| Expert
Testimony
Moscow - Saint Petersburg
September
25 - October 23, 1998
Psychiatric Physician of the First
Rank
Doctor
of Medical Sciences
(Medical
Psychology, Psychiatry)
Director
of Scientific Programs
The
Harmony Institute of Psychotherapy and
Consultation
Victor
Efimovich Kagan
Under the supervision of
The
Institute of Education in Social Work
Of
the Russian Academy of Education
In response to an inquiry by A.E.
Leontyev
Of
September 14, 1998
The following questions were
presented
for expert
analysis:
1)
Can the enclosed testimony and
psychiatrists'
letters be considered from a scientific point of view to constitute
objective
and reliable evidence of harm to the psychic health of an individual
inflicted
by the activity of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses?;
2)
Does participation in the activity of
religious
organization of Jehovah's Witnesses or membership in it influence the
psychic
and psychological condition of an individual, and if so, in what way?;
3)
How do the doctrinal beliefs of Jehovah's
Witnesses
and the practical application of these beliefs in life affect the
individual's
social orientation?
. . .
V. Conclusions
A) An analysis of the documents
presented, which
contain numerous assertions of the psychic and psychological damage
inflicted
by the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses upon its members,
does not reveal in these documents professional or convincing
psychiatric
lines of reasoning in support of the assertions made. The fact that
these
documents manifest an almost complete absence of data collected on the
basis of personal observation (the only personal observations having
been
made by a mentally ill individual) renders any evaluation of the
organization
of Jehovah's Witnesses by the authors, negative or positive,
professionally
improper. These documents have been generated on the basis of a
presumption
of the guilt of the organization under discussion. One of them (the
report
on the condition of the patient Ivanov) is drawn up in violation of the
Law of the Russian Federation "On Psychiatric Treatment and Guarantees
of the Rights of Citizens Receiving it" (articles 8 and 9). For the
foregoing
reasons, there is no basis or possibility for considering these
documents
as providing valid evidence or as offering a proper psychiatric basis
for
evaluating the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses.
B) The psychodiagnostic
investigation
of
113 members
of the Moscow religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses conducted on
September 25, 1998, as a randomized, representative sample weighted for
sex and age, was designed to answer the question as to whether or not
association
with the organization influences the mental and emotional condition of
its members, and if so, what is the nature of that influence, and also
the question as to the nature of the members' attitudes towards the
significant
spheres of social life.
C) The materials of the expert
investigation permit
the following conclusions:
1. The sampling of Jehovah's
Witnesses studied
does not differ as to social characteristics in any essential or
significant
way from the general population of the city.
2. The subjects of the study
manifested a
trusting, open and collaborative spirit towards the process of
participation
in the study.
3. No signs were detected of
deformation
of deep character structure, nor was there any evidence of a connection
between character traits and association with the organization of
Jehovah's
Witnesses.
4. Concerning psychological
characteristics,
the predominant personality type among the subjects were
representatives
of the mildly introverted personality type (phlegmatic and melancholy
in
temperament)-calm, emotionally restrained, circumspect in their
interactions
with others, inclined to self-analysis, to planning ahead and to
careful
consideration of their actions, loving order, having a serious attitude
toward decision-making, and placing a high value on moral standards.
5. The indicators for
character
structure
used in the test, which have been widely used as a "screen" to pinpoint
those needing follow-up examinations, revealed only isolated deviations
from the norm which are not statistically significant in comparison to
the general population and which compare favorably to many
subpopulations.
6. No indication was found to
confirm a relationship
between length of association with the organization and the expression
of personality traits. This finding provides a basis for rejecting the
assertion that the
organization of Jehovah's
Witnesses
exerts
a destructive influence on the character structure of its members.
7. The study of the
personality
content aspect
of the subjects' psychology-in particular, their socially significant
attitudes
toward law, the government and the people, their interest in life,
tolerance
toward those holding other views and beliefs, their ability to assume
responsibility
and their external/internal behavior control, as well as their
awareness
of their own spiritual health, revealed in a decided majority of
subjects
a positive dynamic in regard to these parameters of attitude and
motivational
orientation, which correlated at a high level of certainty with the
length
of time that the subjects had associated with the congregation of
Jehovah's
Witnesses.
|
TRADUC:
1. L'échantillon des
Témoins
de Jéhovah étudiés ne
présente pas de
différence
notable avec l'ensemble de la population quant à leur
caractéristiques
sociales.
2. Les individus
étudiés ont
manifesté un état d'esprit confiant, ouvert et
désireux
de participer à l'étude.
3. Aucune trace
d'altération
de la
structure du caractère profond, ni aucune connexion entre
leur
trait
de caractère et leur association avec l'organisation des
Témoins
de Jéhovah n'a été mis en
évidence.
4. Concernant leurs
caractéristiques
psychologiques, les traits de caractères
prédominants
présents
chez les sujets étaient représentatifs des
individus peu
introvertis (flegmatiques et de tempérament
mélancolique)-
calmes, maîtres de leurs émotion, circonspects
dans leurs
rapports avec autrui, enclin à l'auto-critique, planifiant
à
l'avance et analysant sérieusement leurs actions, aimant
l'ordre,
considérant sérieusement le fait de prendre des
décisions,
et attribuant beaucoup d'importance aux valeurs morales.
5. Les indicateurs de la
structure
du caractère
utilisés pour le test, qui ont déjà
été
largement utiliser pour permettre de mettre en évidence les
sujets
nécessitant d'être suivit, n'ont
révélé
que des disparités isolées par rapport
à la norme
et n'ont pas de signification en comparaison de la population et sont
plutôt
bons en comparaison à beaucoup de sous-groupe de population.
6. Il n'y a aucune indication
confirmant
que la durée passée à
fréquenter
l'organisation
n'a une quelconque influence sur les traits de personnalité.
Ces
conclusions permettent de rejeter l'accusation selon laquelle
l'organisation
des Témoins de Jéhovah exerce un influence
destructrice
sur
ces membres.
7. L'étude de
personnalité
effectuée, concernant l'aspect psychologique - en
particulier,
leur
attitude à l'égard de la loi, du gouvernement, du
public,
leur intérêt dans la vie, leur
tolérance à
l'égard
de qui possède des vues et des croyances
différentes,
leur
disposition à assumer des responsabilités, le
contrôle
extérieur/intérieur qu'ils ont sur
eux-même, ainsi
que la prise de conscience de leur propre santé spirituelle
a
mis
en relief que la grande majorité des sujets, dynamiques et
motivants
doivent de manière quasiment certaine cette attitude
à la
durée de leur association avec la congrégation
des
Témoins
de Jéhovah.
|
L'Affaire
Roncarelli, Duplessis contre les Témoins de
Jéhovah
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