For Seminary Faculty and Students Parishes and Dioceses F 1 Understanding the Sexual Victimization of Children F 2 Main Sources of Data Reports presented to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by the John Jay College Research Team The City University of New ID: 266463
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Module F – Understanding Sexual VictimizationFor Seminary Faculty and Students, Parishes and Dioceses
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Understanding the Sexual Victimization of Children
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Main Sources of Data
Reports presented to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by the John Jay College Research Team, The City University of New
York*
The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States
, 1950-2010, March,
2011The Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States, 1950-2002, February 2004
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*
The
two reports are based on data supplied by 97 percent of
U.S. archdioceses
and dioceses on all clergy accused of sexual
abuse
of minorsSlide4
A. Sexual Abuse Victims
Who Were the Minors Abused by
Priests?
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Gender: Male = 81%
Female = 19%
Age: Under 10 = 22%
11 to 14 = 51%
15 to 17 = 27%Slide5
B. Onset of Sexual Abuse
Preconditions for Abuse
Factors in the Life of the Priests Who Abuse
Overcoming External Factors that Might Have Prevented Abuse
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Onset of Abuse, 1: Preconditions
The motivation to sexually abuse, for example, emotional congruence, sexual arousal, or blockage to “normal” sexual relationships
The ability to overcome internal inhibitions
The ability to overcome external factors that may prevent the abuse
The ability to overcome the child’s resistance to the
abuseF-6Slide7
Onset of Abuse, 2: Relevant Factors for Priests
Priest-abusers
were likely to have experienced some of the following:
Poor relationships with their parents when they were youths
A history of sexual abuse
Isolation, loneliness, insecurity, poor social skills, lack of identityConfusion over sexual identity, psychosexual immaturity
Alcohol abuse
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Onset of Abuse, 3: Overcoming External Factors that May Prevent Abuse from Occurring
Abusers often
create
opportunities for the abuse to take place, such as socializing and building trust with the victim’s
family
Abusers must overcome the child’s resistance to the abuse, which is generally achieved through grooming tactics such as disproportionate attention, enticements, games, seduction, verbal and/or physical coercion
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C. Grooming Behavior
Examples of various
tactics or methods
used
to entice victims:
seduction or manipulation building of personal and family relationships providing “benefits” such as
drugs, alcohol, or pornography, money, or other gifts, tickets to
sporting
events, or taking them on
trips
verbal
or physical intimidation
Grooming is a pre-meditated behavior intended to manipulate a potential victim into complying with sexual abuse
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Grooming 2, Seduction and Testing of a Child
This tactic is used when there is a relationship with a child and the child is accustomed to the affectionate expression of the offender
The offender gradually extends the affectionate behavior, all the while “testing” the child’s response; if no overt resistance is observed, the sexual abuse continues
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Grooming 3, Emotional Manipulationand Verbal Coercion
These were the most common tactics used by offenders to groom their victims. Examples:
Doing
favors for the victim in exchange for sex
Emotionally
blackmailing the victim into compliance
Even though it may appear that there is room for negotiation on the part of the victim, the outcome always favors the offenderSlide12
Grooming 4, Catching the Victim by Surprise
The offender orchestrates a situation to distract the victim or seizes the opportunity to abuse when
the situation occurs
A frequent situational opportunity
arises
when potential victims become altar servers or otherwise serve a role in the churchSeizing the opportunity is most common and is usually the result of the offender’s frustration from waiting for the right time to initiate contact
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Grooming 5, Using Verbal or Physical Force
The offender garners victim compliance through use of
force
The offender either commands the victim to perform sexual acts and/or physically forces the victim to engage in sexual
acts
Physical force is one of the least common grooming tactics; this factor is more common among the most serious, repeat offenders
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Grooming 6, Disguising Sexual Advances
This tactic
disguises
sexual advances in the context of playing a game. Example
:
Offender will begin by tickling the victim and gradually progress to fondlingWhile this approach may appear spontaneous, it has been well planned by the offender, yet orchestrated in a rather surreptitious
mannerF-
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Grooming 7, Using Alcohol and Drugs
During the peak years of abuse, the use of alcohol and drugs by abusive priests increased significantly, but only for male
victims
Why this finding is important:
It is used to lower the inhibitions of the potential victim
The increase in the use of alcohol and drugs by the abuser is consistent with the increase in the abuse of
males
The increase in the abuse of males is consistent with the increase in the abuse of minors by
priests
The use of alcohol and/or drugs by the
abuser
is a feature of the “situational” or “regressed” child abuser, but not
of the “fixated” abuserF-
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Grooming 8, Building Relationshipswith the Families of Victims
Family relationships were built to gain trust
Parents of abused children trusted the priests without reservation
The children who were abused often accepted the abuse and did not report it for many
years
This
lack of disclosure and fear about reporting the abuse was one reason it was able to
persist
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Grooming 9, Effects of Grooming over Time
The
offender is willing to wait months or even possibly years to accomplish his
task
Eventually
the victim can become groomed to the point that he/she believes to be in an apparent “loving relationship” with the offender
Non-violent forms of extensive grooming or persuasion make it difficult for a victim to understand that the actions are abuse
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Grooming
tactics are premeditated and more methodically planned than spontaneous abuseSlide18
D. Persistence of Abuse
The accused priests
employed
a variety of
justifications and excuses
to protect themselves from self-blame and from accepting the status of abuser Techniques of neutralization were rooted in culturally specific motives unique to the Catholic Church
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Persistence of Abuse: Categories
Three categories:
Excuses
for
behavior
Justifications for behaviorDeviance disavowalF-19
