The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a high control religious group founded in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania by Charles Russell in 1870 during the American Third Great Awakening. Henceforth I will occasionally refer to them as a cult based on Moors definition of “religions that expose an alien belief system that deviates strongly from traditional faiths…most importantly they really believe and orient their lives around religion and actively seek new converts.” Many of the ways in which the Jehovah’s Witnesses diverge will be covered in this essay, specifically focusing on how children are affected as involuntary “initiates” and the subsequent neurotic conflicts that are prone to follow. It must be noted that the following overview is not an attempt to scapegoat the Witnesses as the sole etiology of psychopathology in the child. Personal, family, social, and societal influences must be given their due weight. The main purpose of this essay is to elucidate how the “initiation” and “submission” practices of the Jehovah’s Witnesses contribute strongly to all three of the major neurotic conflicts.

The organization itself functions within a strict top down authoritarian control structure, the head of which is deemed “The Governing Body,” who rule over “a communitas of totalistic thinkers.” A state of chronic liminality is arguably created as there is to varying degrees no real and separate life outside of the cult. For a child being born into the organization, initiation starts at day one followed by ongoing submission to practices which function psychologically as deleterious rituals of degradation and humiliation. Several examples of such practices include: exclusion from normal childhood milestones, social isolation from peers, apocalyptic fear conditioning, conditional belonging, discouragement of higher education, and shunning of nonbelievers including those within one's own family. As these degrading mechanisms of submission are more or less forcibly accepted by the child, the social attitude highlighted by Moore emerges; one of “submissiveness, resignation, relinquished autonomy, and disregarded powers of any real personal agency”. The former examples of Witness practices and the latter effects on the child set the stage for the severe neurotic conflicts that will be discussed in the following two paragraphs.

The first two of Horney’s conflicts are simultaneously birthed in Jehovah’s Witness children via two poles of “moving toward” the Witnesses themselves and “against” “the world,” (any person, family member, institution, or influence residing outside of the cult). Relentless warnings of impeding earthly destruction, strict dictates to avoid any association with non Witnesses including peers and classmates, fear of being removed for misconduct with all family ties being severed, and the expectation to often unwillingly join in aggressive door to door evangelism create a breeding ground for manifold disturbances. The emotional effect these and many other practices precipitate bear striking resemblance to Horney’s neurotic description of isolation, helplessness, fear, hostility, whose primary aim is safety. As the child seeks to resolve these feelings and gain a sense of safety and belonging, his move “toward” the Witnesses is the only sanctioned action possible. The child becomes dependent on the organization, and subordinates herself in various ways. Any disruption in the cohesion of the child and group could result in seeming total world annihilation, all communitas would cease to exist. So he persuades himself he likes everyone in the faith, he must concede they are the ones in sole possession of ‘The Truth,” and becomes caught in a constant struggle for acceptance and validation. The Self is often vigorously repressed and the child negates his own feelings, shoulders unnecessary blame, and sacrifices his own assertiveness, critical thinking, and fledgling autonomy for the life or death need for “love” and belonging only to be found in the Witnesses. As some sense of approval is gained she learns more about the “malevolent” outside world and joins the ranks in aggressive evangelism. Armageddon is always “right around the corner” and therefore her move “against” people begins to take full form. Those who do not heed the warning and join the faith are doomed for destruction and to be shunned, avoided, judged, and seen as nearly alien human beings, even if such persons are close family members.

At some point, reality begins to dawn and a strong need for detachment arises out of the incessant and brutal conflict of moving “toward” and “against” others with such life and death stakes. The intolerable strain of living in 2 mutually exclusive life worlds leads to an increasing defiance of any outside influence. Now vigorously defended against attacks, the growing child refuses to inwardly conform to any set of conventional rules or values. Never becoming attached to anyone or anything, avoidance, aloofness, need for privacy and extreme self sufficiency are the new modes of being. Any close relationships would put his new coping strategies in grave peril, self preserving independence is chosen over love. Persisted in for some time, this state invariably leads to nervous breakdown manifesting in disturbances such as depression, alcoholism, suicidal ideation, and suicide itself.

While there is no large-scale conclusive study demonstrating the Jehovah’s Witnesses directly cause mental illness in their members, a good amount of academic research does exist suggesting a strong correlation between the cult and higher rates of psychological disorders both in active members and those who depart. Of special note is a 2002 sociological analysis by Andrew Holden which captures the core tension Witness children face: one of being socialized into a total worldview and the inevitable adolescent confrontation with peers and the broader culture. The unfortunate position of the involuntarily initiated child is that while still young and under the control of parents, they have no free will to leave. Fortunately for those who eventually make it out, the neurotic conflicts can be resolved with changing beliefs and values.

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