Scientific literature on religion and child abuse

Help us build a reference list of scientific studies linking religion and child abuse. Is there such a thing as religious inspired child abuse? Add the citations below in the comments section, please.

Bottoms, B. L., Shaver, P. R., Goodman, G. S., & Qin, J. (1995). In the name of God:
A profile of religion-related child abuse. Journal of Social Issues, 51 (2), 85-111.

Bottoms, B. L., Shaver, P. R., & Goodman, G. S. (1996). An analysis of ritualistic
and religion-related child abuse allegations. Law and Human Behavior, 20 (1), 1-34.

Capps, D. (1992). Religion and child abuse: Perfect together. Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion, 31 (1), 1-14. [ This paper is available on line and worth study, http://bit.ly/8k8Kwf
Abstract
Religious beliefs can foster, encourage, and justify child abuse, yet religious motivations for child abuse and neglect have been virtually ignored in social science research. In this paper, we compare victims' retrospective reports of religion-related child physical abuse to other reported cases of child physical abuse. We describe in statistical detail the nature and circumstances of the abuse, characteristics of victims and perpetrators, and the spiritual and psychological impact of the abuse. Results indicate that although the basic characteristics of religion-related physical abuse are similar to non-
religion-related physical abuse, religion-related abuse has significantly more negative implications for its victims' long-term psychological well-being

Capps. D. (1995). The child’s song: The religious abuse of children. Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox Press.
Religion and child abu3se1

Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1997). How the experience of early
physical abuse leads children to become chronically aggressive. In Developmental
perspectives on trauma: Theory, research, and intervention (Vol. 8, pp. 263-288).
Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.

Doxey, C., Jensen, L., & Jensen, J. (1997). The influence of religion on victims of
childhood sexual abuse. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 7, 179-186.

Ellison, C. G., & Sherkat, D. E. (1993). Conservative Protestantism and support for
corporal punishment. American Sociological Review, 58 (1), 131-145.

Ellison, C. G., Bartkowski, J. P., & Segal, M. L. (1996a). Do conservative Protestant
parents spank more often? Further evidence from the national survey of families and
households. Social Science Quarterly, 77, 663-673.

Ellison, C. G., Bartkowski, J. P., & Segal, M. L. (1996b). Conservative Protestantism
and the parental use of corporal punishment. Social Forces, 74 (3), 1003-1028.

Flynn, C. P. (1996). Normative support for corporal punishment: Attitudes,
Religion and child abu3se2
correlates, and implications. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 1 (1), 47-55.

Correlates of multiple forms of victimization in religion-related child abuse cases. Journal of
Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, 2, 273-295. [Reprinted in B. B. R. Rossman & M. S.

Gorsuch, R. L. (1988). Psychology of religion. Annual Review of Psychology, 39,
202-221.

Greven, P. (1991). Spare the child: The religious roots of punishment and the
psychological impact of physical abuse. New York: Knopf.

Hunsberger, B. (1989). A short version of the Christian orthodoxy scale. Journal for
the Scientific Study of Religion, 28, 360-365.

Jackson, S., Law, L., Thompson, R.A., Christiansen, E. H., Colman, R. A., & Wyatt,
J. (1999). Predicting abuse-prone parental attitudes and discipline practices in a
nationally representative sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 23 (1), 15-29.

Johnson, B. W., & Eastburg, M.C. (1992). God, parent and self concepts in abused
and nonabused children. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 11 (3), 235-243.

Kane, D., Cheston, S. E., & Greer, J. (1993). Perceptions of God by survivors of
childhood sexual abuse: An exploratory study in an underresearched area. Journal of
Religion and child abu3se3

Psychology and Theology, 21 (3), 228-237.

Lawson, R., Drebing, C., Berg, G., Vincellette A., & Penk, W. (1998). The long term
impact of child abuse on religious behavior and spirituality in men. Child Abuse
& Neglect, 22 (5), 369-380.

