Study Reveals Impact Of Commune Life On Children
A three-year study involving a group of children in Auckland's Centrepoint Community from 1977-2000 has revealed the extent of abuse and its ongoing effects on their adult lives.
A 260-page report by a research team from the Massey University's School of Psychology was made public today.
The psychologists, Dr Kerry Gibson, Dr Mandy Morgan and Cheryl Woolley, were commissioned by a trust set up by a High Court order a decade ago to manage the Centrepoint assets after the commune was disestablished and its "spiritual leader", Bert Potter, had served jail sentences for drugs and child sex offences.
Centrepoint is described as an "intentional community" – a term that embraces cults and non-cults to describe people drawn together through shared principles in a communal environment. Centrepoint was based on therapeutic encounter groups popularised in California in the 1960s promising social transformation by encouraging open communication. At Centrepoint the open philosophy included sharing toilets, showers, sleeping quarters, and open sexual relations among adults and children.
The report, based on interviews with 29 men and women, now in their 20s, 30s and 40s, looked at their experiences of growing up at Centrepoint, including how psychological manipulation, neglect, sexual abuse and drug taking affected them at the time and subsequently. About 300 children lived at the Centrepoint in Oteha Valley Rd, Albany, over the 22 years it operated.
The qualitative study, titled A Different Kind of Family: Retrospective accounts of growing up at Centrepoint, and implications for adulthood, contains testimonies from some of the 29.
Researchers reported a variety of experiences, both good and bad. Participants spoke of how their being given drugs and coerced by adults into having sex either with other children or with adults made it difficult for them to adjust to life since they left the community. However, some also reported positive effects, such as developing resilience, independence and good social skills.
Potter was convicted and sentenced to three and half years in jail in 1990 on drug charges and seven and half years jail in 1992 for indecent assaults on five children. Five other men were convicted on charges of indecently assaulting minors, sexually assaulting minors and attempted rape of a minor. Two women also faced sex abuse charges but were not convicted.
The study authors say while the court cases and related allegations attracted considerable public attention, little has previously been revealed about what it was really like for the children who lived at Centrepoint and how their experiences continue to affect them.
Some of the key findings are:
- "Centrepoint was an environment which potentially exposed children to a range of adverse circumstances that extended well beyond the widely reported sexual abuse. Drug use, psychological manipulation, parental neglect, witnessing abuse, corporal punishment, adult conflict, peer bullying and a parent's imprisonment were just some of the additional factors that may have impacted on them.
- "Negative impacts include psychological disorders, substance abuse problems, difficulties in intimate and family relationships, financial problems, lack of direction in education and career, fear of social stigma and, for some, uncertainty about their perception of reality.
- "Different experiences, beliefs and coping strategies create a tendency towards factionalised perspectives about Centrepoint with some [study] participants arguing it was fundamentally abusive and others that it was an ideal place to grow up.
- "Stigmatised perceptions of Centrepoint were reported as being further sources of psychological distress for participants."
The study says most participants agreed it was common for young people to have sex for the first time between the ages of 11 and 13. Boys "propositioned" by older women found it easier to resist unwelcome advances, while sexually abused girls – some as young as 10 – were "idealised" in the community as "being in touch with their loving".
"From the perspective of some participants, sexual abuse was widespread at Centrepoint. For others, though, the way in which sexual activity was valued and normalised...led them to doubt the incidents they witnessed or experienced were abusive at the time," the report says.
Many expressed anger at the passivity and lack of responsibility shown by their parents, with one woman recalling being chastised as a teenager for "shaming" her mother after she challenged Potter's lewd suggestions.
One participant is quoted, saying: "What's really fascinating to me is how reasonable human beings, adults, can suddenly alter their thinking in a way that allows them to normalise abhorrent behaviour...why are people more comfortable doing nothing when they know something is so terribly wrong, than get uncomfortable stopping it."
For some the impact on them was as a result of witnessing what happened to other children. A woman said she felt "sick" after resisting Potter's sexual advances then watching her sibling engage in sexual acts with him. She said she later learnt that Potter blackmailed children into having sex by threatening to separate them from their families.
The study authors say the varied experiences of the participants reflect changes during the 20 years the community existed, from its initial phase when "open communication and sexual practices appeared to have dominated the life of the community..." and included children and underage adolescents as both observers and participants in sexual practices. A second phase revolved around a greater use of drugs, and in its last years, sexual activity and drug use declined as a result of police raids, interventions by welfare agencies and the threat of dissolution of the community.
The researchers were told of former community members who now avoided all contact with other former members as a result of the damage they had apparently suffered, which they say "raises the possibility that some of those worst affected by their experiences chose not to participate in this research".
"There were, however, others that valued their sense of belonging at the community, and who miss their childhood home."
Although participants spoke about traumatic experiences, some felt strongly that they had experienced good things, such as the value of having contact with a wide range of adults and children and learning more open communication, and gaining independence and a good work ethic.
The study's authors say that recognising and respecting those quite different experiences was one of complex aspects of the research. They say a flexible package of responses is needed to meet the needs of former Centrepoint children and help some of them cope with ongoing psychological, substance abuse, financial management problems, life skills deficits, educational and career issues and justice as well as housing and health needs.
"The publicity around Centrepoint made it difficult for people to feel they could talk about their experiences," says Dr Gibson. "A better understanding of what it was like to be a child at Centrepoint will be useful for health professionals and the broader public to respond more sensitively to the needs of former members of the community."
The New Zealand Communities Growth Trust, which was established by High Court order in 2000 to manage the former community's assets and is administered by the Public Trust, commissioned the study. It hopes to use the findings to help determine what further assistance it should provide the beneficiaries.
