Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997, page 86
of sleep or giving them terrible dreams or abusing them sexually. Still others they
have driven to insanity, murder, or suicide. (“Agents of Evil,” 1994, p. 6)
Despite the tremendous stress of leaving a high-control group such as WTS, with all the
losses it entails, it was interesting and encouraging to note that all of the women in the
study, whether they were disfellowshipped or just “drifted away,” reported a dramatic
decrease in mental and emotional problems following their exit from WTS. For these
women, leaving coincided with a significant increase in their overall mental health.
Conclusion
The survey results, in conjunction with this article‟s review of the literature, highlight
several important issues. First, WTS appears to be a group that exercises a very high
degree of control over its members‟ personal, family, and professional lives. Control is
maintained both through direct prohibitions, such as the ban on voting, taking blood
transfusions, and celebrating holidays and birthdays, and indirect methods, such as
messages in articles that make statements such as “Would it be wise for a Christian to …”
(wear a beard, listen to rap or heavy metal music, pursue a career, date a nonmember,
etc.). Failure to comply with WTS‟s expectations about behavior and expression can be
punishable by disfellowshipping, a severe and often devastating sentence. Second, WTS is a
very patriarchal group. Not only is a Jehovah‟s Witness woman subject to this level of
minute control over everyday decisions, but she is also “subject to the headship” of her
husband, and cannot occupy positions of responsibility and authority in the congregation.
The Witness woman is instructed to “remain in wifely subjection” to her husband. Third, the
survey respondents generally reported a high degree of emotional and mental distress
during the period of membership in WTS, which decreased dramatically after leaving the
group.
This is not to say that men in the Watchtower Society do not suffer from the restrictiveness
of their culture, as well as perhaps experiencing their patriarchal role as burdensome and
isolating. Clinical experience in working with both men and women who have exited from
WTS suggests that mental and emotional distress while in the group and when in early
recovery from group influence is common to both sexes. This area would benefit from
further study of a larger population sample to compare men‟s to women‟s experiences in
WTS.
In addition, an inherent difficulty in this investigation is one that is intrinsically impossible to
overcome given the nature of the group studied. The subjects who are most willing to
respond are people who have left the group, either voluntarily or were forced out. Practicing
Jehovah‟s Witnesses are likely to be highly suspicious of any research that raises the
question that there may be problems within the organization, and either refuse to
participate or be unwilling to honestly admit to mental or emotional difficulties.
The point must also be raised that it is possible that people who choose to stay in the group
could be members who are well adjusted and happy, and those with mental and emotional
problems are the ones that are forced out or choose to leave. Personal observation does not
bear out this simplistic theory, however (although there certainly appear to be some
members who are happy and well-adjusted). Over the years of personal and professional
contact with WTS, the first author has observed many practicing Jehovah‟s Witness families
with significant mental health issues. Other research supports this observation as well.
Montague‟s study (1977) estimated that the mental illness rate of Jehovah‟s Witnesses is
approximately 10 to 16 times higher than the rate for the general non-Witness population.
Spencer (1975) found that Jehovah‟s Witnesses experienced a rate of diagnosable mental
problems at a rate of 1.54 times the general population, and found diagnoses of paranoid
schizophrenia to be 3.68 times more common in the membership than usually found.
Bergman (1992) states that “the majority of Witnesses suffer from some type of emotional
of sleep or giving them terrible dreams or abusing them sexually. Still others they
have driven to insanity, murder, or suicide. (“Agents of Evil,” 1994, p. 6)
Despite the tremendous stress of leaving a high-control group such as WTS, with all the
losses it entails, it was interesting and encouraging to note that all of the women in the
study, whether they were disfellowshipped or just “drifted away,” reported a dramatic
decrease in mental and emotional problems following their exit from WTS. For these
women, leaving coincided with a significant increase in their overall mental health.
Conclusion
The survey results, in conjunction with this article‟s review of the literature, highlight
several important issues. First, WTS appears to be a group that exercises a very high
degree of control over its members‟ personal, family, and professional lives. Control is
maintained both through direct prohibitions, such as the ban on voting, taking blood
transfusions, and celebrating holidays and birthdays, and indirect methods, such as
messages in articles that make statements such as “Would it be wise for a Christian to …”
(wear a beard, listen to rap or heavy metal music, pursue a career, date a nonmember,
etc.). Failure to comply with WTS‟s expectations about behavior and expression can be
punishable by disfellowshipping, a severe and often devastating sentence. Second, WTS is a
very patriarchal group. Not only is a Jehovah‟s Witness woman subject to this level of
minute control over everyday decisions, but she is also “subject to the headship” of her
husband, and cannot occupy positions of responsibility and authority in the congregation.
The Witness woman is instructed to “remain in wifely subjection” to her husband. Third, the
survey respondents generally reported a high degree of emotional and mental distress
during the period of membership in WTS, which decreased dramatically after leaving the
group.
This is not to say that men in the Watchtower Society do not suffer from the restrictiveness
of their culture, as well as perhaps experiencing their patriarchal role as burdensome and
isolating. Clinical experience in working with both men and women who have exited from
WTS suggests that mental and emotional distress while in the group and when in early
recovery from group influence is common to both sexes. This area would benefit from
further study of a larger population sample to compare men‟s to women‟s experiences in
WTS.
In addition, an inherent difficulty in this investigation is one that is intrinsically impossible to
overcome given the nature of the group studied. The subjects who are most willing to
respond are people who have left the group, either voluntarily or were forced out. Practicing
Jehovah‟s Witnesses are likely to be highly suspicious of any research that raises the
question that there may be problems within the organization, and either refuse to
participate or be unwilling to honestly admit to mental or emotional difficulties.
The point must also be raised that it is possible that people who choose to stay in the group
could be members who are well adjusted and happy, and those with mental and emotional
problems are the ones that are forced out or choose to leave. Personal observation does not
bear out this simplistic theory, however (although there certainly appear to be some
members who are happy and well-adjusted). Over the years of personal and professional
contact with WTS, the first author has observed many practicing Jehovah‟s Witness families
with significant mental health issues. Other research supports this observation as well.
Montague‟s study (1977) estimated that the mental illness rate of Jehovah‟s Witnesses is
approximately 10 to 16 times higher than the rate for the general non-Witness population.
Spencer (1975) found that Jehovah‟s Witnesses experienced a rate of diagnosable mental
problems at a rate of 1.54 times the general population, and found diagnoses of paranoid
schizophrenia to be 3.68 times more common in the membership than usually found.
Bergman (1992) states that “the majority of Witnesses suffer from some type of emotional
