Dear Women:
Woodie kindly let me know about this new board and I have been readng it with interest. The topics discussed are the topics I am interested in researching and writing about for the academic community. As some of you know, the popular view in academic literature is that of "scholars" like Susan Palmer, who says that women choose joining groups like the COG to have free sexual expereinces, and like Melton, who says that child abuse was very rare in the COG. While some scholars, such as Steven Kent, are publishing articles on what happened to the children and teenagers in the COG, few have explored the experiences of the women. I know personally that it took me many years after I left to sort through what I had done, who I was now, and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I want to hear from other women to find patterns of what efffect the group had on our lives and how we dealt with this after leaving. I am conducting research on women who were in the Children of God and participated in FFing and/or sharing. I am interested in finding out how this experience influenced their lives and how they re-integrated into mainstream society (or the difficulties in doing so). Your participation will be anonymous and your identity is not revealed in the study. The findings from this study will be presented at conferences for scholars who are interested in cults (new religious movements). Reports may be published in journal articles. These findings will help us to know more about the effects of these groups on women. Your participation may help others who are leaving similar groups and have little hope of overcoming their difficulties. If you would like to complete an online anonymous interview regarding your life experiences in the Children of God and its effects on your life since leaving, please go to

http://www.survelum.com/COG_Survey/

Please read the consent form first and hit I agree at the end of the first page to begin. Take as much time as you need to answer questions. This is anonymous. I am using an online service so that your answers are revealed to me but I am not able to see where the answers originate.

Thank you for your participation.

Miriam Williams Boeri
PS I have extra copies of my book ((not an academic book) called Heaven's Harlots. I will send it to you for the cost of postage if you would like to read it. Let me know by sending me your request at my home email.