Childhood in aNew Religious Movement: The Socialization of Two Rivers Farm School Children

Abstract

Current literature on new religious movements and their effects on the children that grow up in them lacks objectivity and the depth of personal experience. The experience of children in new religious movements varies widely depending upon the group in which they are involved. If children are raised in a movement that has a charismatic leader and an effective structure for socialization, they can aid in the group's success through the diffusion of group ideas into the wider society. A case study of the Two Rivers Farm includes subjects that graduated from the Farm School and public school teachers that instructed these students. The Two Rivers Farm proves successful as the children that attended school there between 1985 and 1991 currently employ Farm philosophies in their lives as young adults.