Science and Pseudoscience in Victims' Services

Abstract

The role of science in community wellbeing has become marginalised in recent years. The reasons for this are manyfold, ranging from a rejection of the scientific method at an explicit level to a misunderstanding of how science works. This article will describe the ways in which the scientific method can contribute to the provision of victims' services, reasons why people might oppose the application of the scientific method, and ways to differentiate legitimate clinical science from pseudoscientific thought and practice.