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Show Hinckley Journal of Politics 2005 the attendance dropped by 75 percent in the local schools when the sect decided to educate the children at home. Ron Barton, Utah Special Prosecutor for Polygamy-related Crimes, said in an interview that while he could only speculate on the kind of education that the children are receiving within the polygamous communities, he claimed that the history lessons referred to the history of the priesthood, that the children were taught that man had never landed on the ¦ftoon, and were as well as told about other such "government conspiracies" (2004). DCFS policy instructs that "Failure or refusal by a parent or guardian to make a good faith effort to ensure that a child receives an appropriate education" deems these actions to be educational neglect ("Definitions" 2003). A former child in a polygamous community, Lillian Bowles, claims that she would have to "go dig food out of the dumpster behind the grocery store every week. There were lots of other families who did the same" (Liptak 2002). The *~os Angeles Times reports that there are "unusual levels of child poverty.... [E]very school-age child in town was living below the poverty level" (Cart 2001). The Salt Lake Tribune reported in 1998 that in the polygamous community of Colorado City, Arizona, 61 percent of the households lived under the federal poverty level (Mullen 1998). In its Utah counterpart, Hildale, 37 percent of the families live in poverty (Cart, 2001). Because fathers are forced to give attention to many different families, domestic abuse in the form of emotional neglect occurs. According to a study done by Irwin Altman and Joseph Ginat, it was observed that Although some fathers displayed warmth and affection toward their children, our general impression is that many men in contemporary Mormon fundamentalist families have somewhat distant and detached relationships with their children. In several families, children showed a blend of awe, respect, and deference toward their father, but we observed little warmth and informality or overt displays of affection between children and their fathers (1996, 432). ¦They also observed that "Fathers generally seemed to treat their children, and to be treated in return, in a distant, cool, and detached way. In some cases, fathers did not know how t^any children were in the family or how many children each wife had" (Altman and Ginat 1996, 424). Moreover, "In sev-eral families we observed aloof and detached relationships between husbands and their children" (Altman and Ginat 1996, 425). Ineffectiveness of Policies Regarding Polygamy Many obstacles face law enforcement officials when it comes to recognizing if a crime against a child has been committed ln a polygamous community. Similarly, these obstacles make lt difficult to adequately investigate these crimes. The policies that are set to deal with polygamy-related crimes are insufficient to deal with the obstacles that are in the way of officials trying to investigate and prosecute the crimes. They cannot deal with the physical barriers, closed nature of the society, the great power of the FLDS church leaders, the lack of resources to deal with the polygamy-related crimes, and apathy of the public. Physical Barriers Salt Lake Tribune investigative reporter Tom Zoellner explains that the towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, were chosen as the settlements for the Fundamentalist Mormons because "The FLDS Church decided Short Creek was sufficiently far from civilization to be an ideal homeland for believers of the true gospel. The Grand Canyon and a hundred miles of desert separated it from the Mohave County Sheriff at Kingman" (Zoellner 1998). It is very difficult for women and children to leave the communities of Hildale and Colorado City. Law enforcement in the cities are "selective" about which traffic laws they enforce, so most families ride around in golf carts or ATVs. Vehicles like cars or trucks are unregistered, so anyone who would want to leave would have trouble crossing the desert terrain to get to help (Barton 2004). Because of the isolation of Short Creek, the Fundamentalist Mormons were and are still able to remain cut off from the rest of the world, and its separation keeps any criminal practices from being observed by public officials. Closed Nature of the Society An article in the Los Angeles Times contends "The secrecy in which polygamy thrives adds another layer of frustration for law enforcement" (Cart 2001). It is first of all difficult to determine whether a crime has been committed. The Los Angeles Times also reports that "the problems usually associated with polygamy include: high levels of incest, child abuse, and wife battering. But the crimes are rarely reported because of the secrecy surrounding polygamous communities" (Cart 2001). Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says that "because of the closed nature of the society and the threats to young brides, people are afraid to talk [and] statistics about polygamy are hard to come by" (Cart 2001). Most of the information out there comes from a small group of law enforcement officials and polygamists who have left the communities (Cart 2001). Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff told the Los Angeles Times that the few crimes that are reported are difficult to prosecute because "you need witnesses, you need cooperation.... Because of the closed nature of the society and the threats to the young brides, people are afraid to talk" (Cart 2001). The people within the communities will not give up information about occurrences within the community because they are "ferociously dedicated to their church leaders...and the church's aging prophets demand much from their flock..., most of all, absolute obedience" (Cart 2001). Even with a witness or victim willing to come forward and testify, it is difficult to get a conviction. This problem was seen in the 37 |
