![\"111019Tavris2\"](\"http:\/\/www.littlerascalsdaycarecase.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/111019Tavris2.jpg\")
July 13, 2012<\/p>\nJuly 13, 2012<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is painful to admit this, but when the McMartin story first hit the news, the two of us, independently, were inclined to believe that the preschool teachers were guilty. Not knowing the details of the allegations, we mindlessly accepted the \u2018where there\u2019s smoke, there\u2019s fire\u2019 clich\u00e9; as scientists, we should have known better.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen, months after the trial ended, the full story came out \u2013 about the emotionally disturbed mother who made the first accusation and whose charges became crazier and crazier until even the prosecution stopped paying attention to her; about how the children had been coerced over many months to \u2018tell\u2019 by zealous social workers on a moral crusade; about how the children\u2019s stories became increasingly outlandish \u2013 we felt foolish and embarrassed that we had sacrificed our scientific skepticism on the altar of outrage.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut our dissonance is nothing compared with that of the people who were personally involved in or who took a public stand, including the many psychotherapists, psychiatrists and social workers who consider themselves skilled clinicians and advocates for children\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n