Study authors: Dr Kerry Gibson is the Director of Massey's Centre for Psychology in Albany. She is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience in trauma work with adults and children.
Dr Mandy Morgan is an Associate Professor in Critical Psychology and head of Massey's School of Psychology. She is currently involved in a research programme on domestic violence services and interventions.
Cheryl Woolley is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology, and is coordinator of clinical training at the Manawatu campus. She is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience in sexual abuse research.
To see the executive summary:
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms//Massey%20News/2010/05/docs/CP_exec_summary.pdf
For the full report, click on the following links
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms//Massey%20News/2010/05/docs/Centrepoint_Report_2010.pdf
This article was found at:
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/news/article.cfm?mnarticle=study-reveals-impact-of-commune-life-on-children-27-05-2010
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Almost one in three people in NZ care was abused
ReplyDeleteby Kathryn Armstrong and Joel Guinto, BBC News July 24, 2024
Some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults suffered abuse while in state and faith-based care in New Zealand over the last 70 years, a landmark investigation has found.
It means almost one in three children in care from 1950 to 2019 suffered some form of abuse, including being subject to rape, electric shocks and forced labour, according to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry.
The publication of the commission's final report follows a six-year investigation into the experiences of nearly 3,000 people.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologised for the findings, calling it "a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand's history as a society".
The inquiry was New Zealand's biggest and most expensive to date, costing about NZ$170m ($101m; £78m).
Many of those abused have come from disadvantaged or marginalised communities, including Māori and Pacific people, as well as those with disabilities.
The findings come as vindication for a people who have found themselves facing down powerful officialdom, the state, and religious institutions - and often struggling to be believed.
Faith-based institutions often had higher rates of sexual abuse than state care, the inquiry found.
Civil and faith leaders fought to cover up abuse by moving abusers to other locations and denying culpability, with many victims dying before seeing justice, the report said.
Weighing 14kg, it was brought together over 100 days of public hearings - starting back in 2018.
Speaking at its launch, the then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was a "chance to confront our history and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again".
More than 2,300 survivors spoke to the inquiry, which found that in most cases, "abuses and neglect almost always started from the first day".
One survivor, Anna Thompson, told the commission how she was physically and verbally abused at a faith-based orphanage.
"At night, the nuns would strip my clothes off, tie me to the bed face down, and thrash me with a belt with the buckle. It cut into my skin until I bled and I couldn’t sit down afterwards for weeks," she said in testimony published in the report.
Jesse Kett spoke of how he was beaten and raped by staff in a residential school in Auckland when he was eight years old - recounting in his testimony that other staff members would sometimes watch the abuse happen.
Moeapulu Frances Tagaloa was abused by a priest for two years from the age of five in the 1970s.
"He was a popular, well-known teacher," she said.
"But he was also a paedophile and unfortunately there were other little girls that he abused."
Ms Tagaloa now works to help other survivors and has called for all 138 recommendations included in the report to be implemented.
The report found that Māori and Pacific survivors endured higher levels of physical abuse, and were often "degraded because of their ethnicity and skin colour".
continued below
It also found that children and people in foster care experienced the highest levels of sexual abuse among various social welfare care settings.
ReplyDelete"It is a national disgrace that hundreds of thousands of children, young people and adults were abused and neglected in the care of the state and faith-based institutions," the report said.
"Many survivors died while they were in care or by suicide following care. For others, the impacts of abuse are ongoing and compounding, making everyday activities and choices challenging," it added.
Prime Minister Luxon said: "We should have done better, and I am determined we will do so.
"To every person who took part, I say thank you for your exceptional strength, your incredible courage and your confronting honesty. Because of you, we know the truth about the abuse and trauma you have endured," he said, describing many of the stories as horrific and harrowing.
"I cannot take away your pain, but I can tell you this: you are heard and you are believed."
He added that it was too soon to reveal how much the government expected to pay victims in compensation. He said he would offer a formal apology on 12 November.
Speaking to the BBC, Grant Robertson, a former deputy prime minister who was involved in commissioning the report, said it had been a "long time coming".
He said like many New Zealanders, he felt "a great sense of shame" and "an appreciation of the depth of hurt that’s felt by survivors, and also with a desire that we make good on what is a horrific situation".
According to the report, the economic cost of this abuse and neglect has been estimated to be anywhere from NZ$96bn to $217bn, taking into consideration negative outcomes including increased mental and physical healthcare costs, homelessness and crime.
On Wednesday, dozens of care abuse survivors took part in a march to parliament before the inquiry was released.
One survivor called the report "historic".
"For decades they told us we made it up," Toni Jarvis told news agency Reuters. "So this today is historic and it's an acknowledgement. It acknowledges all the survivors that have been courageous enough to share their stories."
Academic Dr Rawiri Waretini-Karena, who was a witness in the inquiry, had earlier spoken about the "pipeline from state care to prison".
Dr Waretini-Karena, who spent 10 years in prison, told the inquiry about abuse he suffered as a child in a boys' home.
"When I walked into the prison yard for the first time as a teenager, having never been there before - I already knew 80% of the men in there. We'd spent the last 11 years growing up together in state care," he wrote in an opinion piece for Radio New Zealand.
"That's when I knew there was a pipeline to prison; a pipeline that has spent decades sweeping up and funnelling Māori children from state care to prison."
Dr Waretini-Karena added that the Royal Commission's report acknowledged "that whilst we are responsible for our actions, we are not responsible for the hidden mechanisms that operate within the environment we are born into, privileging one faction at the expense of the other".
to see the photos and links embedded in this article go to:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ng6jjz6jpo