Module F – Understanding Sexual Victimization - PowerPoint Presentation

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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

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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

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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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