Psychiatrist testimony in polygamist case: underdeveloped brains

[pnwmom]

in children who grow up in these authoritarian communities.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/041908dnmetpolygamy.77507369.html

SAN ANGELO – A child psychiatrist who worked with children of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco testified Friday that the kids in the polygamist Yearning For Zion Ranch were in danger of growing up with underdeveloped brains that would leave them unprepared for the outside world.

Dr. Bruce Perry, who interviewed several of the children, said that among the risks the 416 ranch children face is an inability to develop healthy relationships or to make their own decisions – resulting in, for example, 15-year-olds with the emotional capacities of six-year-olds.

"That makes them highly vulnerable to individuals who would exploit this child-like quality," Dr. Perry said.

In many ways, he said, the environment the children live in is healthy, the mothers appear to be loving, the boys are happy, he said, "but there are parts of what they do that are very destructive."

SNIP