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Isaiah Beh
Professor Baird
English 1010-089
27 March 2014
Annotated Bibliography
The recent Utah Supreme Court decision, which struck down Utahs cohabitation
laws, making polygamy quasi legal, has sparked discussions and debates publically and
personally. Debates concerning the legality and morality of polygamy have been raging
since these cohabitation laws were deemed unconstitutional. My name is Isaiah Beh; I have
one father, three mothers, eighteen brothers, and fourteen sisters. I am a child of a Mormon
polygamist. Growing up in such an unconventional family, I have developed questions
about my personal progress as an adult, as well as where I belong as a member of modern
conventional society. Rather than focusing on the legality of this issue, I would like to
focus on the moral aspect of raising children in a polygamist family. I pose the question;
How does being raised in a polygamist family affect, if at all, a childs ability to be a conscience,
active, and contributing member of society? Mainly focusing on the psychological and
sociological effects, if there are any, of being raised in the non-traditional setting of a
polygamist family. Furthermore, I wish to describe and define what being a contributing member
of modern society entails, along with the difference between contributing to conventional
society outside polygamy, and contributing to the unconventional society that surrounds
polygamy.

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Elbedour, Salman, Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, Corin Caridine, and Hasan Abu-Saad. The Effect
of Polygamous Marital Structure on Behavioral, and Academic Adjustment in Children:
A Comprehensive Review of the Literature. Clinical Child & Family Psychology
Review Vol. 5 Issue 4 (2002), p255-271. Print.
The academic paper The Effect of Polygamous Marital Structure on Behavioral, and
Academic Adjustment in Children: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature, written by
Elbedour, Onwuegbuzie, Caridine, and Abu-Saad discusses the effects of being raised in a
polygamous family on a childs emotional, behavioral, and academic adjustment. The authors
discuss the different results of empirical studies on polygamy. They state that in some studies,
the researchers found that the positive effects of polygamy out-weight the harmful effects caused
by a polygamous environment. The authors do suggest that the harmful aspects of polygamy
have more long-term negative effects that have not yet been studied, or quantified. Such negative
effects include drug abuse, alcoholism, lack of higher-level education, and relationship
development in adults raised in polygamy.
The authors use ethos and logos very persuasively in the research paper to build their
rhetorical appeal. First, all of the authors are professors of Psychology and have published peer-
reviewed papers in accredited scientific journals. This builds their rhetorical appeal by showing
the reader they are actual experts in the field and study of psychology. Second, they logically
interpret and discuss multiple empirical studies done on the subject of polygamy. By doing this,
they show the information they provide comes from actual quantitative, and qualitative research,
helping to build both their ethos and logos.
After reading this paper, I considered that there could be both negative and positive
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outcomes, or effects from being raised in a polygamous family. I came this conclusion from the
evidence the authors presented. The authors interpreted the findings from different studies which
compared children raised in monogamous marital structures versus children raised in
polygamous marital structures. This idea directly relates to all of the other sources I have
researched. This paper agrees that due to the enhanced support system, and many different role
models that come with a large family/social group, polygamy has a positive affect on children.
However, this paper also agrees with my others sources, which state that the multiple stress
factors brought on by a polygamous marital structure create long-term detrimental effects on the
adults who were raised in polygamy.
Fry, Amy. Polygamy in America: How the Varying Legal Standards Fail to Protect
Mothers and Children From its Abuses. St. Louis University Law Journal Spring Vol. 54
Issue 3 (2010), p967-995. Print.
The article Polygamy in America was written by Amy Fry and was originally
published in 2010 in the St. Louis University Law Journal. The article discusses polygamy in the
United States, mainly focusing on the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ (FLDS), an offshoot
of the mainstream Mormon Church (LDS). Fry claims that due to bureaucratic red tape, and
outdated laws, mothers and children from FLDS communities are not being protected from
abuses caused by polygamy. The author examines the criminal acts of the FLDS on the children
who were physically and sexually abused and the effects of this abuse. Fry further investigates
the laws passed to protect the parental and religious rights of the mothers of the abused children,
as well as laws passed to protect the children themselves. Finally Fry looks at the
constitutionality of the First Amendment, by questioning if a religion teaches its members to
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teach their children to commit a felony act, then those parents should be stripped of their parental
rights.
