Ashley Walters claims his father's absence made him feel lost and insecure about his own identity and worth as a man.

“one of the biggest things for me was um my dad really that's why I stem back to like growing up um just not having a father figure around um and the places that push me to and don't get me wrong like a lot of people have gone through that and come out the other side and not been like me”

Father involvement is critical for child development because fathers are primarily responsible for instilling the capacity for delayed gratification, which is a major predictor of success.

“if it is the case that farther involvement is a key predictor of the capacity to delay gratification then that's an absolutely crucial issue”

Mark Laita claims that family issues for youth in poverty are often exacerbated by the high cost of living, rather than simple parental failure.

“I don't know who's to blame in any of these situations cuz like you know you could make a strong argument for why the young girl is being a Problem Child and and she needs to be straightened out you could also see that the parent dropped the ball and didn't do exactly what she should have done as a ”

Father absence is the core cause of the boy crisis because fathers play a critical role in enforcing delayed gratification and establishing necessary boundaries for healthy development.

“I kept coming back to realizing that the Hub cause of the boy crisis was was dead deprivation that the boy crisis resides where dads do not reside”

He views the mandatory disconnection from family members as a form of destruction that is a defining and objectionable practice of Scientology.

“that type of family destruction is what I personally find most objectionable about scientology whether it's coercing women to get abortions to keep serving Scientology instead of starting families I challenge anyone to name one other quote unquote religious organization that Weekly buses its clergy ”

No contact is a serious decision for self-protection that is rarely made lightly and often follows a long period of unsuccessful attempts to address harmful behavior.

“Nobody makes this decision lightly. Those punishment people do. They're like, "Forget it. You won't do what I want. No contact, right?" But for the people who are doing it for reasons of safety, protection, healing, so that they no longer have to abandon themselves.”

The church's policies on disconnection force families to cut ties with members who leave the organization, which has resulted in the speaker being estranged from his children.

“my daughter denise my daughter lori are they still in scientology absolutely their children they're all in their children have children i've never met those grandchildren”

She believes it is appropriate for her son to maintain boundaries and stay away from her until she achieves sobriety.

“He says, "If I see her, if I see where she's living, I'm going to want to go and help her. And if I go and help her, I'm going to get high. I can't do that. So I got to stay away from her." He's smart. He's a really good kid.”