Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada provides that polygamy is an indictable offence. In a recent reference to the Supreme Court of British Colombia, the court held that this section was constitutionally valid and did not infringe upon religious freedom because of the harm polygamous marriages caused to women, children, society and most importantly, “the institution of monogamous marriage”. This paper will revisit the court’s analysis of polygamy and discuss why it was considered harmful and preserved as a criminal act. The paper will canvas the underlying differences between the roles ascribed to marriage in Islam, as an example of a non-Western religio-legal tradition, and the collective liberal West. Ultimately, the paper will consider whether a balance can be struck between the measures required to protect women and children from harm, and preserving religious freedom, while remaining within the bounds of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada provides that polygamy is an indictable offence. In a recent reference to the Supreme Court of British Colombia, the court held that this section was constitutionally valid and did not infringe upon religious freedom because of the harm polygamous marriages caused to women, children, society and most importantly, “the institution of monogamous marriage”. This paper will revisit the court’s analysis of polygamy and discuss why it was considered harmful and preserved as a criminal act. The paper will canvas the underlying differences between the roles ascribed to marriage in Islam, as an example of a non-Western religio-legal tradition, and the collective liberal West. Ultimately, the paper will consider whether a balance can be struck between the measures required to protect women and children from harm, and preserving religious freedom, while remaining within the bounds of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The primary purpose of this research was to gain insight into what childhood was like in turn-of-the-century Mormon polygamous families. This purpose was executed through two main avenues: basic empirical data and descriptive accounts. This type of research was crucial inasmuch as previous research and commentaries dealt with adult relations but little was known about children in this complex Mormon family structure. In order to gain an understanding of childhood in Mormon polygamous families during this era, forty elderly individuals who were reared in plural marriages were interviewed in depth. A field type design was employed using a historical-cultural; in short, retrospective history taking. Questions focused on the general family life style, respondent-sibling interaction, respondent-parent interaction, and respondent-father's other families interaction. Children in Mormon polygamous families encountered the events of Western rural America, as would any children at the turn- of-the-century, including hard physical work, large families, home based entertainment, and traditional values. Looking back in time, respondents in this study saw their families as supportive, nurturant, and for the most part as "normal " within the cultural context of Mormon community. Stress, however, was manifest primarily in the avenues of degree of contact with their father' s other families, the complexity of multiple households, and the self-imposed questions that generally existed in the society during a time of persecution as well as internal change of the Mormon church.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of English, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-126).

Thesis (M.A. (Health Social Science))--Mahidol University, 2005.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-136).

Thesis (M.A.) -- Brigham Young University. Dept. of Philosophy Education, 1942. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-231).

Monogamy is considered the romantic norm for establishing family and kinship. Alternative relationships such as polyfidelity, that is, a group romantic relationship, often face prejudice and social stigma resulting in a greater need for mental health counseling services compared to those who are not stigmatized. Yet counselors and counselor educators lack both understanding and cultural competency for serving this population. The purpose of this study was to better understand the dynamics of a polyfidelity relationship, as well as how a counselor might better serve the needs of individuals engaged in this type of relationship. In this study, 14 participants described what it was like to be in a polyfidelitous relationship. A combined theoretical framework-based on relational cultural theory, social constructionism, and queer theory was used to reveal the challenges, as well as the strengths, of such a relationship. It was discovered that there are an exponential number of relationship combinations when introducing an additional member into an existing 2-person relationship. As a result the relational component in counseling becomes compounded. For example, a 3-person relationship has 4 unique relationships, a 4-person relationship has 11 unique relationships, and a 5-person relationship has 26 unique relationship combinations. In addition, members of group relationships often use their group dynamics to check and balance one another, resolve conflict, and better express aspects of each partner's personality. The implications for social change are multifold in both furthering mental health professional's understanding of alternative families, as well as identifying the advantages and pitfalls of engaging in a polyfidelitous relationship.

The problem of this thesis concerns itself with the questions: Why did Emma Smith oppose the men who were in the leading council of the Church and who were the closest friends of her husband? What was her attitude towards the Church her husband founded? What kind of woman was she, and what effect did she have upon her husband and the Church he organized?It will be the purpose of this thesis to point out some significant facts pertaining to these questions, garthered in the main, from primary sources such as the Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, news clippings from newspapers published in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri at the time Emma Hale was living and from the Woman's Exponent of the same time. A gleaning of material has also been made from the six volume History of the Church and the Comprehensive History of the Church, Mormon source books, and the one volume, Story of the Church and from the four volumes of the History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, source materials of the Reorganized church.The more personal details in the life of Emma Smith as recorded in this thesis are statements made by her mother-in-law, by a grand-daughter, and by her husband.

In the struggle for self-government which occupied the Mormon population of Utah between their entry into the Great Basin in 1847 and statehood in 1896, the issue of polygamy dominated public discussion. The non-Mormon population of the United States generally objected to the practice of polygamy, in large part because of Victorian attitudes towards sexual activity and the presumed physical and mental results of violating Victorian sexual norms. It was assumed by most Americans that polygamy, by violating those norms, caused real physical damage to the Latter-day Saints in Utah; damage that disqualified them from holding full and equal political rights with their fellow citizens.