Children in minority religions : growing up in controversial religious groups / Liselotte Frisk, Sanja Nilsson, and Peter Åkerbäck.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Frisk, Liselotte, 1959- author.

Nilsson, Sanja, author.

Åkerbäck, Peter, 1967- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children--Religious life.

Children.

Religious minorities.

Physical Description:

vi, 429 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Sheffield, South Yorkshire ; Bristol, CT : Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2018.

Summary:

Minority religions that differ from the mainstream are often perceived as controversial and as a threat to the individual and to society. During the 1970s and '80s, there were intense discussions about whether conversion to these groups was voluntary or an effect of brainwashing or manipulation. In recent years, however, the situation of children in these groups has taken over the public debate. Many believe that childhoods in cults involve physical and psychological abuse, and that severe punishment, starvation, sexual abuse, manipulation, forced obedience, lack of medical care and demonization of the outside world is part of everyday life. This book presents four years of research. Its purpose is to highlight children's upbringing in certain minority religions with a high degree of sectarian criteria in a sociological sense, including: high tension with the society/world outside; unique legitimacy; high level of commitment; and exclusive membership. The study examines mainly, but not exclusively, seven minority religious communities: the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON), The Family International (formerly The Children of God), the Church of Scientology, the Family Federation/Unification Church, Knutby Filadelfia (a Pentecostal group), the Plymouth Brethren/Exclusive Brethren, and Jehovah's Witnesses. The fieldwork was conducted in Sweden, but the situation of the children and the findings are relevant to other countries. Most of the minority groups discussed have an international character with a presence in many countries, with only minor differences depending on local circumstances. The study is based on literature from the religions and on observations of children and parents in religious rituals and daily life. However, the most important material for the book consists of seventy-five in-depth interviews with adults who grew up in minority religions and who are still involved, who grew up in minority religions but are not now engaged, and who raised children in the minority religions; as well as eighteen in-depth interviews with children between the ages of 8 and 17 living in these groups. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction / Liselotte Frisk, Sanja Nilsson, Peter Åkerbäck

The politicization of children in minority religions : the Swedish and the European contexts / Peter Åkerbäck

Children's rights in relation to religion in contemporary Sweden : debates and arguments / Sanja Nilsson

Growing up in controversial minority religions : constructions of childhood / Liselotte Frisk

Recently reborn : to return as a child of scientologist parents / Peter Åkerbäck

The family international : a narrative approach / Liselotte Frisk, Sanja Nilsson

Diana Baumrind's parenting styles : examples of the Osho movement and Jehovah's Witnesses / Liselotte Frisk

"I have lived all my life in a reality that doesn't exist" : perspectives from ex-members raised in controversial minority religions / Liselotte Frisk

Religion, parenting and child corporal punishment : the example of the twelve tribes / Liselotte Frisk

Medicine and healthcare in controversial minority religions : perspectives from medical anthropology / Liselotte Frisk

The charismatic leader in Knutby Filadelfia : the children's perspective / Sanja Nilsson

Learning the principles : socialization of children within the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification through Sunday school / Peter Åkerbäck

In the rear-view mirror : experiences of attending an Ashram-based religious minority school in Sweden / Sanja Nilsson

Raising and schooling children in the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church : the Swedish perspective / Liselotte Frisk, Sanja Nilsson

The Waldorf education system and religion / Liselotte Frisk

Applied scholastics and study technology : the educational perspective developed by L. Ron Hubbard / Liselotte Frisk

Conclusion : controversial minority religions and childhoods / Liselotte Frisk, Sanja Nilsson, Peter Åkerbäck.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Frisk, Liselotte, 1959- Children in minority religions.

ISBN:

9781781794203

1781794200

9781781795910

1781795916

OCLC:

1002130425

Publisher Number:

99978188274