User:Richardshusr/Clergy abuse
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[edit] Definition
Clergy Abuse is a form of professional sexual exploitation/misconduct. There are many forms of clergy abuse. The most common form is clergy sexual abuse, which refers to a form of child molestation, sexual abuse or sexual assault (rape).
Professional sexual misconduct is defined as overt or covert expression by the clergyperson toward the congregational member of erotic or romantic thoughts, feelings, or gestures that are sexual or may be reasonably construed by the congregant as sexual.
Sexual offense is a direct or indirect attempt by the religious leader to touch or make contact inappropriately with any anatomic area of the congregants body commonly considered reproductive or sexual. Offense also includes any efforts made to have the congregational member make contact with these same anatomic areas on the clergyperson. The array of conduct that is considered exploitation includes sexual innuendoes, derogatory comments, verbal or physical impropreties (such as nontherapeutic hugs), erotically charged encounters with present or former congregants in or out of the sanctuary or office, overt sexual activity, and abuse through perpetration analogous with rape or molestation. This is a highly charged emotional, moral, and legal terrain that is quite irregular and filled with many ambiguities and gray zones.
[edit] Characteristics of abusive clergy
The characteristics of clergy who violate sexual boundaries are as diverse as those of persons who sexually abuse or harass and are employed in other occupations. Characteristics more closely associated with the ministerial role are ascribed community trust, charisma, and patriarchal privilege and power. The clergy person is often accepted as God's representative whose authority is not to be questioned. Trustworthiness ascribed to the ministerial role is readily transferred as a character trait to those who fulfill that role. Charisma is a personal attribute that pulls the admiration of the church community as well as those who might serve the minister as sexual partner. The minister who enters into exploitive sexual relationships may do so because of situational circumstances or because he or she (most frequently "he") chronically disregards the welfare of others in order to meet their own needs. Frequently, more than one person is targeted for sexualized contact.
[edit] In the United States
There is a widespread misperception that clergy sexual abuse is an exclusively Catholic problem that does not happen in other churches. In a 1983 doctoral thesis by Richard Blackmon, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner and 38% admitted to other sexualized contact with a parishioner. In separate denominational surveys, 48% of United Church of Christ female ministers and 77% of United Methodist female ministers reported having been sexually harassed in church. Although the actual extent of the problem is unknown, the significance of clergy sexual abuse is acknowledged by the denominational leaders of all Christian churches.
[edit] Prosecution and sentencing of abusive clergy
Despite the common perception that clergy who sexually assault children are almost never punished, more than 70 priests and ministers have been sent to prison for child molestation since 1985. While this still represents a small percentage of the overall cases, the number of clergy put behind bars in recent years has been growing – as has the severity of the sentences.
A review of publicly reported convictions going back 17 years reveals that:
- At least 75 clergymen have been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, criminal child-sexual-abuse charges since the landmark Gilbert Gauthe case in Louisiana in 1985.
- About half of those – 38 – were Roman Catholic priests. The rest included Baptist ministers, Methodists, Pentecostals, Episcopal priests, and others.
- Many sentences were for 10 years or more, ranging from 30 days to life in prison.
[edit] Catholic clergy
The draft version of the US National Conference of Catholic Bishops self-report survey completed in February 2004 said that 11,000 abuse claims have been filed against the US churchmen since 1950, with a total of 1413 clergy abusers. However, at the time of the draft report only 84 of 195 diocesan bishops had contributed, and CNN's own research uncovered media records of 4,450 US Catholic clergy accused of molesting minors during that period.
One US Catholic researcher gives the following figures: 2-5% of priests have had a sexual experience with a minor. The average number of victims per sex offending priest is 8 and the average number of incidents per sex offending priest is 32. (Thomas Plante, Santa Clara University, USA)
According to a survey by the Washington Post, over the last four decades, less than 1.5 percent of the estimated 60,000 or more men who have served in the Catholic clergy have been accused of child sexual abuse. According to a survey by the New York Times, 1.8 percent of all priests ordained from 1950 to 2001 have been accused of child sexual abuse. Thomas Kane, author of Priests are People Too, estimates that between 1 and 1.5 percent of priests have had charges made against them. Of contemporary priests, the Associated Press found that approximately two-thirds of 1 percent of priests have charges pending against them.
Almost all the priests who abuse children are homosexuals. Dr. Thomas Plante, a psychologist at Santa Clara University, found that “80 to 90% of all priests who in fact abuse minors have sexually engaged with adolescent boys, not prepubescent children. Thus, the teenager is more at risk than the young altar boy or girls of any age.”
In a database analysis of reports on more than 1,200 alleged victims of priests identified by USA Today, 85 percent were males. In another study by USA Today, it was determined that of the 234 priests who have been accused of sexual abuse of a minor while serving in the nation’s 10 largest dioceses and archdioceses, 91 percent of their victims were males.
