For the past week, Josh Duggar’s admittance to molestation allegations have been a large portion of news and commentary. The eldest child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar has, in essence, been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion, where there is no such thing as a statute of limitation.
The program that made them household names,?19 Kids and Counting, is in danger of being given the same fate as?Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, the family and those associated with them are under ever-intensifying scrutiny, and Josh Duggar himself resigned from his position at the Family Research Council in what can only be described as “disgrace.”
While we, the populace, are quick to label this man and his unfortunate choices, to pursue him with the fervor of a lynch mob and drag his name repeatedly through fire, there may be another force at work which we may not have considered.
Some consider religion to be off-limits in a variety of circumstances, but this may not be one of them. It is reasonable to question whether Josh Duggar’s fundamentalist far-right Christian education and upbringing may be at least partly responsible for his decision to indulge in the molestation of several young girls. It is also reasonable to inquire what the ramifications of Duggar’s actions are within the context of that religious upbringing.
Everyone’s choices result from a combination of individual human nature and the environment in which we live. Josh Duggar is no exception.
For the purpose of clarification, in no way are Josh Duggar’s actions excusable, regardless of who may excuse them. Josh Duggar committed a crime and violated the purity of several young girls, including some of his sisters, who did nothing to deserve the violation of that purity. Also, this article is not meant to insinuate that every person who grows up in a restrictive ideological manner turns out to commit acts similar to Josh Duggar’s. This article is solely a means to examine how Josh Duggar’s religious upbringing may have influenced his decision to molest five little girls.
“Quiverfull” and the Problem with Abstinence
While not openly self-identifying with the “Quiverfull” movement, the Duggar family exhibit many of the same ideologies as “Quiverfull” families. As Christian patriarchal adherents, the Duggar clan have emerged alongside a set of gender-biased ideas, such as female subservience, unquestioned patriarchy, and regular childbirth. It stands to reason that Josh Duggar, having spent his life around androcentrism and pregnancy, may have had early understanding of male-dominated sex, at least as it related to procreation.
If this were the case, as Josh Duggar began his ascent into puberty, he might have been caught in the middle of a battle between his drive to have sex, the concepts of sexual abstinence endorsed by his religious upbringing, and the abusive androcentrism often observed in his home.
Scientific and academic study of sexual abstinence does not come to the conclusion that abstinence-only teachings are beneficial. When considering abstinence-only education, researchers have found that jurisdictions in favor of abstinence-only education have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections in the United States, meaning that despite efforts to keep adolescents from engaging in sexual activity, they still do. This makes perfect sense, as the teenage years are a time of powerful drives to have sex, and when combined with ignorance as to how to have sex safely, those that ultimately forgo abstinence and give in to primal sexual urges are more prone to the consequences of those actions.
Sexual repression, like the kind promoted through abstinence-only education, can create an ignorance about sexual relationships that is prone to confusion and can lead to the creation of outlets for sexual ambition that could prove damaging. Whereas masturbation is commonly the outlet many take to combat an overwhelming desire to have sex, Christianity, particularly far-right Fundamentalist Christianity, frowns upon the action, even distorting scripture to label masturbation as “sinful,” despite no such claim actually being made in the Bible.
If Josh Duggar had no outlet in venting his growing sexual frustrations, much like a soda bottle violently shaken, eventually he might have popped, and in a moment of weakness, resorted to releasing those pent-up frustrations on the closest and most vulnerable girls around him. Josh Duggar was an authority figure to them, and in understanding that, their vulnerability was well-known to him.
Similarly, priests in the Catholic church understand the vulnerability of the young boys they abuse. Priests are given similar roles by parishioners. In a sense, a priest is an authority figure that takes care of those dependent upon him, much in the same way Josh Duggar was an authority figure taking care of those dependent upon him. The dynamics of this kind of relationship make very apparent the vulnerability of the dependent to the person dependent upon. It’s an easy relationship to exploit.
The Biological and Psychological Conflicts of Repressed Sexuality
Human beings, at their core, are still animals, and as such, have characteristics that are still primal, despite the species’ obvious physical and social deviations from the rest of the animal kingdom. Sexual maturity, in biology, refers to the age in which an organism can reproduce. In modern humanity, this is essentially the “age of sexual consent” or adulthood, but biologically, this occurs much sooner than humanity’s arbitrary social constructs. During adolescence, specifically during puberty, both males and females begin processes that mature reproductive organs and generate hormones, such as androgens, estrogen, Luteinizing hormone (LH), and Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). This period is when males develop sperm and females begin having menstrual cycles.
This is the point when procreation within the human species becomes possible. On average, this takes place between the ages of 11 and 12, depending on the gender.
