|
|
Watch Dr. Kanner discuss this segment on Monday, April 14th, 2008 @ 8:15a.m. on Fox6 News In The Morning.
Background: With the
recent identification and arrests in the polygamist compound in Texas,
many have asked how such vast numbers of children, adolescents, and
many adults could be victimized from the earliest ages of childhood
onward without crying out for help. The story broke when one brave
adolescent girl notified the Police that she was being help against her
will. Many question that despite the community being isolated in a
commune- style environment, it was part of a greater society that did
have contact with the outside world and it seemed inconceivable to many
that such practices went on for such a time without anyone in the past
calling out for help.
To better understand such circumstances, in this community, one must better understand the influences of
aggressive authoritative practices introduced to children at a very young age.
Often times, a religious overlay further justifies the practices in
such sub-cultures instilling both fear and even feared death if one
does not comply.
In this particular community, once a girl reached puberty, she was
required to marry and bear children with much older men, often at least
the age of their own biological fathers. To further instill
compliance, as infants these children were forced to live within other
families to detour any ideas about bonding and escaping from the
community. Further threats of being “excluded from the community and
their families” if they both interacted with the outside world were
also communicated to the girls and women in this commune making them
feel dependent upon the elder males in the colony who made and enforced
the rules.
Child abuse advocates are rightfully disgusted by these findings and
have stated that such practices satisfy numerous child physical and
sexual abuse statutes and are very concerned about the long term
effects on these girls and women as they will attempt to rehabilitate
them now that they are free from harms way. The
activities in this colony have been compared to incidents of “white
slavery” and “Pedophilia” which also have the similar dynamics of
instilling fear and threat into the victims if they do not comply.
The horror in this story highlight the effects of “brainwashing” on the minds of both children and adults.
Research teaches us that the earlier exposure to such enterprises,
the harder it is to break the cycle as the child does not know any
difference from what they are being taught as fear keeps them from
turning or learning from others who could introduce “normal” lifestyles. To further intensify such conditions, when children
observe trusted adults following the same rituals, any deviation from
such rules instills guilt and shame which further leads to compliance.
Aggressive and fearful authority figures combined with some sort of
religious justification enforced through physical and psychological
manipulation are the common denominator in cults, communes, and even
families where child abuse manifests.
The adults who carry out these practices tend to be very disturbed
people, even sometimes psychotic, but at least anti-social in origin
and always narcissistic indicating that they believe that their
behavior is justified and that they are somehow “special”. When
children are exposed to such characters, they feel paralyzed and
required to comply for fear of their safety which then continues
throughout adulthood if they remain “jailed” in the community. If
contained to a commune-style environment without external influences,
the practices can continue for years, even decades.
But what about adults who join such communities after living in the “outside world”?. Here, there tend to be
two types. In the first case is the adult who affiliates due to
insecurity and is looking for some sort of union to help them feel
“loved” and “connected” to some sort of group. Here, the leaders feel
like an authoritative parent where such interaction feels like some
sort of love or caring which the vulnerable adult may be seeking to
fill some sort of internal or external void. The compromise often is
abuse, manipulation, and even brainwashing – a very sad and dangerous
price to pay for some sort of desired union. In the second case, is an
individual seeking “power” and “domination” and joins such groups in
order to manipulate others. As a example, one adult male interviewed
and who was a past member of the Texas Polygamy group stated that he
joined for “the sex”. One can then see how the combination of such
“types” can lead to such pathological interactions.
The saddest part of these types of stories is that helping the
“vulnerable” victims who have been exposed to such environments is a
very complicated process. Merely teaching them that their experiences
were “abusive” is not enough for them to feel relief for they have
“lived the experience” for a variety of reasons and the practices have
become “second-nature”. In other words, the rituals and practices have
become their way of life and the conceptualization of anything
different may seem relieving to others, but frightening due to the long
standing familiarity of their experiences and the fear of change. Such
dynamics are well-known to all of the dedicated professionals who help
victims of abuse and realize that it will takes perhaps years for any
of these children and adolescents to feel safe.
A very important message to all parents is that the exposure to
early experiences shapes a child’s personality for the years to come.
Protecting one’s child early from negative experiences, coupled with
helping them feel good about themselves with a solid sense of
independence, lessens the potential for a child feeling vulnerable and
hungry for some sort of outside source of comfort, which may
inadvertently be dangerous or even worse, life threatening.
Key Points:
1. Leaders tend to be both disturbed, aggressive and authoritative
2 Religion is mis-quoted and use to further manipulate victims
3 Fear is instilled into the victim is they do not comply
4 The earlier the influence, the worse
5 Rehabilitation takes a long time
Dr. Keith Kanner
Host
Your Family Matters Show
Fox6 News – San Diego
San Diego Living Show
Comment Notification
If you would like to receive an email when updates are made to this post, please register here
Subscribe to this post's comments using
About drkanner
Dr. Kanner is a Licensed Clinical Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychologist and Psychoanalyst with a full time private practice in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He is also an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at U.C. San Diego and a Clinical Instructor and Supervisor at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. Recently, he has become the Director of Clinical Counseling for La Jolla Country Day School and has been named to the National Board of Directors for KidsKorps, USA. He continues as a Consultant for many public and private schools in San Diego and has also received distinguished teaching awards over the past seven years. He is a published author and a sought after speaker on topics pertaining to childhood, adolescence, and parenthood. He is also presently writing a book for Fox based on his show, Your Family Matters.
|
|
