Paul Jones and William Field Purdue University Farm Safety Issues in Old Order Anabaptist Communities: Unique Aspects and Innovative Intervention Strategies
Jan 05, 2016
Paul Jones and William FieldPurdue University
Farm Safety Issues in Old Order Anabaptist Communities:
Unique Aspects and Innovative Intervention Strategies
The Anabaptist/Agriculture Connection
• A primary means of economic survival
• A primary means of cultural survival
The Information Gap
• Though the Old Order Anabaptists have a distinctly agrarian culture, centralized statistics regarding agricultural safety have been sparse in regard to this population.
Potential Reasons for Sparse Information
• Desire to remain separate from the world• Resistance to higher education and
impractical information• Unwillingness to participate in many
government programs• Reporting procedures often do not
distinguish “religious preference”
The Old Order Anabaptists as a Subculture
• Religious
• Historical
• Geographical
• Social
• Economic– Kreps, et.al.
Impact of Religious Beliefs on Agricultural Behavior
• Largely ignored or dismissed as irrelevant by researchers
• The few studies done indicate a link
• Possible relationship between Old Order beliefs/behaviors and those of the larger farm population
Basic Anabaptist Beliefs
• Knowing basic spiritual and cultural principles is important for understanding and working with the population
Anabaptist Beginnings
Early 1500s: movement began in Switzerland
Early 1700s: came to America to escape persecution in Europe
Basic Beliefs
• Literal obedience to the teachings of Christ and the Scriptures
• Adult “believers” baptism (Anabaptist means “re-baptizer”)
• The ban (shunning)
Basic Beliefs (cont.)
• Social separation from the world
• Rejection of violence
• Refusal to swear oaths
• Church as covenant community
Gelassenheit
• Submission/obedience
• Yielding to a higher authority
• Resignation to God’s will
• Humility
Ordnung (Ott-ning)
• Unwritten rules of conduct
• Discipline
• Ordering of one’s life
What Does it Mean to be
Old Order?
• Selective Use of Technology
• Distinctive Dress
• Gemeinde or Redemptive Society
• Strict Adherence to Basic Beliefs
Churches that hold Similar Beliefs
• Old Order Amish
• Old Order Mennonites
• Hutterite
• Beachy Amish
• New Amish
• German Baptist
Growth
• 1890 - 22 Old Order congregations and 2,038 baptized adults
• 1992 - 898 districts and 145,000 population
• Current estimates - up to 250,000
Distribution of Amish Communities -1991
Socio-religious Characteristics Relevant
to Understanding Farm Safety Issues
Selective Use of Technology
• Modern conveniences used with reticence (cultural preservation)
• Not anti-technology; instead, “negotiated cultural compromises” (Kraybill)
• Heavy reliance on and contact with animals
• 21.8% of Amish couples have 10 or more children with the average of 7 children per family
• Doubling of population every 20-22 years
Amish Family Size
Other Unique PopulationCharacteristics of Amish
• Half the proportion of people over 65 in comparison to the rest of the rural population
• Twice the proportion of youth under 20 in comparison to the rest of the rural population
Attitudes Toward Child Labor
• Economic: helps family/community
• Social: learning value of work
• Spiritual: stewardship of creation
Beliefs About Death
• God’s sovereignty
• “Thy will be done”– gelassenheit
• The best is yet to come
Summary of Farm-related Fatalities within Old-Order Anabaptist Communities
7
1 2411
33
14
2
Number of Fatalities from Reporting States
•No buggy fatalities
•Performance of farm work or
in farm environment
21
0123456789
10
0123456789
10
Age in YearsAge in Years
Tot
al #
of D
eath
sT
otal
# o
f Dea
ths
63% = 15 Years or Younger
Fatalities: Age
MALE
FEMALE
UNKNOWN
80%
18 % 2 %
MALE
FEMALE
UNKNOWN
80%
18 % 2 %
Fatalities: Gender
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40 Run OverDirect AnimalCrushedFallsEntanglementDrownStruckSuffocationFire/ExplosionHeat StrokeFirearmsTractor RolloverOther0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40 Run OverDirect AnimalCrushedFallsEntanglementDrownStruckSuffocationFire/ExplosionHeat StrokeFirearmsTractor RolloverOther
Fatalities: Source of Injury
NON-ANIMAL
DIRECT ANIMAL
INDIRECTANIMAL
NON-ANIMAL
DIRECT ANIMAL
INDIRECTANIMAL
17%17%
66%
Fatalities: Animal Behavior
0
5
10
15
20
25JA
N
FEB
MA
R
APR
MA
Y
JUN
JUL
AU
G
SEP
OC
T
NO
V
DEC
Fatalities: Month
0
5
10
15
20
0
5
10
15
20S
UN
MO
N
TU
E
WE
D
TH
U
FR
I
SA
T
Fatalities: Day of Week
Developing Effective Intervention Strategies
Factors in Working with Old Order Anabaptists
• “Primary, face to face social ties” (Kraybill)
• Knowledge of Ordnung
• Two kingdom worldview– Separation from the kingdom of the world– Separation of church and state
Establish Northern Indiana Family Safety Committee
• Representatives of Amish Community
• Cooperative Extension Educators
• Purdue ASH Program
• Local law enforcement
• Local EMS/fire-rescue
• Agricultural safety
• Fire safety
• Foods and canning safety
• Electrical power safety
• Substance abuse information
Conducting Family Safety Days in Church Districts
Implement Buggy Safety Initiative
•SMV Emblems•Reflective Tape•Safety Brochure for Tourists
Conferences for Professionals working with Anabaptist Communities
• 1998: Shipshewana, Indiana
• 2001: Holmes County, Ohio
Additional Interventions
• “Amos and Sadie’s Farm: A Pathway to Safety”
• Indiana State Police initiatives