What Is Spiritual Abuse?

Abstract

A fundamental issue in any text on a form of abuse is definition. Yet, obtaining a clear definition is often fraught with difficulty (Yancey & Hanson, 2010). Nonetheless, it is important to identify a definition of the abuse under consideration. The impact of limited research into, and understanding of, the experience of SA has led to the current position where defining the term SA is highly problematic. Indeed Ward (2011) notes that ‘there is no consensual definition of “spiritual abuse”’. The lack of familiarity with the term SA has been illustrated during seminars and presentations on this topic at both academic and non-academic conferences (Oakley & Oakley, 2005a, 2006; Kinmond & Oakley, 2006; Oakley, 2006a, 2006b; Oakley & Kinmond, 2009).