Debbie Nathan
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Debbie Nathan (born 1950) is an American feminist journalist and writer, with a focus on cultural and criminal justice issues concerning abuse of children, particularly accusations of satanic ritual abuse in schools and child care institutions. She also writes about immigration, focusing on women and on dynamics between immigration and sexuality. Nathan's writing has won a number of awards.[1][2][3][4] She appears in the 2003 Oscar-nominated film Capturing the Friedmans.[5] She has been affiliated with the National Center for Reason and Justice, which, among other things, provides support to persons who may have been wrongly accused of sexual abuse.[6]
Biography
Nathan was born in 1950 into a Jewish family in Houston, Texas. She received her BA from Temple University in 1972, after first attending Shimer College, a very small college in Great Books, Illinois.[7] She went on to receive a master's degree in linguistics from the University of Texas El Paso.
Nathan taught English as a second language at Brooklyn College, then moved to Chicago in 1980, where she began her journalism career at the Chicago Reader. She returned to El Paso in 1984 to work for the El Paso Times, then became a freelance journalist. In 1998, she took a job writing for the San Antonio Current, then moved to New York City in 2000.[8] Nathan is a board member for the National Center for Reason and Justice, non-profit organization that aids people likely to have been falsely accused and/or convicted of harming children.
Personal life
Nathan is married to Morten Naess, a family physician. The couple have two grown children.[9]
Works
Satan's Silence
Satan's Silence, a 1995 work which Nathan co-authored with Michael Snedeker, examined and aimed to debunk the wave of satanic ritual abuse allegations that took place beginning in the 1980s.[10][11] Victor Navasky described the book as the "definitive study" of the subject.[12]
Paul Okami's review of the book in The Journal of Sex Research noted that the book "is not . . . a scientific work", and he had some criticisms of its organization and what Okami described as misapplication of certain social-science concepts and an over-reliance in some parts of the book on feminist and leftist economic theory. Nevertheless, Okami judged the book to be "essential reading . . . for its devastating journalistic portrait" and "for its more general analysis of proximate mechanisms by which our society can become vulnerable to patent collective madness."[13]
In addition to the book, Nathan published criticism of Janet Reno's Country Walk case prosecution.[14][15]
Pornography
Pornography, published in 2007, is written as a concise "guidebook" on the subject of pornography.[16] Greg Bak, a Canadian reviewer, described the writing as "frank and cool." He also made note of Nathan's assertion that no connection has been established between the use of pornography and criminal behavior, as well as her focus on the "connection between porn and shame" to define pornography.[17]
Sybil Exposed
Nathan's 2011 book, Sybil Exposed, takes on the case of the famous psychiatric patient known as "Sybil", whose supposed dissociative identity disorder was the subject of a 1973 best-selling book and two motion pictures.[18][19][20] Among other things, Nathan discovered that Sybil's psychiatrist was aware of (but apparently ignored) the fact that she had pernicious anemia, the symptoms of which would include most of the patient's complaints.[10] Nathan's book received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, which called it a "startling exposé".[21] Carol Tavris, reviewing the book for The Wall Street Journal, commented that "Nathan's indefatigable detective work in Sybil Exposed has produced a major contribution to the history of psychiatric fads and the social manufacture of mental disorders. This is the book that should be a made-for-TV movie."[10]
Bibliography
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Translations
- 1997: With Willivaldo Delgadillo: The Moon Will Forever Be a Distant Love by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite's novel: La luna siempre será un dificíl amor. Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso, TX, Template:ISBN.
References
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- ↑ John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism Template:Webarchive, Medill School of Journalism (retrieved February 12, 2012). (Nathan won 1st prize in 1991 for work for The Village Voice.)
- ↑ 2000 AltWeekly Awards, Association of Alternative Newsmedia (retrieved February 12, 2012). (Nathan won 1st place Arts Feature award for an article for the San Antonio Current.)
- ↑ 1998 AltWeekly Awards, Social Reporting, Association of Alternative Newsmedia (retrieved February 12, 2012). (Nathan won 1st place Social Reporting award for an article for The Texas Observer.)
- ↑ "Winners and Judges of the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards" Template:Webarchive (retrieved February 12, 2012). (Nathan won a Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in 1991.)
- ↑ David Edelstein, "His Father's Son: The haunted men of Capturing the Friedmans." Slate, June 5, 2003.
- ↑ David Folkenflik, "Seizures Hurt Memory, Ex-'Times' Reporter Says", All Things Considered (National Public Radio), October 19, 2007.
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- ↑ Richard Baron, "Profile: Debbie Nathan" Template:Webarchive, Newspaper Tree (El Paso), February 22, 2004.
- ↑ Debbie Nathan – About The Author Simon & Schuster Official Publishers. Retrieved February 11, 2019
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Edward Wasserman, "Media should exercise caution covering sexual abuse scandalsScript error: No such module "Unsubst"., Sacramento Bee, December 26, 2011.
- ↑ Victor Navasky, "The Demons of Salem, With Us Still", The New York Times, September 8, 1996.
- ↑ Paul Okami, "A Triumph of Skepticism: Nailing down the Coffin of 'Ritual Abuse'", The Journal of Sex Research vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 164–65 (pay site), also available here [1] Template:Webarchive
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Terry Ornelas, "Readings", The Austin Chronicle, December 7, 2007.
- ↑ Greg Bak, Review of Pornography. (A Groundwork Guide). Template:Webarchive CM: Canadian Review of Materials (Manitoba Library Association), October 2, 2009.
- ↑ Maia Szalavitz, "The Truth About 'Sybil': Q&A with Author Debbie Nathan". Time. New York. December 28, 2011.
- ↑ Molly Driscoll, ""Sybil" authenticity questioned in new book", The Christian Science Monitor. Boston. October 21, 2011.
- ↑ "Exploring Multiple Personalities In 'Sybil Exposed'", Science Friday (National Public Radio), October 21, 2011.
- ↑ Review of Sybil Exposed, Publishers Weekly, September 19, 2011.
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External links
- Official siteTemplate:Category handler[<span title="Script error: No such module "string".">usurped]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Pages with script errors
- Biography template using bare URL in website parameter
- 1950 births
- 20th-century American journalists
- 20th-century American women journalists
- 20th-century American women writers
- 21st-century American journalists
- 21st-century American women journalists
- American investigative journalists
- American skeptics
- Chicago Reader people
- Jewish American journalists
- Living people
- Place of birth missing (living people)
- Shimer College alumni
- Satanic ritual abuse hysteria in the United States
- Temple University alumni
- Brooklyn College faculty