“We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” —Martin Luther King
A seven-year-old girl has detailed sexual abuse during a forensic interview conducted at a Children’s Advocacy Center. “I’ve asked you a lot of questions,” the forensic interviewer says in wrapping up the interview, “Do you have any questions of me?” The girl squirms, twirls her hair, and stares at her toes. Her voice trembling and nearly inaudible, she asks: “Am I still a virgin in God’s eyes?”
A twelve-year-old boy, placed in foster care because of years of beatings from his single mother, tells his therapist that he is aware of a passage in the Bible that states “all things work together for good to those who love God.” The boy notes that he has permanent injuries from the beatings, that his mother is likely going to prison, and that everyone in school looks at him oddly because of the news coverage of his mother’s crimes. “What ‘good’ has come to me from all this suffering?” the boy asks.
A seventeen-year-old girl says her father sold her body so that he could make enough money to feed his drug addiction. “I have a lot of hatred,” the teenager tells her social worker, “I want to get even with the people who have hurt me. Is it sinful to inflict pain on the people who have been so cruel to me? What does God have to say about anger?”
Each of these scenarios raises spiritual or religious questions posed by a maltreated child to a professional—a forensic interviewer, a psychologist, and a social worker. These and similar questions are often raised in cases of child abuse. Failing to address them may impair a child’s physical and mental health. At the same time, restoring a child’s spiritual health may provide a source of resiliency that improves the probability of successful life outcomes.
Spiritual questions may arise because a perpetrator utilizes a religious theme or concept in the abuse of a child. Spiritual questions may also arise simply because a child is searching for meaning in the aftermath of trauma.
This article explores situations in which religion and child protection may conflict. The article provides a synopsis of research on the spiritual impact of child abuse and neglect. An overview of how this dynamic may play out before, during, and after a forensic interview is also provided. Lastly, the article outlines effective multi-disciplinary team (“MDT”) responses to the spiritual impact of child abuse.