoods across the country. This would later become known as the 'satanic panic.'

Professor emeritus of sociology at Grand Valley State University Mary DeYoung explains how moral panics work, the factors that contribute to them, and the role that the fears played in prominent cases at the time.

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