I am not 2nd generation. For some time I have observed 2nd generation ex-scientologists (and to a lesser degree 3rd generation). I can only comment on these issues as an observer and based on my own experiences recovering from scientology.
There are in my mind, without any doubt, many differences for a 2nd generation ex-cultie. Yes they are susceptible to repeating the abusive patterns in both intimate connections and ideology groups. But, imo, there is something more fundamental they face.
I am going to go into this a little more than I might usually because I think this subject tends to be glossed over and not given much attention. To be honest that bothers me because the sense of isolation I felt in my recovery was extreme, and it is my opinion that the 2nd+ generation ex-culties feel an even greater sense of isolation and face an even greater struggle to integrate into the world, etc.
There is a lot of emphasis on thinking. Critical thinking this, critical thinking that. This is relevant and valid. But there is way more to humans that just thinking. I observe this daily as I work with small children, many of whom are somewhat challenged in various ways. I also have a close association with people involved in the care of autistic children/young adults. I’ve had some very robust discussions with them and also with a very experienced doctor of psychology (for my own therapy) about issues of development and external influences.
There are many factors in play as a young child develops. It is my observation that environment is very important in the early stages – up to about 6 or 7 years of age, though this varies. I work with a small boy who is being indoctrinated into a religious faith. It both fascinates and horrifies me some of what he says. Already at the tender age of 3 or 4 he has a limited view of certain things, and an intolerance of things outside the conditioning he is being exposed to. It is obvious the impact this has on his emotional experiences and his behaviour. Given my background I find what is being done to him by supposed well-meaning adults cruel. He is a very intelligent child but already functioning within the confines of a synthetic conditioned personality. Every so often the “real him” explodes out and we witness this gorgeous multi-coloured child. At those times I want to tell him to stay that way. I want to tell him to stay full of curiosity about the whole world without the filters and limitations he is being conditioned with.
Contrast this to a couple of other small children I am close to. They are allowed to explore their worlds, their feelings, etc., without heavy conditioning into one view being inflicted. I regularly witness the “real them”. Full of passion and wonder and joy and sensitivity. They challenge and push the limits because they are allowed to. They have less fear about the world, a stronger sense of who they are (concurrent to their ages).
A child being raised in a fanatical home is not allowed to freely explore who they are without interference from the adults forcing their conditioning on the child. A classic example of this is using touch assists with young children. In scientology this becomes normalised behaviour. It isn’t. It doesn’t build natural resilience to the usual bumps and scraps kids experience. Hurt yourself, dust yourself off, get a little comfort from someone and bounce back. Scientology kids aren’t allowed to do that, they have to plug into the thought “hurt, do assist”. That’s just one example of what is inflicted on scientology-raised children, there are myriads more. Scientology raised children are disempowered on an hourly, daily, basis. There is no natural development, no robust resilience allowed. Everything has to be tainted with “the tech”.
As I mentioned above, I work with small children. We heavily work with patterns when we are faced with destructive behaviour(s) or supporting a child who is struggling with emotional melt-downs, etc. Humans are creatures of patterning. That’s what I worked hard with as I deprogrammed myself from the cult. I de-patterned huge thought-patterns, emotional patterns, behaviour patterns. Young children are learning from forming patterns. Everything from learning to socialise, to learning how to write is about forming patterns.
A scientology raised child is patterned into cult think, cult emotional responses, cult behaviour. It is normalised by the adults around them using constant conditioning. A person gets lost in that stuff. A child, that knows no other way, is never given the opportunity to honestly, without limitations, explore their own inner sense of themselves, walks through life with invisible challenges. To some degree we all face some of this stuff, as no parenting is “perfect”. However the child of a truly fanatical background, such as scientology, faces a whole lot more trials.
Breaking those ingrained patterns once that child grows up and leaves the fold is extremely challenging. They have nothing to fall back on, nothing to draw from. So yes that does leave them susceptible to other controlling, disempowering people/groups. But more than that, it leaves them lost without a strong sense of who they are and a natural ability to tackle life’s issues in a healthy robust way. They stand in a world they don’t feel connected to, with a head-full of scientology words and concepts rattling around in their heads. They stand in a world that seems cold and uncaring because that is how they have been conditioned to perceive the world. Their struggles are real but invisible. Their journey to connect to their own sense of themselves, their own thoughts, their own natural healthy emotional responses and behaviour - untainted by scientology conditioning - is a difficult one, imo.