For the 401 children removed from a West Texas polygamist compound earlier this week, life as they know it – where even laughter was forbidden – is about to change drastically.
Now the victims of what state authorities suspect is the largest child abuse case in the nation's history, these children are likely to face a myriad of psychological issues, including extreme phobias, identity issues and problems obeying authority figures, according to several cult experts.
"On one level [the lives of these children] have been wonderful in the sense that you're never alone and you have lots of family members constantly around you," said Steven Hassan, psychologist and founder of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center. "But on the other hand, you're not encouraged to think for yourself or have an imagination and learn and grow. You're encouraged to conform and be a clone."
Exactly what is a "cult expert?" What sort of credentials are there for such a thing?
What is a "cult?" How does one differentiate between "cults" and non-cults?
Steven Hassan (the "cult expert" referenced above) is a self-proclaimed "cult counselor and mind control expert" who charges $250 per hour and/or $2,500 per day for his services. His website includes a page devoted to the FLDS Church (of course, he also has one for us). At the top of a list of links is a story about a neighbor of the FLDS compound in Texas who objects to a tower on the compound because it is "ominous and creepy."
Not exactly a paragon of objectivity.
And the media is calling him an "expert."
Having read some of Hassan's books and reading about his experience inside a cult, I think he qualifies as an expert. At least I think he's more an expert than me or Smac.
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Photographs of the children show some as young as infants and others ranging in age up to teenagers, many having spent their entire lives immersed in the cult.
That means having grown up on a compound where the rules of childhood forbid the joys of normal child's play like television and radio. Internet access was forbidden and iPods could only be used to listen to Jeffs' sermons. Even laughter was banned at the compound.
These children are unlikely to respond well to the Texan authorities and will have a long road to recovery ahead of them.
"They're going to need to realize that the world is a nice place and that they can sit in the sun and play on swings and that people will be kind to them and like them," said Hassan, who is a former member of Sun Myung Moon's cult. "And that women, particularly for members of this cult, matter and are not just baby machines."
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While other American children worry little about things more serious than their lunchtime snack or their afternoon play date, the children removed from Jeffs' compound will likely suffer from terrifying phobias, Hassan told ABCNews.com.
I wonder how Hassan knows any of this. He has no apparent expertise with the FLDS folks, their beliefs, way of life, etc.
Hassan knows cults and cult members. I'm sure if these were perfectly well adjusted people who have not been harmed in any way by the FLDS, he would not be interested. I don't see Hassan sticking his nose into perfectly harmless non-cult groups.
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"In the mind of someone who has a phobia, they can't imagine [living outside the compound] will have a positive result," said Hassan. "They'll develop phobias of losing their salvation or burning in hell."
"It can also be things like [fearing] they'll be raped by the outsiders, or that the outsiders will beat and torture you or that you'll get cancer or AIDS if you leave the compound," said Hassan. "Some believe they'll become drug addicts or will commit suicide if they leave."
???!!! ABC News is taking this guy's conjecture at face value. Great "news reporting," guys.
Despite Smacs surprise, these are very real psychological issues for cult members as they try to adjust to society, but even regular LDS have some of these phobias. We've all heard TBMs say without the church they would be addicted to drugs. And I know pretty much every TBM believes that if they leave the church they will lose their salvation and go to outer darkness (Hell for non-LDS like Hassan). I am surprised that Smac is surprised by any of this.
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"[These children] are like people who have come from one culture into another, in some ways they're similar to immigrants," said Allen Tate Wood, another former member of Moon's cult and now a public educator about cults. "Now they're faced with a whole myriad of challenges to come to terms with in the larger world."
...
"Inside extremist organizations the addiction is deliberately induced," said Wood, who said the effect a cult has on an individual is similar to that of a drug or alcohol addiction. "When someone comes out, part of the process of healing and recovering is letting go of the addiction, and this case that means letting go of the theology, ideology of the group."
"As long as they still believe, they're still addicted," added Wood.
Mr. Wood is, like Mr. Hassan, a self-proclaimed "cult expert." And like Mr. Hassan, he has no apparent familiarity with the FLDS folks, their beliefs or way of life.
-Smac
Hassan is a well respected cult expert, but it doesn't take a cult expert to see that the FLDS is a dangerous cult, and the members are better off free from it.