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ZA’AKAH is dedicated to advocating for survivors of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community. They do this by raising awareness in the community, organizing and participating in educational events for parents and teachers on how to identify and correctly handle suspicions and disclosures of child sexual abuse, and by advocating for legislative reforms designed to prevent sexual abuse in the future and secure justice for survivors. Read more

In the 1990s, a "purity industry" emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual "stumbling blocks" for boys and men, and any expression of a girl's sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls, resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and trapped them in a cycle of shame. When the youth pastor of her church was convicted of sexual enticement of a 12-year-old girl, Klein began to question purity-based sexual ethics. She contacted young women she knew, asking if they were coping with the same shame-induced issues she was. These intimate conversations developed into a 12-year quest that took her across the country and into the lives of women raised in similar religious communities. It was a journey that facilitated her own healing and led her to churches that are seeking a new way to reconcile sexuality and spirituality. Read more

This doctoral dissertation offers quantitative evidence about the BITE model (Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotion) as a potential tool to help evaluate cases involving exploitive or undue influence. BITE offers a clearly defined model based on observable behaviors that expert witnesses can use to evaluate the presence of mind control or thought reform across a variety of settings and groups. Read more

A substantial minority of Americans have religious beliefs against one or more medical treatments. Some groups promote exclusive reliance on prayer and ritual for healing nearly all diseases. Jehovah’s Witnesses oppose blood transfusions. Hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren have religious or conscientious exemptions from immunizations. Such exemptions have led to personal medical risk, decreases in herd immunity, and outbreaks of preventable disease. Though First Amendment protections for religious freedom do not include a right to neglect a child, many states have enacted laws allowing religious objectors to withhold preventive, screening, and, in some states, therapeutic medical care from children. Religious exemptions from child health and safety laws should be repealed so that children have equal rights to medical care. Read more

With interviews from experts on both sides of the debate, this film (streaming on Netflix and other platforms) questions the routine practice of non-religious infant circumcision in the U.S. (1:40:00) Read more

The AHA Foundation was established by Ayaan Hirsi Ali in 2007 to put the ideas she writes about into practice. The organization believes in liberty for all. That means liberty from female genital mutilation, honor violence and forced marriages. And it means liberty to challenge the ideology of Islamism - extremism that threatens Western civilization - with rational, Enlightenment thought. Read more

Bullying can cause serious physical, emotional and mental negative effects for the short term, but these effects can also last a lifetime. Bullying can be experienced by children and adults alike. Read more

An unforgettable spiritual autobiography about a search for meaning that begins alongside one of the great religious icons of our time and ends with a return to the secular world At seventeen, Mary Johnson saw Mother Teresa’s face on the cover of Time and experienced her calling. Eighteen months later, she entered a convent in the South Bronx to begin her religious training. Not without difficulty, this bright, independent-minded Texas teenager eventually adapted to the sisters’ austere life of poverty and devotion, and in time became close to Mother Teresa herself. Read more

Leaving the Saints is an unforgettable memoir about one woman’s spiritual quest and journey toward faith. As “Mormon royalty” within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Martha Beck was raised in a home frequented by the Church’s high elders—known as the apostles—and her existence was framed by their strict code of conduct. Wearing her sacred garments, she married in a secret temple ceremony—but only after two Mormon leaders ascertained that her “past contained no flirtation with serious sins, such as committing murder or drinking coffee.” She went to church faithfully with the other brothers and sisters of her ward. When her son was born with Down syndrome, she and her husband left their graduate programs at Harvard to return to Provo, Utah, where they knew the supportive Mormon community would embrace them. Read more

Essays discuss childhood during the medieval through nineteenth century periods and examine changing parental attitudes toward their children Read more

This compelling book presents ten parenting principles drawn from the words and actions of Jesus. Using modern-day examples, Dr. Whitehurst explores: • application of biblical principles to today's parenting challenges • modern parenting trends at odds with Jesus's teaching • parenting temptations and how to resist them • how to help children become receptive to Jesus's message • how parents can come to Jesus and find rest Read more

Montessori: A Modern Approach has been called the single best book for anyone -- educator, childcare professional, and especially parent -- seeking answers to the questions: What is the Montessori method? Are its revolutionary ideas about early childhood education relevant to today's world? And most important, especially for today's dual-career couples. Is a Montessori education right for my child? Read more

A study examining the theological aspects of sexual abuse experienced within the family. Read more

In spite of their physical invisibility, emotional wounds are a very damaging form of abuse. Whether caused by words, actions, or even indifference, emotional abuse is common--yet often overlooked. In this helpful guide, Dr. Gregory L. Jantz reveals how those who have been abused by a spouse, parent, employer, or minister can overcome the past and rebuild their self-image. Read more

THE CASE OF THE POPE delivers a devastating indictment of the way the Vatican has run a secret legal system that shields paedophile priests from criminal trial around the world. Is the Pope morally or legally responsible for the negligence that has allowed so many terrible crimes to go unpunished? Should he and his seat of power, the Holy See, continue to enjoy an immunity that places them above the law? Read more

This brilliantly reported, unforgettable true story reveals how one of the most monstrous sexual criminals in the history of the Mormon church preyed on his victims even as he was protected by the church elders who knew of his behavior. Read more

Pretend You Don't See The Elephant is a personal memoir about the author's life growing up in the 1950s. Throughout the narrative, the elephant represents the silence surrounding familial dysfunctional behavior. Christian Science provided the background of denial in a home where physical, emotional, and verbal abuse ran rampant. Read more

In 2006, New York magazine and ABC’s Nightline both featured stories dealing with rabbis who had abused children entrusted to them. Then, at the start of 2007, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency published a five-part series on sexual abuse by rabbis who led congregations, taught religious studies, and ran youth groups. The series soon was picked up by Jewish newspapers nationwide. Despite this spate of media coverage, there has been a dearth of scholarly material investigating sexual abuse within the Jewish clergy. Tempest in the Temple brings together fifteen practicing rabbis, educators, pastoral counselors, sociologists, mental health professionals, and legal advocates for abuse victims, each of whom offer insights into different facets of the problem. Read more

Trauma and Recovery is revered as the seminal text on understanding trauma survivors. By placing individual experience in a broader political frame, Harvard psychiatrist Judith Herman argues that psychological trauma is inseparable from its social and political context. Drawing on her own research on incest, as well as a vast literature on combat veterans and victims of political terror, she shows surprising parallels between private horrors like child abuse and public horrors like war. Read more

Preventing Child Abuse will guide churches and nonprofit organizations through the process of designing and implementing the policies and procedures they need to keep their children safe. Many appendices and other useful materials have been added to help your church create a comprehensive abuse prevention policy. Read more