The purpose of this study is to examine the meeting between children in cults and personnel in Swedish schools and Child Protective Services (CPS). Furthermore, the study investigates whether children in cults who are being mistreated receive the help and attention they need from school and the CPS. This study has a qualitative research approach. Five semi-structured interviews with former cult members and professionals who have worked with children in cults were conducted. The interviews were supplemented with a content analysis of two autobiographies written by former cult members. The theory chosen was the general systems theory with the aim to use it as a tool to further understand how cults work as a system and how it affects the children in them. The results show that children who live in cults can be exposed to physical and mental abuse. Furthermore, it is difficult for professionals to identify children that have experienced abuse, due to the cults view of and approach to people outside their own community. Lack of knowledge regarding how to recognize these children in cults that have experienced abuse and non-existent training in how to handle said cases is one reason for why many children have been overlooked.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-104855 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Ljungmark, Stella, Svensson, Hanna |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för socialt arbete (SA) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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