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Child Abuse in Cults

NCJ Number
103346
Author(s)
S Landa
Date Published
1984
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Based on interviews and conversations with hundreds of cult members and their families over a number of years, this paper identifies patterns of child abuse in these cults and suggests ways to counter it.
Abstract
Cults are totalitarian pseudo-religious groups governed by religious principles formulated to suit the plans of the cult leader. Cult leaders demand absolute obedience and acceptance of their leadership. Cult leaders foster the isolation of cult members from larger society by prohibiting children's attendance at public schools and the use of medical services outside the cult. Isolated from the influence of ideas, values, and morals of mainstream society, cult members are vulnerable to mind and behavioral control by the cult leader. The cult leader's obsession with obedience and behavioral control is particularly manifested in the treatment of children. Brutal corporate punishment of children is common, and normal parental nurturing and bonding is discouraged because it threatens bonding to the cult leader. Other documented physical and psychological abuse in cults include incest, starvation, denial of medical care, and emotional deprivation. Forty-seven States still exempt religious group from child abuse regulations. No parent should be exempt from the legal responsibility to seek medical care for his/her children, and children's civil rights should have priority over parents' religious beliefs. Laws requiring children to attend accredited schools and mandating the registration of births and deaths must be enforced regardless of claims of immunity because of religious beliefs. Criteria are listed to assist in identifying cult control and possible child abuse. 61 footnotes.

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