Sunday, April 20, 2008

Yes, We Have No Prime Directive

You know it's gotta be the weeks before Finals if I start updating more and more frequently...

I've been scouring the news again for more updates on the aftermath of the raid on the polygamist sect and their Yearning for Zion Ranch. (Yes, this is what I do when I'm procrastinating from a research paper.) The latest buzz is all about the kids: they're finally going to be separated from the mothers, who have been in custody all this time, and taken to foster homes or who knows where else.

So... all the people these children love and trust are being arrested; their beliefs are being questioned; everyone else is trying to tell them what's best for them in the real world, but these kids have probably never seen a mile outside of Zion Ranch. They don't know what the real world is. And everyone they trusted to tell them what the real world was has suddenly become untrustworthy in the eyes of everyone else.
All I can tell you is, in my unprofessional blogger's opinion with two years of a psychology major's education, this will not end well. The younger ones will be alright, perhaps, since they will probably not remember enough of the sect or their real parents. The adolescents who want out of the sect will most likely be fine, though it will be rough to adjust to a different life. It always is.
It's the kids who are too old to forget and still prepubescent for whom my heart breaks. Their stories will probably not end up in the papers as the next Oliver Twists or David Copperfields. In the psychological development timeline, this is the worst age to experience a trauma of this magnitude; the child can't just forget the majority of the life before, and hasn't the full range of coping skills developed in adolescence to help them deal.

I'm not saying the state is or isn't doing the right thing; I think they're taking measures to sort out the innocents from those who have broken Texas state laws. Nevertheless, there's a brilliant quote from Stargate Atlantis that comes to mind: "Listen, kiddies, everything you believe is wrong, and trust us because we've been here for almost an hour!"

The only truly bothersome thing to me is that I can't think of a better alternative.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow... you have made me feel severely behind in my blogging. I like the new look, though!
This whole thing with the Mormon sect is really disturbing. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in the position those kids are in. I doubt most of us could. While it may be somewhat damaging to the kids, leaving them there could be even worse. It's hard to tell what the right thing to do is.

E-mil said...

Thanks! I like it, too. XD

I agree; it's hard to see the light in such a shadowy situation, I think. I still feel so sorry for those kinds, though, regardless of the "right" thing to do.

In the meantime... finals week. Yay hooray. XP

Josiah Lewis said...

The following is some newer news on this whole issue.
The article mentions the concern for the psychological health of the children.
It also mentions that the phone call that began the state investigation was a hoax.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/no-justification-for-raid-on-texas-mormon-ranch-833590.html?r=RSS