One thing that has already emerged from the quantitative study is the level of child sexual abuse - around 26% at the moment. That is serious. Very few of these cases come to court because the victims are too scared - for most people it is an ordeal to report sexual abuse but for former members of the Exclusive Brethren is it even harder because they are up against the money and power that they can wield.
Of course is the EB know about it they tend to push it under the carpet - 'he (or she0 has repented and put things right before the Lord'. Oh ... that's ok then is it.
Question; How many court cases would it take to get the government to sit up and notice
Answer: Anyone know?
Question: How can we help people come forward
Answer: You tell me?
It is things like this that trouble me and make this research so draining. And right now I am burnt out. I spend a lot of my life emailing former members, meeting them, gathering questionnaires, interviewing them etc etc.
sometimes it is too much
Friday, 22 June 2012
Saturday, 16 June 2012
The numbers for the quantitative study are gradually creeping up - bit slow so if anyone is reading this who once used to be in the exclusive brethren (or another brethren group like the Rentons) then contact me.
I was talking to a friend the other day about why it might that two people born in the same group (i.e. the exclusive brethren) and therefore one would think had similar experiences, actually experienced being raised in the brethren in very different ways. We talked about the parents being the gatekeepers - that is some parents not only 'let' the brethren into their family life but embraced their doctrines of separation fully. The boundary between the family and the EB was therefore very blurred. Other parents however, by closing the gates a bit mitigated the brethren messages of extreme separation. These families not only allowed independent thought but encouraged it in their children by having open discussions, allowing the child to question and then provided the answers etc.
My parents especially my mother were in the former group. Even though I was born at the end of WWII before the extremes of JTJnr - the doctrines of separation were already deeply entrenced and mother, the gatekeeper did not close the gate to this rigid way of living that denied children a normal healthy upbringing and she did not open the gate to the outside world. She controlled these gates through lectures at me when she felt i had transgressed. She loved me i know and i know she did all this out of love but how misguided she was. Other families, even those currently in the exclusive brethren, seem to manage the gatekeeping roles much better. They have a degree of autonomy from the exclusive brethren and healthy discussion is facilitated.
I have found preparing the paper for the Montreal conference very stressful so i appreciated this discussion with my friend. He has never been in a cult but as a counselling psychologist too he has a sound knowledge of how families work.
I don't know if people are listening to this blog - it would be nice to get some feedback and for you to share your stories too.
I was talking to a friend the other day about why it might that two people born in the same group (i.e. the exclusive brethren) and therefore one would think had similar experiences, actually experienced being raised in the brethren in very different ways. We talked about the parents being the gatekeepers - that is some parents not only 'let' the brethren into their family life but embraced their doctrines of separation fully. The boundary between the family and the EB was therefore very blurred. Other parents however, by closing the gates a bit mitigated the brethren messages of extreme separation. These families not only allowed independent thought but encouraged it in their children by having open discussions, allowing the child to question and then provided the answers etc.
My parents especially my mother were in the former group. Even though I was born at the end of WWII before the extremes of JTJnr - the doctrines of separation were already deeply entrenced and mother, the gatekeeper did not close the gate to this rigid way of living that denied children a normal healthy upbringing and she did not open the gate to the outside world. She controlled these gates through lectures at me when she felt i had transgressed. She loved me i know and i know she did all this out of love but how misguided she was. Other families, even those currently in the exclusive brethren, seem to manage the gatekeeping roles much better. They have a degree of autonomy from the exclusive brethren and healthy discussion is facilitated.
I have found preparing the paper for the Montreal conference very stressful so i appreciated this discussion with my friend. He has never been in a cult but as a counselling psychologist too he has a sound knowledge of how families work.
I don't know if people are listening to this blog - it would be nice to get some feedback and for you to share your stories too.
Sunday, 3 June 2012
When I first came across Lifton's book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China I did not at first believe that it could be applied to the Exclusive Brethren.
In his book, Lifton outlines eight criteria for thought reform so I thought I would look at each one by one. I will do this here and on peebs.net
Let's start with Milieu Control - this is the control of information and communication both within the environment so within the EB. and between the group - and therefore the individual in the group - and the outside world. It also applies to control of communication within the individual. This to my mind results in two things - isolation from society at large but also isolation from one's true self.
By completely controlling the individual's inner environment - their thoughts, feelings, behaviour etc - the EB I believe are denying the child the normal stimulation needed for healthy growth. They 'trample on the natural', love is conditional, the true self is repressed and a kind of proxy or pseudo personality develops to satisfy the demands of the group and of the parents.
By depriving the child of alternative perspectives and the kind of environment needed for healthy development of the naturally enquiring mind, groups like the EB are abusing their children.
When people leave the EB, the lack the necessary information and experience needed to make the transition to the outside world - even the EB themselves have said that when people leave they lack the skills they need. one of the three stooges on the BBC Everyman programme said this.
Control the environment, control the information coming in and going out and you can control the members. It worked in China and it works for all the cults in this world. It works for the EB too.
just some thoughts which I hope will develop as I muse on this.
In his book, Lifton outlines eight criteria for thought reform so I thought I would look at each one by one. I will do this here and on peebs.net
Let's start with Milieu Control - this is the control of information and communication both within the environment so within the EB. and between the group - and therefore the individual in the group - and the outside world. It also applies to control of communication within the individual. This to my mind results in two things - isolation from society at large but also isolation from one's true self.
By completely controlling the individual's inner environment - their thoughts, feelings, behaviour etc - the EB I believe are denying the child the normal stimulation needed for healthy growth. They 'trample on the natural', love is conditional, the true self is repressed and a kind of proxy or pseudo personality develops to satisfy the demands of the group and of the parents.
By depriving the child of alternative perspectives and the kind of environment needed for healthy development of the naturally enquiring mind, groups like the EB are abusing their children.
When people leave the EB, the lack the necessary information and experience needed to make the transition to the outside world - even the EB themselves have said that when people leave they lack the skills they need. one of the three stooges on the BBC Everyman programme said this.
Control the environment, control the information coming in and going out and you can control the members. It worked in China and it works for all the cults in this world. It works for the EB too.
just some thoughts which I hope will develop as I muse on this.
Friday, 1 June 2012
This weekend I shall focus on the quantitative study I am running exploring the mental health of former Exclusive Brethren - looking at what factors might have an impact on this such as how the person left, what level of loss did they experience, is time a great healer as many think etc. Anyone reading this who has not taken part please go to peebs.net and click on the green banner at the top.
I am also going to work on the qualitative research - I find this much harder to do maybe because it asks more of me. Playing with numbers is so much easier!! It doesn't touch me in the same way that the qualitative research does - reading through the transcripts of the interviews and trying to understand the participants worlds is hard work emotionally for me, so much of it is close to my own experience.
I am going to start posting some of Lifton's factors of thought reform hoping that someone will comment!
So watch this space
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