This is also the point when stirring, primal sexual impulses begin to manifest in humans, and despite his religious upbringing, Josh Duggar was no exception. Given his age at the time the first accusation was made to his father, 14, Josh Duggar could have been at a point when his sexual urges were becoming stronger, his development into manhood was making him more aggressive, and his cultural upbringing was utilizing that biological aggression into a rudimentary androcentric identity, inspired by his father.
According to Carl Jung, every person, through self-reconciliation of environmental factors, develops the “shadow,” one or many sub-personalities that primarily represent negatively-reinforced, internalized experiences (such as humiliation, anger, and confusion). The “shadow” exists behind the consciousness, hidden from the world and, most importantly, from the self. In this case, Josh Duggar’s “shadow” would be unknown to everyone, including Josh Duggar. Josh Duggar’s upbringing, specifically the aspects of it involving sexuality, would manifest in the “shadow,” adding to the repressed personality various traits of sexual deviancy. With non-monogamous and self-exploratory sexual activities vehemently spoken against in the home and in church — the two fundamental aspects of Josh Duggar’s cultural upbringing — it stands to reason that he would break in ways that defied the social expectations of his culture, as the “shadow” is, essentially, an oppositional manifestation.
The Psychological Damage Obtained by the Victims and their Aggressor
One of the most compelling aspects of this story is one that appears to have received very little press. Four of Josh Duggar’s victims were his sisters, and while the spotlight is shining on the man who, as a teenager, fondled them in a sexually provocative manner, the girls are, essentially, without representation during this entire ordeal.
Five female siblings were around at the time of the first allegation, between the ages of four and 12. We know Josh Duggar molested four of them.
There are a wide variety of psychopathologies that have been known to manifest in victims of sexual abuse, particularly when the abuse is endured during childhood years. Depression and anxiety rank as two of the most common, but it is not unheard of for victims of childhood sexual abuse to develop depression, dissociative disorders and post-traumatic stress later in life. These psychopathologies can further manifest into social withdraw, behavioral problems, and psychological regression.
It is difficult to inquire how the four Duggar girls victimized by their older brother have adjusted to life after the abuse. It is possible that their lives in a male-dominated culture, along with their exposure to absolute female subservience, may color their perception of the abuse. While they likely understand incest to be sinful — a death-worthy offense, according to their father — and recognize Josh Duggar’s actions as incestuous, it was their older brother, an authoritative male figure, committing the offense. Thus, the girls, paradoxically, might not have considered Josh Duggar’s actions as sinful in the first place, or if they did, may have rationalized them in the context of the male-dominated culture in which they exist. Men are the absolute measure of authority in Christian patriarchy.
Further, when Jim Bob Duggar discovered his son’s sin, when the girls came forward about what had taken place, if Jim Bob Duggar had told the girls to keep the allegations to themselves, they likely would have listened to their father without question. Their lives are androcentric. The male’s commands are for the females to obey without confrontation.
Having covered up his son’s actions, Jim Bob Duggar is guilty as an accessory to the abuse purveyed by his son. He is further guilty if his refusal to hold Josh Duggar accountable for his actions contributed to additional abuses Josh committed. Jim Bob Duggar may not have actually molested his daughters, but his lack of insight and failure to do all that was necessary to prevent Josh Duggar from acting upon his impulses enabled his son to continue abusing his daughters. This, in itself, is also abuse.
Josh Duggar sexually abused five girls, but he can be considered a victim as well. A rigid, androcentric upbringing. Sexual repression cloaked in “sinfulness.” A “shadow” self. These are all negatively-reinforced factors that may well have influenced Josh Duggar to the point where, upon breaking under the weight of Christian guilt, he fell into the pit and committed acts considered morally treasonous. Making matters worse were his parents. His mother, unquestionably subservient and regularly pregnant, and his father, in possession of unanimous and unchallenged authority, scrambled to hide their son’s actions from the world, even as those actions may have been a product of the environment they created.
Josh Duggar’s story is one of victims and perpetrators, but with lines that may actually be more skewed and brittle than the populous may realize. Perhaps the key to understanding Josh Duggar’s crimes may lie in his life, and while Josh Duggar is to blame for his actions, everything anyone does is influenced by the world around them. Josh Duggar was born ignorant and raised ignorant and his ignorance very well could be a large enough influence in his development to constitute attachment to his crimes.
If one were to view the idea of unchallenged androcentrism and absolute female subservience as a form of domestic abuse, then Josh Duggar grew up in an abusive household engineered by an influential, male authority figure, ignorant to the abuses taking place around him daily. This makes Josh Duggar a victim as well.
However, victims can also be perpetrators.