The author builds her rhetorical appeal by effectively using logos, pathos, and ethos. First
she establishes herself as a credible source on the subject by publishing her article in a peer
reviewed university law journal. She then logically explains the laws, which were put in place to
protect the religious and parental rights of mothers married into polygamous families, and laws
to protect children from abuse. By playing on most peoples shared sense of morality in the
treatment and protection of children, Fry further builds her rhetorical appeal.
Frys article has affected my view on the subject of polygamy and children by showing
that in certain polygamist communities, such as the FLDS communities, polygamy can have
extremely adverse affects on the raising of children to become contributing members of society.
The article demonstrates this by looking at situations I n which young adolescent girls are
married to men two, three, and even four times the age of the girls. These situations of
statutory rape are proven to have extremely adverse effects on the development of a childs
psyche. The article also contributes to my argument by showing the legality of the parents right
to teach a child to commit a felony, such as the practice of polygamy, solely on the basis of that
felony being a religious practice. In doing so, this illustrates that by teaching a child to practice
polygamy, one is adversely affecting the childs ability to become a contributing member of
society.
Hamdan, Sami, Judy Auerbach, and Alan Apter. Polygamy and mental health of adolescents.
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 18 Issue 12 (2009), p755-760. Print.
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The article Polygamy and mental health of adolescents was written by Sami Hamdan,
Judy Auerbach, and Alan Apter, and was originally published in 2009 in the European Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry journal. The article combines and explains data collected from multiple
studies done in Bedouin Arab communities in southern Israel. These studies compared the
educational, developmental, and psychological effects on children raised in polygamous families,
in contrast to children raised in monogamous families. By reviewing the data from these studies,
the authors determined that children from polygamous families (in comparison to monogamous
families) externalized their problems more, and had higher levels of attention problems.
Although, due to polygamy being a normal or accepted form of marriage in these Bedouin
communities, as well as the children having such a large support group within their immediate
family, the authors concluded polygamy posed no educational, or developmental dangers to the
children raised in a polygamist families.
The authors of Polygamy and mental health of adolescents effectively use ethos and
logos to pursued the reader. The authors build their credibility and rhetorical appeal by using
peer-reviewed sources, and data from researchers who are well respected in the sociological and
psychological fields. By logically reviewing these sources and data, the authors cohesively
express the effect polygamy has on children in the Bedouin Arab communities of Israel.
This article gives an opposing view on the argument of the effects of raising children in a
polygamous setting. This opposing view suggests that due to the commonality, and acceptance of
the polygamist lifestyle in the Bedouin Arab communities of Israel, polygamy has little adverse
effects on the upbringing of children. This study has affected the way I have perceived polygamy
by showing me that if polygamy is an accepted lifestyle, one that isnt out of the norm, it has
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a less adverse affect on the children causing them to become contributing members of society.
Kaczor, Christopher. The Perils of Polygamy. The Witherspoon Institute: Public Discourse.
The Witherspoon Institute. 2012. April 04 2014. Web.
Christopher Kaczors article The Perils of Polygamy was originally published May
21
st
, 2012 on The Witherspoon Institutes website. Kaczor looks at recent empirical research
which suggests that polygamy is socially detrimental, to society in general, to men, to women,
and to children. Kaczor compares countries/communities where polygamy is legal to
countries/communities where monogamy is the dominant form of marriage and the social and
economic contrasts of the two. In doing so, Kaczor shows the extremely adverse affects
polygamy has on the societies that accept and permit its practice.
