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Paul Jones and William Field Purdue University

Farm Safety Issues in Old Order Anabaptist Communities: Unique Aspects and Innovative Intervention Strategies. Paul Jones and William Field Purdue University. The Anabaptist/Agriculture Connection. A primary means of economic survival A primary means of cultural survival.

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Paul Jones and William Field Purdue University

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  1. Farm Safety Issues in Old Order Anabaptist Communities: Unique Aspects and Innovative Intervention Strategies Paul Jones and William Field Purdue University

  2. The Anabaptist/Agriculture Connection • A primary means of economic survival • A primary means of cultural survival

  3. 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.

  4. 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”

  5. The Old Order Anabaptists as a Subculture • Religious • Historical • Geographical • Social • Economic • Kreps, et.al.

  6. 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

  7. Basic Anabaptist Beliefs • Knowing basic spiritual and cultural principles is important for understanding and working with the population

  8. Anabaptist Beginnings Early 1500s: movement began in Switzerland Early 1700s: came to America to escape persecution in Europe

  9. Basic Beliefs • Literal obedience to the teachings of Christ and the Scriptures • Adult “believers” baptism (Anabaptist means “re-baptizer”) • The ban (shunning)

  10. Basic Beliefs (cont.) • Social separation from the world • Rejection of violence • Refusal to swear oaths • Church as covenant community

  11. Gelassenheit • Submission/obedience • Yielding to a higher authority • Resignation to God’s will • Humility

  12. Ordnung (Ott-ning) • Unwritten rules of conduct • Discipline • Ordering of one’s life

  13. What Does it Mean to be Old Order? • Selective Use of Technology • Distinctive Dress • Gemeinde or Redemptive Society • Strict Adherence to Basic Beliefs

  14. Churches that hold Similar Beliefs • Old Order Amish • Old Order Mennonites • Hutterite • Beachy Amish • New Amish • German Baptist

  15. Growth 1890 - 22 Old Order congregations and 2,038 baptized adults 1992 - 898 districts and 145,000 population Current estimates - up to 250,000

  16. Distribution of Amish Communities -1991

  17. Socio-religious Characteristics Relevant to Understanding Farm Safety Issues

  18. 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

  19. Amish Family Size 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

  20. 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

  21. Attitudes Toward Child Labor • Economic: helps family/community • Social: learning value of work • Spiritual: stewardship of creation

  22. Beliefs About Death • God’s sovereignty • “Thy will be done” • gelassenheit • The best is yet to come

  23. Summary of Farm-related Fatalities within Old-Order Anabaptist Communities

  24. Number of Fatalities from Reporting States 14 7 33 11 2 24 1 1 2 • No buggy fatalities • Performance of farm work or • in farm environment

  25. Fatalities: Age 63% = 15 Years or Younger Total # of Deaths Age in Years

  26. Fatalities: Gender

  27. Fatalities: Source of Injury

  28. Fatalities: Animal Behavior 17% 17% 66%

  29. Fatalities: Month JUL JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

  30. Fatalities: Day of Week SAT MON THU WED SUN TUE FRI

  31. Developing Effective Intervention Strategies

  32. 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

  33. Establish Northern Indiana Family Safety Committee • Representatives of Amish Community • Cooperative Extension Educators • Purdue ASH Program • Local law enforcement • Local EMS/fire-rescue

  34. Conducting Family Safety Days in Church Districts • Agricultural safety • Fire safety • Foods and canning safety • Electrical power safety • Substance abuse information

  35. Implement Buggy Safety Initiative • SMV Emblems • Reflective Tape • Safety Brochure for Tourists

  36. Conferences for Professionals working with Anabaptist Communities • 1998: Shipshewana, Indiana • 2001: Holmes County, Ohio

  37. Additional Interventions • “Amos and Sadie’s Farm: A Pathway to Safety” • Indiana State Police initiatives

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