Sexual Abuse By Clergy - Essay Example

Sexual Abuse By Clergy Sexual abuse by Clergy is no longer a new topic. Fortunately many of the misconceptions about the topic have been cleared up. Informational research has been done to gather information, research breaking down the thinking process the clergy goes through when molesting and research has been done as to how to prevent further abuse by clergy. Information Dr. Plante, professor of psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine has collected information from 35 priests and brothers accused of sexually abusing minors and he has also consulted with many religions orders and collected as much accurate information as possible. He has also treated many victims of abuse at the hands of the clergy. He tells us that it appears that 2 to 5% of priest have had sexual experience with minors which mounts up to about 1,000to 3,000 perpetrators(www.psywww.com). Other studies show that it is about the same number of priests that abuse minors as there are in the general population of males (Saradjian & Nobus, 2003.). We also know that 80% to 90% of priests abuse adolescent boys not young children. Therefore it can be assumed that the adolescent is at greatest risk of abuse not young children This means these individuals are not pedophiles. They are ephebophiles. That is not valuable information to the general public but it does change how these individuals would be treated professionally(www.psywww.com) Research also shows that these priests generally start abusing in the first year after they are ordained. This leaves us with 2 facts, a lot of children have been abused in all the years these men have been in the clergy and it is likely that these individuals could be identified while in the seminary. Richardson (2000) stated that there are definite risk factors that should be looked at when evaluating applicants for the priesthood. They should be asked if they have been sexually abused. They should be observed for poor social skills and low impulse control. Any abuse of drugs and alcohol is a risk factor and any diagnoses of a personality disorder is also of great concern. Taking all this information Richardson (2000) came to two conclusions. Since the offenders were interested in adolescent males, allowing priests to marry would not fix the problem. He found the there was a high percentage of priests that claimed to be homosexual in orientation, however, sexual orientation does not predict illegal sexual abuse of children. There is no research connecting the two. The Catholic Church has been plagued by sexual abuse by clergy over a long period of time. One of the main reasons is that the Catholic Church is not like other religions where churches have an influential and large board of directors who have hiring and firing authority over the clergy. This often nips the problem in the bud in other churches. In the Catholic Church the priest answers to only one superior and that is the Bishop. If the Bishop does not expose the issue or handles it in his own way, the problem is left in place to continue. Therefore, it is theorized that a Catholic Priest can generate more victims than other clergy (wwwpsywww.com). Most of the cases that came to light first were from twenty to forty year ago. Since most of the research on sex offenders came about in the 1980s it likely seemed reasonable that these people should be treated and returned to their jobs. That was of course a mistake but the information was not yet known that would have shown that to be a mistake at the time. There was also not psychological evaluation that would have picked up the likelihood of being an abuser and that would have shown if the individual was cured. It is important, however, that the church learn form these mistakes. As recently as five years ago there was a case where a new priest killed two people who found out about his abusing boys in their church. His Bishop was aware of the intercession and covered it up just as was done twenty or forty years ago (Barber 2005). Preventing future abuse Today priests are not allowed to enter the clergy until their late 20s or 30’s. Earlier priests entered the priesthood in high school. Today the priests have had a satisfying sex life before entering so they know what they are giving up and the curiosity is gone. Further, each candidate for the priesthood must under go a full psychological evaluation before being accepted. Individuals with mental health disorders are not accepted. The Catholic Church, however, has not changed the chain of command within the church. The church continues to be controlled by a purpose and that is to increase its numbers. In order to do that the modern church needs to be accountable to the people as other denominations have boards of directors and there would be less chance of such a perpetuated system of abuse. The Catholic Church is not willing at this time to make this change (Barber 2005). What Does Research Say About Clergy Abuse? It is not uncommon that an abuser has cognitive distortions which allow the abuse. The abuser may believe he is being loving to the child or that he is fulfilling the child’s needs rather than his own. He may see himself as teacher and is providing a service to his victim. The difference in the cognitions of the clergy was that they involved God in their distorted beliefs. These beliefs centered around their relationship with God and their standing in the church and in God’s eyes. They believed they had God’s permission and in some cases God’s command to do what they were doing. They also used God’s permission or command as a reassurance that they would not get caught, they need not feel guilty as they were doing God’s work and they were glorified in God’s eyes actually strengthening their self image (Saradjian, 2003). This scenario of distorted beliefs is thought to be related to an abuse of power within the Church institution. The first abuse of power is ‘Structural Opportunities of Exploitation and Abuse’. This is seeing the priest behavior as a form of elite or corporate crime. There was an equal abuse of power by those in authority that knew what was happening and protected the perpetrators. It was the politics of power or the intense struggle for top positions among the Priests and the Bishops that created a cover up climate that was not questioned. Conclusion It seems to this writer that researchers are still not addressing the issue. They may have better numbers of how many clergy are involved. They seem to have an idea of how many victims were or are involved but then they just seem to pass around the blame. Some say most of the known victims are from twenty to forty years ago when little was known about the psychology of sexual abuse. They also state that psychological testing to identify these individual was not available so that now that we know more we can change the induction of new priests. Now they take men who are older and sexually experienced. This is an interesting thought when psychologists tell us once an individual has been sexual they are very unlikely to stop unless it is because of medical reasons (Plotnik, 2006). We are supposed to believe the vow of celibacy will change that now even though it did not change it in the past when they were less likely to have had sexual experiences. The other side of this is that these individuals who have abused while in the clergy go through the same thought patterns about their actions that others do but rather than feel guilty they feel sent by god and it literally builds their self esteem. That does not seem like a reason to change this behavior but rather a reason to continue it. Others say it is the political structure in the church, especially the Catholic Church that has only one individual for Priests to report to and these are the very same people who are struggling to get up the ladder in the church so they are willing to cover up any problems to look good for a promotion. Admitting this is true the church refuses to change the structure at this time. It is the view of this writer that we have a long way to go to correct this situation and this writer is expecting to see recent cases such as that in Minnesota coming forward for some time. References Barber, W. H. (2005). Psychosocial Dynamics of the US Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Crisis. The International Journal of Social Psychiatry. 51 (4), 329-346. Plante, T. (2002) A Perspective on Clergy Sexual Abuse retrieved July 10 from www.psywww.com. Plotnik, R. (2006). Introduction to Psychology. New York: Thomson. Richardson, J. T. (2000). Wolves Within the Fold: Religious Leadership and Abuses of Power. Social Forces. 78(3) 1175-1178. Saradjian, A. & Nobus, D. ( 2003). Cognitive Distortions of Religious Professionals Who Sexually Abuse Children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 18 (8), 109-136. Read More