Health Beliefs and Practices in an Isolated Polygamist Community of Southern Utah

Abstract

Short Creek is a largely closed and isolated community on the border between Utah and Arizona, made up of the sister towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. Beginning from childhood, the 6,000 or so members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) are brought up in a lifestyle of plural marriage, meaning a marriage among one man and more than one woman, and are surrounded by their peers in "the covenant." A lifestyle of plural marriage is likely to affect the health of community members, but its effects have not been studied because of the community's isolation and distrust of outsiders. This paper addresses several questions that arise in contemplating the health of the Short Creek community: What are the health beliefs in this community, and what are their historical bases? Where do families seek medical care, and for what or at what threshold of illness or injury? What is the attitude of care providers serving this community, and how are the providers viewed by the community? More broadly, this paper examines the ways in which polygamy configures health. In order to meet this objective, this paper aims first to provide a brief account of this community's history and demographic profile, followed by a discussion of health care in this community and how it is affected by the practice of plural marriage, with the data comprised of qualitative interviews with health care providers to the community. The goals of this project are to gain a rich, historically nuanced understanding of the health of community members, and to identify directions for further academic and policy research. Our findings indicate that health in this community is shaped by limited resources, an attitude of health fatalism, and a profound insularity and corresponding isolation from the outside world.

Closed but Not Protected: Excess Deaths Among the Amish and Mennonites During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Closed communication networks prevent counter-evidence from correcting distorted perceptions of medicine and the government (Greil & Rudy, 1984 ). Many such groups are skeptical of modern medicine, science, and the government, which makes them particularly prone to health misinformation circulating through their closed communication networks and a reluctance to seek preventative and routine medical care (Arciuolo et al, 2013 ; Armer & Radina, 2006 ; Dickinson et al, 1996 ; Galanter, 1999 ; Gastañaduy et al, 2016 ; Glassman, 2018 ; Miller & Karkazis, 2013 ; Offit, 2015 ; Thompson & Kisjes, 2016 ). For instance, US Christian nationalists, who exhibit a moderate level of closure from society, are less likely to engage in COVID-19 preventative behaviors (i.e., wearing masks and washing hands) (Perry et al, 2020 ) and more likely to engage in dangerous behaviors (i.e., not social distancing/isolating) and oppose science (Baker et al, 2020 ; Perry et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Information (about health, current events, and so forth) circulating in CRCs is subject to distortion and echo-chamber effects (Galanter, 1999 ; Greil & Rudy, 1984 ). Distrust of the government, science, and modern medicine renders groups like the Amish vulnerable to communicable disease outbreaks (Arciuolo et al, 2013 ; Armer & Radina, 2006 ; Galanter, 1999 ; Gastañaduy et al, 2016 ; Glassman, 2018 ; Miller & Karkazis, 2013 ; Offit, 2015 ; Thompson & Kisjes, 2016 ). Since many CRCs rely on communal rituals and interpersonal interaction (Iannaccone, 1994 ; Kanter, 1972 ), this dynamic is particularly dangerous for disease outbreaks where isolation and social distance are the only apparent means for slowing transmission.…”

The Palgrave Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender

“…While, as discussed above, there is a large body of work on polygamy and health in general (e.g. Miller & Karkazis, 2013;Tamini & Kahrazei, 2010), and mental health specifically (e.g. Hamdan et al, 2009;Shepard, 2013), little of this work has addressed counselling or therapy needs for those in continuing polygamous arrangements, though some do tackle these issues, addressing topics such as how nurses and policy makers can mediate negative effects of polygyny while acknowledging positive ones (Tabi et al, 2010), and how approaching the issue using an Islamic base and focusing on improving children's experience might be a way to mediate negative effects (Al-Krenawi et al, 1997).…”

Global Contexts: How Countries Shape the COVID-19 Experience of Amish and Mennonite Missionaries Abroad

“…Certain conservative Protestant sects in the U.S. resisted these directives (Ali et al 2020;Duran et al 2020;Perry et al 2020aPerry et al , 2020bPew Research Center 2020;Stein 2021). The non-compliance may reflect a religiously motivated distrust of science, medicine, the government, and the media (Armer and Radina 2006;Baker et al 2020;Galanter 1999;Gastañaduy et al 2016;Glassman 2018;Miller and Karkazis 2013;Offit 2015;Thompson and Kisjes 2016). The behavior may also reflect political sentiments that are independent of religious beliefs.…”