Guds lilla barnaskara - barn och ungdomar inom Jehovas vittnen
SektJehovas VittnenSocialt arbeteAvhoppareBarnUngdomSocial problems and welfareNational insuranceSociala problemSocial välfärdSocialförsäkringLaw and Political Science
My intention was to explore the childhood of children and adolescents within the religious organization of Jehovah´s Witnesses, in Sweden. I used a technique where I interviewed three active witnesses and four former members. The former members either had left the religion freely or had been excluded by the movement. I wanted to know more from those two different perspectives, because they often seem to conflict. First of all, I wanted to learn about the persons own upbringing. Secondly, I wanted to learn more about children and adolescents within the movement in general. I wanted to explore both positive and negative aspects of belonging to a Christian organization. I also wanted to know more about their every-day-life. Finally, I wanted to know how people handled difficult relationships within their families and when the support or advice of the congregation was sought. The seven interviews have given a lot of information about both every-day-life, positive and negative aspects of growing up as a witness and how family difficulties are handled. Since children within Jehovah´s Witnesses attend regular schools, I have learnt a lot about difficulties that the interviewed people have experienced during school and in relation to non-witness children.