16 ICSA TODAY
Using Legal Analysis
to Address Claims
of Spiritual Abuse
By Danya Shakfeh
S
piritual abuse is, unfortunately, not limited to
any one religion, and people of various religious
backgrounds have written about it (Burks &Burks,
1992 Enroth, 1993 Hamacher, 2013 Heimlich, 2011
Johnson &VanVonderen, 1991 Lennon, 2008 Lorenz, 1999
Ofshe, 1986 Orlowski, 2010). Since spiritual abuse can arise
in all religions, it is not surprising that allegations of spiritual
abuse also occur among Muslims. This paper’s goal is to
set forth a method for using legal analysis and frameworks
in evaluating whether an instance of spiritual abuse has
occurred following a claim. Although I am most familiar with
claims of spiritual abuse within the Muslim community, I
believe the method suggested may apply to spiritual abuse
across faith traditions.
Using Legal Analysis
to Address Claims
of Spiritual Abuse
By Danya Shakfeh
S
piritual abuse is, unfortunately, not limited to
any one religion, and people of various religious
backgrounds have written about it (Burks &Burks,
1992 Enroth, 1993 Hamacher, 2013 Heimlich, 2011
Johnson &VanVonderen, 1991 Lennon, 2008 Lorenz, 1999
Ofshe, 1986 Orlowski, 2010). Since spiritual abuse can arise
in all religions, it is not surprising that allegations of spiritual
abuse also occur among Muslims. This paper’s goal is to
set forth a method for using legal analysis and frameworks
in evaluating whether an instance of spiritual abuse has
occurred following a claim. Although I am most familiar with
claims of spiritual abuse within the Muslim community, I
believe the method suggested may apply to spiritual abuse
across faith traditions.