Lynch, M., & Cicchetti, D. (1998). An ecological-transactional analysis of children
and contexts: The longitudinal interplay among child maltreatment, community violence, and
Religion and child abu3se4
children’s symptomatology. Development and Psychopathology, 10 (2), 235-257.

Maurer, A. (1982). Religious values and child abuse. Child & Youth Services, 4, 57-
63.

Malcarne, V. L., & Burchard, J. D. (1992). Investigations of child abuse/neglect
allegations in religious cults: A case study in Vermont. Behavioral Sciences & the Law,
10(1), 75-88.

Maxfield, M. G., & Widom, C. S. (1996). The cycle of violence: Revisited six years
later. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 150, 390-395.
.
Nelsen, H. M., & Kroliczak, A. (1984). Parental use of the threat “God will punish”:

Replication and extension. Journal for Scientific Study of Religion, 23 (3), 267-277.

Neufeld, K. (1979). Child-rearing, religion, abusive parents. Religious Education, 74
(3), 235-243.

Pagelow, M. D., & Johnson, P. (1998). Abuse in the American family: The role of
religion. In A. L. Horton & J. A. Williamson (Eds.), Abuse and religion: When praying isn't
enough. (pp. 1-12).

Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religious coping. New York: Guilford.
Pelcovitz, D., Kaplan, S., Goldenberg, B., & Mandel, F. (1994). Posttraumatic stress
disorder in physically abused adolescents. Journal of American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, 33 (3), 305-312.

Quas, J. A., Bottoms, B. L., & Nunez, N. (Eds.) (2002). Linking Juvenile Delinquency
and Child Maltreatment: Causes, Correlates, and Consequences. Special issue of
Religion and child abuse 5

Children's Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice, 5(4).
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research
in the general population. Journal of Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.

Rice, R. R., & Annis, A. W. (1992). A survey of abuse in the Christian Reformed
Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Social Research Center of Calvin College.

Rosenberg, M. J. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.

Rossetti, S. J. (1995). The impact of child sexual abuse on attitudes toward God and
the Catholic Church. Child Abuse & Neglect, 19 (12), 1469-1481.

Ryan, P. L. (1998). Spirituality among adult survivors of childhood violence: A
literature review. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 30 (1), 39-51.

Sheshkin, D. J. (2000). Handbook of parametric and nonparametric statistical
procedures (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall/CRC.

Shor, R. (1998). The significance of religion in advancing a culturally sensitive
approach towards child maltreatment. Families in Society, 79 (4), 400-409.

Simons, R. L., Whitbeck, L. B., Conger, R. D., & Chyi-In, W. (1991).
Intergenerational transmission of harsh parenting. Developmental Psychology, 27, 159-171.

Straus, M. (1994). Beating the devil out of them: Corporal punishment in American
families. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Child maltreatment 1998:
Religion and child abu3se6

Wiehe, V. R. (1990). Religious influence on parental attitudes toward the use of
corporal punishment. Journal of Family Violence, 5, 173-186.

Posted on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 6:53 pm in Children's rights, Parenting, Social research.

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Anne

WV leads the nation in child abuse as measured by the number of child beaten to death per 100,000 according to Federal Statistics. In West Virginia, ancestor worship drives the child abuse. The number one reason given is "My Daddy hit me so I hit my kid." "Spare the rod…" has the cadence of "Choosy mothers choose Jif" and is easy for the uneducated mind to wrap its self around. The wesel work 'spank' allows this 'language deficit' population to hit kids. The battered children lern to go into jpost traumatic shock and are harvested at eighteen to use as warriors (like the Spartans) and the lucratic industy of war and armaments is built on the backs of the poor and uneducated. The West Virginians even take a week off from school in the fall to take their boys and girls hunting which prepares them for their future.
It is illegal to hit your prisoner, spouse, student, employee and patient and until it is illegal to hit children we will continue being the most barbaric country on earth. Christians indeed.

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