There are many excellent books that have been written on the subject of Spiritual Abuse. A full book and resource list is available on this site for those who would care to research the topic further. Spiritual abuse is not a new phenomenon, it has been a part of religious life for centuries and elements of spiritual abuse can be found across the entire spectrum of Christian and quasi-Christian faith groups. Lately, it seems that spiritual abuse is becoming more common in Charismatic churches.
Spiritual abuse is always about the misuse of power and authority.
There are two reasons why it is so disturbingly common in charismatic groups. Secondly, it must be noted that amongst the Charismatics, bible scholarship is poorly established as a personal or group discipline. This is as true of charismatic church leaders as it is of individual believers in charismatic groups. Spiritually abusive situations can be recognized quite readily. People involved in an abusive situation begin by feeling that generally things just don't seem right.