Child Abuse, Religion-Related

Background

The abuse of children was not formally identified as a social problem until the 1870s and did not begin to receive serious attention until the 1960s. Since that time, definitions of child abuse, research on its prevalence and effects, legal and social policy related to the problem, and so forth, abound. More recently, social scientists, clinicians, clergy, and others have identified a nuance in the issue of child abuse, abuse that is connected to religious practice. Such maltreatment has been broadly defined as religion-related abuse.

Defining Religion-Related Abuse

A comprehensive definition of religion-related child abuse is best built on a solid foundation of what constitutes child abuse that is not associated with religion. Paradigm differences between scholarly disciplines as well as historical, political, and social attitudes have led to considerable debate about what behaviors constitute the abuse of children. Despite these debates, many accepted definitions of child abuse share two key principles, the first being that a child's physical or psychological well-being has been harmed or threatened with harm, and the second being that such harm is the result of action (or inaction) on the part of parents or other persons responsible for the child's welfare. Using this definition as a base, religion-related abuse may be defined as child abuse that is perpetrated within the context of religion. Religious context may be delineated further by identifying the ways in which a perpetrator of the child abuse may blend abuse and religion:

• 1.
  The perpetrator may interpret religious scripture to encourage and justify abuse: Encouragement for violent, physically abusive child-rearing techniques can be traced to Biblical passages, such as, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chaseneth him betimes,” and “Withhold no correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell” (Proverbs 13:24 and 23:13–14, respectively). Directives such as these and belief in a vengeful God who will punish earthly pleasure with the ultimate torture of hell drive some parents to use corporal punishment to enforce parental authority and to prohibit supposed sinful behavior. Some believers even equate children's misbehavior with the actual activity of Satan or other evil spirits, who literally possess the children and must be exorcized by beatings.
• 2.
  The perpetrator may invoke God during episodes of abuse: Some parents and caregivers may attempt to bolster the effectiveness of their disciplinary techniques by threatening children with images of God as omnipresent, angry, and punitive. This view of God is associated with a relatively more conservative or fundamentalist religious perspective.
• 3.
  The perpetrator withholds medical treatment because of religious beliefs: Parents and caregivers who belong to a religious group that believes medical interventions deviate from God's plan (e.g., Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Science) may engage in medical neglect of the children in their care. Members of such religious groups tend to cite the First Amendment to legally justify their actions. With few exceptions, most states in the United States do not legally mandate medical care for children.
• 4.
  The perpetrator may be associated with religion: When priests, rabbis, ministers, church elders, and other religious officials abuse children, the abuse may become associated with God and/or the religious institution the perpetrator represents. This form of abuse may gain high-profile media coverage, but existing data suggest that religion-related abuse by parents is more pervasive.

Effects of Abuse in General

The detrimental effects of any form of child abuse on psychological well-being are well documented. Adult survivors of child abuse appear to differ in a number of ways from adults who were not abused. In summary, children who are neglected, battered, sexually abused, and emotionally mistreated can develop an assortment of psychological and behavioral problems in response to the stress of their abuse, and childhood abuse has repeatedly been identified as a risk factor for adult problems.

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