Protecting the sacred tree: Conceptualizing spiritual abuse against Native American elders.

Abstract

Current definitions of elder abuse and neglect include physical, sexual, financial, emotional, and psychological dimensions. Such definitions overlook the spiritual lives of elders. Acknowledging and understanding spiritual abuse may be incredibly important for Native American Elder communities. Abuse of Native American elders can be detrimental on individual, communal, and cultural levels given that elders possess important cultural knowledge and are considered highly respected within indigenous communities. This article outlines the historical context of spiritual abuse within Native American communities and reviews the spiritual abuse literature in order to develop a culturally appropriate definition of spiritual abuse. Components of spiritual abuse include abuse from a trusted spiritual leader or mentor, limitations of access to sacred objects of ceremonial practice, and contamination of sacred objects or practice. Examples of spiritual abuse components are provided within both Native American spirituality as well as other modes of spiritual practice. Components of this definition can be utilized by health professionals, researchers, and tribal governments intending to develop culturally appropriate responses to elder abuse.

Exploring Categories of Family Violence Across the Lifespan: A Scoping Review

“…Six additional abusive behaviors were identified: five from definitions of DFV and one in child abuse. In DFV literature, these were social abuse (tactics used to isolate or prevent a victim from having contact with others outside of the relationship; Allan & Allan, 2014 ; Sasaki & Ishii-Kuntz, 2016 ; Wendt, 2016 ), spiritual abuse (use of the victim’s and/or perpetrator’s religious beliefs to abuse or justify abuse; Allan & Allan, 2014 ; Gray et al, 2018 ; Wendt, 2016 ), legal or administrative abuse (actual or threatened use of the legal system to abuse a victim and/or to affect their ability to practice in their profession; Allan & Allan, 2014 ), technologically facilitated abuse (tech abuse; the use of technology and digital media to stalk, harass, threaten, control, and abuse partners and/or ex-partners; Harris & Woodlock, 2019 ; Henry & Powell, 2015 ; Taylor & Xia, 2018 ), and reproductive coercion (any behavior that intentionally interferes with reproductive autonomy and decision-making; Tarzia et al, 2019 ). Importantly, all but one of the articles considered DFV in heterosexual relationships.…”

Intergenerational Trauma and PTSD: Historic Wounds Necessitate Treatment Based on Individual Culture

“…While the medical community has made great strides in diagnosis and treatment of biochemical and physical effects of trauma, healing must also occur with regard to culture and spirituality. Manifestations of trauma are found in many areas including community violence, spiritual abuse, family dysfunction and suicide rates (Amendola, 2020;Gray et al, 2021;Hinsberger et al, 2016;Panchuk, 2020). Treatments must be capable of addressing these issues with cultural reverence at the source of the pain.…”

Cult conversion from the perspective of families: Implications for prevention and psychological intervention.

“…Groups of psychological abuse (GPA), popularly known as “cults” (Langone & Chambers, 1991), constitute a social problem that is difficult to operationalize and demonstrate in scientific terms (Gray et al, 2018; Rodríguez-Carballeira et al, 2015; Woody, 2009). But thanks to a growing body of research into the phenomenon, it is possible to affirm that cults are a threat to public health.…”