[edit] Protestant clergy
One researcher claims that the problem is greater in Protestants than among Catholics, stating 1.7% of Catholic priests are abusers, but 10% of Protestant ministers are abusers (cited in http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/2213/pedoph.html )
In the spring of 2002, when the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church was receiving unprecedented attention, the Christian Science Monitor reported on the results of national surveys by Christian Ministry Resources. The conclusion: “Despite headlines focusing on the priest pedophile problem in the Roman Catholic Church, most American churches being hit with child sexual-abuse allegations are Protestant, and most of the alleged abusers are not clergy or staff, but church volunteers.”
Finally, in the authoritative work by Penn State professor Philip Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests, it was determined that between .2 and 1.7 percent of priests are pedophiles. The figure among the Protestant clergy ranges between 2 and 3 percent.
Statistical evidence suggests between 10 & 23% of clergy nationwide have engaged in sexual behaviour with parishioners/clients/employees. (quote from "Policies and Procedures on Sexual Misconduct" - General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA 1991)
In a 1984 survey, 38.6 percent of ministers reported sexual contact with a church member, and 76 percent knew of another minister who had had sexual intercourse with a parishioner.[xiii] In the same year, a Fuller Seminary survey of 1,200 ministers found that 20 percent of theologically “conservative” pastors admitted to some sexual contact outside of marriage with a church member. The figure jumped to over 40 percent for “moderates”; 50 percent of “liberal” pastors confessed to similar behavior.
In 1990, in a study by the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith and Ethics in Chicago, it was learned that 10 percent of ministers said they had had an affair with a parishioner and about 25 percent admitted some sexual contact with a parishioner.[xv] Two years later, a survey by Leadership magazine found that 37 percent of ministers confessed to having been involved in “inappropriate sexual behavior” with a parishioner.
In one survey, 23% of evangelical ministers admitted to sexually inappropriate behaviour during the course of their ministry, and 12% admitted to sexual intercourse with someone other than their spouse. (cited in Christianity Today USA "Conduct Unbecoming to a Preacher" - 10 Feb 1992) Another clergy survey had 33% admitting to sexually inappropriate behaviour, and 13% admitted to intercourse with a parishioner. (cited in LaHaye, Tim "If Ministers Fail, Can They Be Restored?" - Zondervan, USA, 1990)
In a 1993 survey by the Journal of Pastoral Care, 14 percent of Southern Baptist ministers said they had engaged in “inappropriate sexual behavior,” and 70 percent said they knew a minister who had had such contact with a parishioner. Joe E. Trull is co-author of the 1993 book, Ministerial Ethics, and he found that “from 30 to 35 percent of ministers of all denominations admit to having sexual relationships—from inappropriate touching to sexual intercourse—outside of marriage.”
Seventy percent of Southern Baptist ministers in 1993 knew of other ministers who had sexual contact with someone in their church. Twelve percent of Protestant ministers surveyed in 1988 had had intercourse outside of marriage, and 30% of those relationships were with someone in the congregation. Nearly 40% of the ministers surveyed by the Fuller Seminary in 1984 reported that they had had sexual contact with a church member. Nearly 13% confessed to sexual intercourse with a congregant. This behavior is so widespread that Church Mutual Insurance Co., the leading insurer of worship centers in America, receives on average of four or five claims of clergy abuse a week. (from Centre for Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, Seattle)
According to a 2000 report to the Baptist General Convention in Texas, “The incidence of sexual abuse by clergy has reached ‘horrific proportions.’” It noted that in studies done in the 1980s, 12 percent of ministers had “engaged in sexual intercourse with members” and nearly 40 percent had “acknowledged sexually inappropriate behavior.” The report concluded that “The disturbing aspect of all research is that the rate of incidence for clergy exceeds the client-professional rate for physicians and psychologists.” Regarding pornography and sexual addiction, a national survey disclosed that about 20 percent of all ministers are involved in the behavior.
Currently, the largest lawsuit against a church for mismanagement and cover-up of abuse within its ranks is against the Mormon Church in USA, for $750M. (For details, see http://www.childpro.org/ ) Survivors First, a Massachusetts-based activist group, using only newspaper articles referred to them by supporters, was able to list 48 priests convicted of sexual offences between Jan 2002 and Nov 2003. (http://www.survivorsfirst.org/conpriests-11082003.html )
The problem of sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses is evident among church elders but most of the abuse comes from congregation members. “The victims who have stepped forward are mostly girls and young women,” writes Laurie Goodstein in the New York Times, “and many accusations involve incest.” There is a victims support group available, “silentlambs,” that has collected more than 5,000 Witnesses contending that the church mishandled child sexual abuse.
[edit] Jewish clergy
Rabbi Arthur Gross Schaefer is a professor of law and ethics at Loyola Marymount University. It is his belief that sexual abuse among rabbis approximates that found among the Protestant clergy. According to one study, 73 percent of women rabbis report instances of sexual harassment. “Sadly,” Rabbi Schaefer concludes, “our community’s reactions up to this point have been often based on keeping things quiet in an attempt to do ‘damage control.’ Fear of lawsuits and bad publicity have dictated an atmosphere of hushed voices and outrage against those who dare to break ranks by speaking out.”
Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly, reports that 30 percent of rabbis who changed positions in 2000 did so involuntarily, and that sexual abuse was a factor in many instances. The Awareness Center, Inc. devotes an entire website to “Clergy Abuse: Rabbis, Cantors & Other Trusted Officials.” It is a detailed and frank look at the problem of [sexual abuse] by rabbis.
[edit] In other countries
[edit] In Canada
Southdown Institute, a Canadian treatment centre for religious personnel with problems, says that 15% of the 2500 male clergy that have been treated at the centre in the last 37 years were admitted for sexual abuse of minors. (Quoted in Wolf Blitzer Show, CNN, 15/11/2002)
The Anglican diocese of Cariboo (Canada) is near bankruptcy due to sexual abuse compensation payouts.
[edit] In Ireland
Results of a study released by the Dublin Roman Catholic archdiocese in Ireland show that while 102 Dublin priests are suspected of abusing children since 1940 and 32 of them are facing lawsuits, only eight have actually been convicted of criminal offenses. Even so, the legal bill for the archdiocese has already has paid $7 million in settlements and fees. The study, initiated by Vatican diplomat Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, examined records of more than 2800 priests that have worked in Dublin in the last 66 years and stands as the most frank and serious admission of sex abuse by any Irish Roman Catholic Church official. Archbishop Martin has also established a $3 million Child Protection Service.
Conclusions drawn from the report are being scrutinized as a Irish government probe prepares to look into the mishandling of abuse cases by the church following an earlier inquiry by an Irish Supreme Court judge into abuses in the Diocese of Ferns. The fallout from clergy sexual abuse in Ireland has been even more severe than in the United States, especially as the Irish government incorporated the church with the state up until the 1970s.
[edit] In Australia
Between 1990 and 2000, there have been 450 child sexual assaults by church workers acknowledged by Australian courts, compared with no convictions for child sexual assault by workers in the sex industry. Both the churches and the sex industry employ around 20,000 people. (Hypocrites, Eros Foundation, April 2000)
In 1999, the Catholic church's independent commissioner, Peter O'Callaghan, QC, said he had referred about 65 complaints about clergy in the Melbourne archdiocese to the Towards Healing compensation panel during the past 2.5 years. "In my capacity as independent commissioner, I have investigated a significant number of complaints of sexual abuse," O'Callaghan told the Herald Sun. "In the great majority of those complaints I have been satisfied of their validity." [1].
"Across the nation, Catholic dioceses have paid out an estimated $800 million in settlements of clergy sexual misconduct lawsuits in the past 15 years. Estimates of the number of priests involved range from 400 to 1000 out of a total priest population of about 50,000" (reported by J. Michael Parker, Express-News, USA, 4th June 1998)
The Anglican diocese of Brisbane has raised the potential of bankruptcy were they obliged to pay out on abuse claims. This would be consistent with the Archbishop's statement that the proposed inquiry into the diocese's handling of abuse claims over the period 1990-2001 would be examining some 40-50 cases.
The complete text of a study of sexual abuse of males is at http://www.jimhopper.com/male-ab/ Australian Catholic priests sentenced for sex crimes up to 1999
- Australian Catholic priests and brothers sentenced since 1993 - 50+
- Victorian Catholic priests and brothers sentenced since 1994 - 22
- Number of abuse compensation claims referred to Catholic Church by QC since mid 1996 - 65
(Refs: 1: Broken Rites (The Australian, July 26, 1999); 2: Dr Bernard Barrett (The Age, February 20, 1999); 3: Peter O'Callaghan, QC (Herald Sun, April 19, 1999).
In 1999, the Franciscan order faced a million-dollar compensation bill over claims of sexual abuse by priests. (Geoff Wilkinson, Herald Sun, April 99). Documents obtained by Wilkinson also revealed the Franciscan Province of the Holy Spirit in Australia had net assets in 1998 of $30.35 million.
[edit] External links
[edit] Background Information
[edit] Legal Issues
- The Catholic Church and the Clergy Abuse Scandal: Act Three
- Bringing the Fight for Clergy Child Abuse Victims to an International Arena: Cases Show that California/Mexico Priest Shuffling Also Occurred
- The Legal System and Clergy Abuse in 2004: Reasons for Victims to Be At Least Somewhat Optimistic
- Clergy Sex Abuse
- An explanation of the clergy abuse litigation in California
- Clergy Abuse: Unveiling the Coverup
- Legal Options - Clergy Sexual Abuse
[edit] Web Pages that discuss Clergy Abuse
[[Category:Clergy abuse]] [[Category:Child sexual abuse]] [[Category:Sex crimes|Clergy abuse]] [[Category:Crimes]] [[Category:Rape]] [[Category:Sexual abuse]]
