Michael W. Cuneo

Most agree that a new surge of interest in possession and exorcism came about shortly after the success of the film The Exorcist (1973), but there is a great deal of disagreement about why this happened. Did The Exorcist actually bring about new cases of "demonic possession," or simply call more attention to a supernatural problem that has always existed"

In this article, Michael W. Cuneo-professor of sociology at Fordham University (a Jesuit institution) and author of American Exorcism (2001)-argues that the increase in exorcisms can be attributed to their well-marketed cultural appeal. Demonic possession is a fast and inexpensive diagnosis that allows its purported victims to blame their maladies on demons (which can be exorcised) rather than on other factors (which can't). In the view of its proponents, exorcism is a treatment...