CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Brent W. Jeffs

Mormon dissident

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 15, 2026
Entity authorityQ16210358 ↗
Source-derived summary

Brent W. Jeffs is an American author, advocate, and member of the influential Jeffs family of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church).

Jeffs wrote the memoir Lost Boy with author Maia Szalavitz, which was released on May 19, 2009. The book is a depiction of life within the FLDS Church and his ostracism from the organization at a young age. The title of the book comes from the term "the lost boys", which refers to the many young men expelled from the FLDS Church. Jeffs is a grandson of FLDS prophet Rulon Jeffs, nephew to imprisoned FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs and leader Lyle Jeffs, and his mother is the daughter of another non-FLDS prophet as well.

Brent was born to Ward Jeffs, son of Rulon. Ward had three wives, two of whom were sisters. Between these marriages, Brent had nineteen siblings. Ward eventually left the church, leaving Brent in the FLDS community per Brent's request. Eventually, Brent left the compound and moved into a small apartment with four of his older brothers, where they experimented with alcohol, drug use, and partying.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Brent W. Jeffs” is mormon dissident. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Brent, Jeffs and Mormon, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2009—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Brent, Jeffs and Mormon is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “mormon dissident” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16210358. VIAF identifies the subject as 163757476. The Library of Congress control number is n2009000285. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2009.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Brent W. Jeffs”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Brent W. Jeffs primary sources, Brent W. Jeffs archive and Brent research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Brent W. Jeffs”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Brent W. Jeffs” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.