Healing From the Harmful Teachings of Evangelical Christian Purity Culture
Loading...
Authors
Wierks, Amy
Issue Date
2024-05-14
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
complex post-traumatic stress disorder , evangelical purity culture , group therapy , religious trauma , sexual ethic
Alternative Title
Abstract
Evangelical Purity Culture (EPC) was a movement promoting the importance of sexual abstinence before marriage throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. This movement was primarily aimed at adolescents and young adults within the Evangelical Christian church community; however, its teachings extended to public schools and gained attention in prominent media sources as well. The teachings of EPC promote patriarchal norms, traditional Western gender roles, perpetuate rape culture, promote sexual double standards, and lead to internalized shame. EPC and its messages were particularly harmful to women. As EPC removed bodily and sexual autonomy, many individuals who were raised with its teachings have symptoms consistent with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) and Religious Trauma. This paper explores the harmful teachings of EPC and its effects on women and explores ways to promote healing and rebuild a healthy Sexual Ethic. This paper proposes an eight-week Group Therapy curriculum for women who have been harmed by the teachings of EPC.
Description
Citation
Publisher
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
openAccess
openAccess