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 ofsatanic 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 filmCapturing the Friedmans.^[5] She has been affiliated with theNational Center for Reason and Justice, which, among other things, provides support to persons who may have been wrongly accused of sexual abuse.^[6]

Nathan was born in 1950 into a Jewish family inHouston, Texas. She received herBA fromTemple University in 1972, after first attendingShimer College, a very small college inGreat Books, Illinois.^[7] She went on to receive a master's degree in linguistics from theUniversity of Texas El Paso.

Nathan taughtEnglish as a second language atBrooklyn College, then moved to Chicago in 1980, where she began her journalism career at theChicago Reader. She returned to El Paso in 1984 to work for theEl Paso Times, then became a freelance journalist. In 1998, she took a job writing for theSan Antonio Current, then moved to New York City in 2000.^[8] Nathan is a board member for theNational Center for Reason and Justice, non-profit organization that aids people likely to have been falsely accused and/or convicted of harming children.

Nathan is married to Morten Naess, a family physician. The couple have two grown children.^[9]

Satan's Silence, a 1995 work which Nathan co-authored with Michael Snedeker, examined and aimed to debunk the wave ofsatanic 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 inThe 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 ofJanet Reno'sCountry Walk case prosecution.^[14][15]

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]

Nathan's 2011 book,Sybil Exposed, takes on the case of the famous psychiatric patient known as "Sybil", whose supposeddissociative 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 hadpernicious anemia, the symptoms of which would include most of the patient's complaints.^[10] Nathan's book received a starred review inPublishers Weekly, which called it a "startling exposé".^[21]Carol Tavris, reviewing the book forThe Wall Street Journal, commented that "Nathan's indefatigable detective work inSybil 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]

• Nathan, Debbie (1991).Women and other aliens: essays from the U. S.-Mexico border. El Paso, Tex: Cinco Puntos Press.ISBN 0-938317-08-3.
• Snedeker, Michael R.; Nathan, Debbie (1995).Satan's silence: ritual abuse and the making of a modern American witch hunt. New York: Basic Books.ISBN 0-465-07181-3.
• Nathan, Debbie (2007).Pornography (Groundwork Guides). Toronto: Groundwood Books.ISBN 978-0-88899-766-1.
• Nathan, Debbie (2011).Sybil Exposed. New York: Free Press. pp. 288.ISBN 978-1439168271.

Translations

• 1997: With Willivaldo Delgadillo:The Moon Will Forever Be a Distant Love byLuis Humberto Crosthwaite's novel:La luna siempre será un dificíl amor. Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso, TX,ISBN 0-938317318.

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• Satanic ritual abuse hysteria in the United States
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