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Cults & Society
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| Featured Group Report |
Hare Krishna: child abuse |
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3/22 |
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Child Abuse in the Hare Krishna
Movement:1971-1986
E.
Burke Rochford, Jr. with Jennifer
Heinlein [continued] Defining
the Problem of Child Abuse
Reported cases of child abuse and neglect have been on the rise in the
USA in recent years (Costin et al., 1996:136
7;
Daro 1988).4
More than a million young people suffer abuse and
mistreatment annually (Daro 1988:13; US Bureau of the Census 1997:218).
The American Association for Protecting Children found that 1.7
million children suffered neglect or abuse in 1984, an increase of 156%
since 1976, the first year this agency began collecting data on child
abuse (Daro 1988:13).5 In
1995, there were just under two million reported cases of child abuse
involving 2.95 million children in the United States.
After investigation by State child protective services, evidence
suggests that 1 million children were abused or neglected (US Bureau of
the Census 1997:219). Because
many cases of child abuse go unreported, the actual number of abused
children may well be substantially higher (Daro 1988:14
15). Although overall rates remain high, the prevalence of various types of
child abuse and neglect appear to be changing.
Physical abuse has decreased while sexual abuse has expanded as a
proportion of the total percentage of reported cases of child abuse (Costin
et al. 1996:138). The latter
trend may be changing however as the percentage of substantiated cases of
child sexual abuse actually declined between 1990 and 1995 (US Bureau of
the Census 1997:218). A
majority of parents in the USA continue to use physical punishment,
however, and the percentage of parents favouring corporal punishment
declined only slightly during the 1970s and 1980s (Straus and Gelles 1986;
Straus 1994:23
24).6 While child abuse is no doubt present within any community in the USA,
it can also be found within a variety of religious groups and
denominations
perhaps
especially among those adhering to a Judaic-Christian tradition. Both the
Old and the New Testaments recommend the use of physical punishment on the
part of parents to help tame the will of a child (Ellison and Sherkat
1993; Greven 1991). Such
intervention is mandated because all persons are believed to be born
sinful (that is, displaying ego-centrism and selfishness).
Parents thus face the responsibility of ‘shaping the will’ of
their children to ensure they become right with God.
Biblical passages giving legitimisation to physical punishment of
children are many. Among the
most commonly cited are: ‘He
that spareth the rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chaseneth him
betimes.’ ‘Withhold no
correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall
not die. Thou shall beat him
with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell’ (Proverbs 13:24 and
23:13
14,
respectively, quoted in Bottoms et al. 1995:87). Accordingly, parents who
subscribe to a doctrine of biblical literalism
such
as conservative Protestants
are
especially prone to using physical punishment as a form of discipline
(Ellison and Sherkat 1993). Corporal
punishment is viewed both as a necessary and legitimate means to combat
the sinfulness of a child, while simultaneously reinforcing parental (that
is, patriarchal) authority.
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