Kaczor uses ethos and logos very effectively in persuading the reader to believe his
argument. First he establishes himself as a credible source on the subject by stating that he is a
Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic university. Kaczor
also uses information from an empirical study published in the credible scientific journal,
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. By using information from an accredited
source, Kaczor builds his ethos and rhetorical appeal. Furthermore, Kaczor logically explains the
adverse effects that polygamy has on a society as a whole compared to societies where polygamy
is not a prevalent form of marriage. By doing this, he reinforces his thesis and effectively
persuades his audience.
This article has affected negatively on whether polygamy has adverse effects on the
raising of children to become contributing members of society. Kaczor has done this by
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showing that polygamy adversely affects all facets of modern society, and social acceptance or
opinion does little to change those adverse effects. In contrast to the other articles I have
researched, Kaczors shows that polygamy breaks down societal safeguards that promote
economical development, and internal family structure development.

Zeitzen, Miriam Koktvedgaard. Christian Polygyny in the USA. Polygamy: A Cross-culture
Analysis. Oxford: Berg. 2008: 089-108. ebook collection.
Chapter five Christian Polygyny in the USA, in Miriam Zeitzens book Polygamy: A
Cross-culture Analysis published in 2008, talks about how the newly formed Mormon religion
started practicing polygamy in the 1830s. Furthermore, she discusses the history of how
polygamy spread throughout the Mormon Church, and the United States. Zeitzen chronologically
works through the history of the Mormon Church, from its formation in the early 1830s to
present day. While doing so, she correlates the effects polygamy has had on the Church, the state
of Utah, and the United States. Zeitzen illustrates how the early Mormons were persecuted for
practicing polygamy, and were pushed west into Mexican territory, into modern day Utah. The
author discusses that in the process of Utah becoming a state which would be recognized by the
United States, the Mormon Church had to ban and put a stop to the practice of polygamy
amongst its members. Furthermore she states that there was continued practice of polygamy
after the banning of the practice in the 1890s, practice that has continued to current day. Zeitzen
also discusses the laws passed by the state of Utah, and by the United States which outlaws and
criminalizes the practice of polygamy.
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Zeitzen uses ethos and logos very effectively to persuade the reader by chronologically
explaining the history of polygamy in the United States. By stating facts about how polygamy
first started with the formation of the Mormon Church, and thereafter spread throughout North
America Zeitzen logically shows how and why polygamy spread. Furthermore, Zeitzen builds
her rhetorical appeal by stating many of the laws passed by State and Federal government to
curtail the spread of polygamy.
Zeitzens excerpt has affected the way I view the issue by showing that although
polygamy is a relatively new practice in the United States, it has been practiced around the world
for millennia. In comparison to the article Polygamy and mental health of adolescents, Zeitzen
shows that unlike the Bedouin Tribes of Israel, polygamy is not an accepted practice in the USA,
thus contributing to the negative affects it may have on the raising of children to become
contributing citizens of society. By demonstrating this, I believe it supports the idea that
polygamy, if accepted by society, has little provable or quantifiable affects on the raising of
children in communities were it is an accepted practice. The excerpt does this by showing
polygamy as a relatively new practice in the United States, and most people find it taboo, or
immoral. This article has shown me that societal pressures, acceptance, and opinions play a large
role on the upbringing of children in polygamous families.
In conclusion, through my research I have found that most studies on the effect of
polygamy on the children raised within its family structure state: polygamous children are going
to have many social, psychological, and developmental problems. These problems are caused by
many different sources. First, social pressures, in countries where polygamy is illegal, put on the
child by society for being part of a non-traditional family structure. Second, lack of individual
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attention from a father, although this attention is often provided by the large support system of
the over-sized family and multiple mothers. Third, the financial stress of providing for a large
family often results in being raised in poverty. Poverty stems problems such as malnutrition, lack
of medical/dental care, trouble with the law, drug/alcohol abuse, and limits opportunities for
higher education. In my personal experience, I have seen all of these negative effects and I have
found that being raised in a polygamous marital structure has severe detrimental effects on the
emotional, psychological, and education development of children.