“Still, I Can Hardly Believe It”: Reactions, Resources, and Religion in Conversations about Sexual Abuse of Children among Laestadians in Finland

Abstract

There are innumerable nuances in people’s behaviour when they become frustrated. In this article I analyse interviews about a specific case when, in a relatively small Lutheran community, it turned out that a highly respected person, a leader and preacher, was a paedophile. The reluctant accepter, the disappointed accepter, and the explaining accepter are three types of narrators. What were their reactions, what resources did they apply in our conversation? Partly, religion played the role of an obstacle for further belief, but partly it was also a support for the members of the community.