Humphrey Caroline
Room 242 Wilberforce Building, School of Social Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK,
J Relig Health. 2015 Oct;54(5):1660-71. doi: 10.1007/s10943-014-9898-z.
The aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which the concept of evil has been invoked in relation to child abuse. First, the scene is set by juxtaposing professional discourses which have eschewed the concept of evil and public opinion which is affronted by the evil of child abuse. Second, I will discuss the work of some therapists in the USA whose work with perpetrators and survivors has led them to frame the causes and consequences of child abuse in terms of moral evil. Third, I will draw upon case studies of Satanic abuse and spirit possession in the UK to illustrate that some social workers and religious communities have interpreted child abuse as an outcome of or as an antidote to metaphysical evil. Finally, there is a critical appraisal of the merits of referencing moral and metaphysical evil in the discourses of caring professionals, with a suggestion that a mythical-metaphorical conception of evil could be a more flexible and fruitful resource for therapeutic work.
本文旨在探讨在儿童虐待问题上，邪恶概念是如何被援引的。首先，通过将回避邪恶概念的专业话语与因儿童虐待之恶而义愤填膺的公众舆论并列，来搭建讨论的场景。其次，我将讨论美国一些治疗师的工作，他们与施虐者和幸存者的工作使他们从道德邪恶的角度来阐述儿童虐待的原因和后果。第三，我将借鉴英国关于撒旦崇拜虐待和灵魂附身的案例研究，以说明一些社会工作者和宗教团体将儿童虐待解释为形而上学之恶的结果或解药。最后，对关爱专业人士话语中提及道德和形而上学之恶的优点进行批判性评估，并提出一种神话隐喻式的邪恶概念可能是治疗工作中更灵活、更有成效的资源。
