Abuse study expected to reveal insights about societal effects

Published: 2007-11-13

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- An ongoing study of the "causes and contexts" of the sexual abuse crisis in the church will touch on societal influences, the role of various aspects of seminary life and how church leaders' response was a factor, according to the staff of the New York-based John Jay College of Criminal Justice in a report to the U.S. bishops Nov. 12. In a briefing during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual fall general meeting in Baltimore, researchers Karen Terry and Margaret Smith outlined the types of information being gathered since the bishops agreed at the same meeting a year ago to spend $335,000 to cover the first phases of the detailed study. Research falls into six categories, Terry explained: a historical overview of social and political events since 1950; recruitment and seminary training; leadership; victimization; a clinical analysis using data from three treatment centers; and a discussion of prevention and education tactics. Terry said early research seems to indicate that the patterns of sexual abuse within the church are consistent with the experience of society as a whole.

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