Children of Polygamy: Life Outside the Compound

April 8, 2008 — -- For the 401 children removed from a West Texas polygamist compound earlier this week, life as they know it – where even laughter was forbidden – is about to change drastically.

Now the victims of what state authorities suspect is the largest child abuse case in the nation's history, these children are likely to face a myriad of psychological issues, including extreme phobias, identity issues and problems obeying authority figures, according to several cult experts.

"On one level [the lives of these children] have been wonderful in the sense that you're never alone and you have lots of family members constantly around you," said Steven Hassan, a licensed mental health counselor and founder of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center. "But on the other hand, you're not encouraged to think for yourself or have an imagination and learn and grow. You're encouraged to conform and be a clone."

The children and the 133 women taken from the compound once led by Warren Jeffs, who sits in prison after being convicted as an accomplice to rape, are being held in a nearby shelter. Texas authorities interviewing them are eager for any details about what life was like within the heavily restricted community.

Photographs of the children show some as young as infants and others ranging in age up to teenagers, many having spent their entire lives immersed in the cult.

That means having grown up on a compound where the rules of childhood forbid the joys of normal child's play like television and radio. Internet access was forbidden and iPods could only be used to listen to Jeffs' sermons. Even laughter was banned at the compound.

These children are unlikely to respond well to the Texan authorities and will have a long road to recovery ahead of them.

"They're going to need to realize that the world is a nice place and that they can sit in the sun and play on swings and that people will be kind to them and like them," said Hassan, who is a former member of Sun Myung Moon's cult. "And that women, particularly for members of this cult, matter and are not just baby machines."

While other American children worry little about things more serious than their lunchtime snack or their afternoon play date, the children removed from Jeffs' compound will likely suffer from terrifying phobias, Hassan told ABCNews.com.