Mechanisms used to alleviate feelings of guilt and shame, thus enabling offenders to commit acts of abuse, are called
neutralization
techniquesSlide20
Excuses for Behavior, 1:Denial of Responsibility
Accused priests denied responsibility by making claims
that
They
were “not well” (using or addicted to substances such as alcohol and/or drugs)
They were compelled by “sick” or “sinful” impulsesForces beyond their control allowed them to deny full responsibility for their behavior, similar to legal claims of diminished
capacity
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Excuses for Behavior, 2:Denying the Victim
Accused priests denied the victim his or her status by claiming that the victim
Participated
by being seductive or precocious, or
Did
not fight back or say anything during the abuseAccused priests blamed the victim or the victim’s family for setting up conditions that allowed the abuse to occur by inviting him into their home, engaging him socially, and including him as part of the family
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Excuses for Behavior, 3:Denying the Victim
Accused priests explicitly blamed victims by placing the onus of the initiation of the physical intimacy on the accuser
Referred
to the abuse as a “relationship”
Noted
that the victims were “willing” or “precocious”Considered
themselves the “victims” because they were accused of these indecent actsF-
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Justifications for Behavior, 1
Accused priests justified their actions by
Diminishing
the
wrongfulness
of the behaviorDeflecting the harmfulness of the actionsPlacing
the responsibility for the deviance on others, sometimes actually condemning the condemners or criticizing their accusersAccused priests
downplayed what actually occurred
or used positive language surrounding the “relationship” between themselves and the victim
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Justifications, 2: Minimization of Harm
Viewed
the sexual behavior as consensual, not harmful, and any behavior short of intercourse as not wrong because it was not sex
Insinuated
that a single incident of sexual behavior was not harmful; only repetitive acts caused harm
Implied that the harm should be forgotten because of the time between the incident(s) and the accusation
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Many priest-abusers explained their actions as being part of
“a relationship,” “not sex,”
or that it “
happened only once,”
or
“occurred long ago”Slide25
Justifications, 3: Condemning the Condemners
This
behavior is a deflective technique
in which priest-abusers blamed church leaders for the abuse and/or the responses to the accusation
One way of shifting the blame to the church hierarchy was to say how poorly church leaders prepared seminarians for life in the priesthood
They also blamed church leaders for how ineffectively they dealt with accusations of abuse, which they considered reactive and unforgiving
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Justifications, 4: Condemning the Condemners
This view essentially eliminated the penance aspect of reconciliation; some priests stated that public embarrassment was sufficient penance
This attitude was particularly true for those who participated in psychological treatments, but were still removed, or served jail
time
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This form of justification draws on the culture of forgiveness: accused priests noted that the Catholic practice of reconciliation should outweigh the sins and no one should take action against them in response to
allegationsSlide27
Justifications, 5: Condemning the Condemners
Abusers felt
they were denied due process
They believed that if only their leaders had done things differently in the past, this “crisis” would have been avoided
In particular they felt they were poorly socialized to the life of a priestF-27
Some clergy accused of sexual abuse believed that the 2002
Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People
created a negative attitude particularly because of the zero-tolerance policy for those accused of abuseSlide28
Justifications, 6: Inadequate Seminary Preparation
They may not have chosen to be ordained, but in some way felt pressured
They
might have been better equipped to adjust to the loneliness and realities of the life of celibate chastity, though no priest said that the vow of celibate chastity was the actual problem
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Accused priests indicated that had each man been adequately trained to undertake priestly life, they may have been able to make better choices,
for
example Slide29
Deviance Disavowal: Appealing to a Higher Authority
Accused priests believed that a sin or infraction must first be mended with a higher authority, that
is,
the authority of God
Their particular focus was on relationship with
God; through the sacrament of reconciliation the slate would have been wiped clean of sinThey may have sought forgiveness also from parishioners and victims, or completed some distinct punishment or treatment and therefore that should be enough to end the process of condemnationHowever, they failed to recognize any harm to the
victimF-
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E. Desistance
from
Abuse, 1:
Why Abuse Stopped
Some priest-abusers
stopped because of
internal reasons Feeling guilty about their behavior
Having a sense of remorse
Feeling
shame because of their
behavior
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Desistance from abuse is affected by both internal and external influencesSlide31
Desistance from Abuse, 2:
Why Abuse Stopped
More
commonly,
abuse stopped
because of external reasons being
removed from the parishes and situations in which they could abuseOthers stopped because of a combination
of internal and external reasons
they
earned a disgraceful reputation because of their behavior
they
were “reformed” after treatment
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Summary of Understanding the Sexual Victimization of Children
Age and Gender of Abuse Victims
Onset of Sexual Abuse
Grooming Behavior
Persistence of Abuse
Excuses for AbuseJustifications for Abusing
Deviance Disavowal Desistance from Abuse
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Discussion Questions
What are some of the relevant factors to be aware of at the onset of abuse?
How can those responsible for the care of children and young people be made more aware of the characteristics of grooming behavior and how to respond?
How do the excuses and justifications for sexual abuse affect the persistence of the behavior?
What are some other ways supervisors can more readily detect abuse?
Link to USCCB – http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/charter.cfm
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Prepared by:Sister Katarina Schuth, O.S.F., St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, University of St. Thomas
Technical Associate: Catherine Slight
Consultants:
Dr. Karen Terry and Margaret Smith, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, authors of major studies on sexual abuse for the USCCB;
Dr. Mary Gautier, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate
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