This would have been an interesting book had it only consisted of the third part. In the two chapters making up this "Part 3: Probing the Persona" the author, at last, lives up to the expectation created by the subtitle "From Salem Witch Hunts to Modern Courtrooms", and adresses children's suggestibility, the interaction with the inquisitor and the social group, and the relevance of these factors in assessing the reliability of children's testimonies. However, one first has to plod through the book's two preceding and immensely tedious parts. In Part 1, the author describes, without much regard for nuances, the general setting of the witch hunts as well as a number of well known cases. In Part 2, he lengthily expatiates upon a Bamberg case. However, after having kicked around this subject for a 100 pages, the Bamberg "Witchboy" case is hardly instrumental to the argument in the concluding Part 3. Besides, the author's argument is, in my opinion, marred by the insistence with which Catholicism in general, and the Inquisition in particular, are invoked (sometimes explicitly, but mostly implicitly) as the evil driving forces par excellence behind the witch hunts.

The author's term "witch-children" is most insightfuland applicable to situations where children are under pressure andinterrogation. The book deals with the mindset of children who accuse adults of wrong-doings and how such children sense what the interrogator (once inquisitor; now lawyer, counselor, therapist) wants to hear. Leading questions encourage descriptions of adults' criminal acts that, in reality, don't exist. The book starts with examples from the time of the witch persecution (American as well as European) when children's accusations were taken as facts and led to severe punishment, including being burned alive. A latter part of the book deals with the psychological dynamics of children seeking revenge or aggrandizement by playing important and powerful roles in our modern life. It shows how the atmosphere of the modern courtroom resembles the old witch-hunt and how innocent people can be punished on the basis of children's fanciful denunciations - including accusations of sexual molestation, satanism, and even still witchcraft. There are two things that may disturb some readers. One is the author's prejudice when he blames religious beliefs for much of the historical persecutions. The other is his portrayal of children which strays far from our culture's stereotype of the innocent child. Nonetheless, I think this book is a worthwhile read -- interesting, insightful and of great value to counselors, therapists, teachers, and parents. END