Utah AG's office revises guide to polygamy

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13171157

By Brooke Adams, Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 08/20/2009 05:56:38 PM MDT

After months of haggling over every period, definition, connotation and allusion, the state's Safety Net Committee has released a revised guide to understanding so-called fundamentalist Mormon communities in Utah, Arizona and as far away as Missouri and Canada.

The Primer , as the booklet is known, now has a neutral tone that no longer promotes the idea that fundamentalist Mormons, many of whom practice polygamy, are "victims" of groups who experience more domestic violence or abuse than other populations, said Pat Merkley, Safety Net Committee director.

"I think we have produced the best dialogue we possibly could," Merkley said. "It is a true consensus."

The Primer is primarily designed for use by law enforcement and social services agencies, but Merkley said it also has been of wide interest to the public.

The first version of The Primer was put together by the Utah Attorney General's Office in 2005, and it has been a "sore spot" with many fundamentalist Mormons who did not like its disparaging tone and over-generalizations, Merkley said.

The guide's new introduction is an example of the difference in approach. Previously, it told the story of one woman's "escape" from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Now it attributes the origins of The Primer to a recognition that those who "elect to leave" fundamentalist Mormon communities have unique needs.

With that in mind, The Primer's section on domestic violence has been rewritten to make it more applicable to issues that arise in fundamentalist Mormon and plural families, Merkley said.

The Primer also offers an overview of different groups that, with one exception, were prepared by the communities themselves -- among them, the Apostolic United Brethren or "Allred Group;" Centennial Park; Davis County Cooperative Society and the Nielsen/Naylor Group. A section on the FLDS was prepared without the sect's help.

The Primer includes a glossary of definitions, terms and practices, many revised in the new edition. A few terms have been dropped.

Altered explanations now use neutral language and provide fuller descriptions of how the terms are used and by whom. The entry for "reassignment of wives" is now simply "reassignment" and the practice is ascribed to the FLDS rather than all fundamentalist Mormons.

There also are several additions, such as "compound." The Primer says that word, like "clan," is an objectionable term.

Merkley said The Primer will undoubtedly undergo more changes. "There will be people on both sides who are not happy with it," she said. But, "we have produced the best dialogue we possibly could."

The Primer is available online at http://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/cmsdocuments/The_Primer.pdf.