Synopses & Reviews
A meticulously researched inside look at child sexual abuse by clergy, this exhaustive, hard-hitting analysis weaves together interviews with abusive priests and church historical and administrative details to propose a new way of thinking about clerical sexual offenders. Linking the personal and the institutional, researcher and therapist Marie Keenan locates the problem of child sexual abuse not exclusively in individual pathology, but also within larger systemic factors, such as the very institution of priesthood itself, the Catholic take on sexuality, clerical culture, power relations, governance structures of the Catholic Church, the process of formation for priesthood and religious life, and the complex manner in which these factors coalesce to create serious institutional risks for boundary violations, including child sexual abuse. Keenan draws on the priests' own words not to excuse their horrific crimes, but to offer the first in-depth account of a tragic, multi-faceted phenomenon.
What emerges is a troubling portrait of a Church in crisis and a series of recommendations that call for nothing less than a new ecclesiology and a new, more critical theology. Only through radical institutional reform, Keenan argues, can a more representative and accountable Church emerge.
Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church is a unique reference for scholars of the Church and therapists who work with both victims and offenders, as well as a forward-thinking blueprint for reform.
Review
"Dr. Keenan is to be congratulated on this timely and scholarly study, conducted primarily through interviews with offender and non-offender clergy, which begins the crucial process of helping us to understand, but not forgive, such behavior. Her thesis that the behavior of abusive clergy can only be understood in the context of the responses of the hierarchy of the Church provides a sociological analysis that conveys important lessons for academics, policymakers, and therapeutic practitioners."-Nick Gould, PhD, Professor of Social Work, University of Bath
"This book significantly raises the level of debate on these issues in Ireland and, indeed, throughout the world. Dr. Keenan's familiarity with the literature, her therapeutic work with victims and offenders, her dialogue with so many interested parties, and her acute sensitivity to the many personal, social, cultural, and organizational issues involved, make this book a must for all directly involved or seriously interested. I recommend it very highly."-Rev. Enda McDonagh, DD, DCL, Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth
"Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church provides a superb analysis of the individual and systemic explanations of clergy abuse in Ireland and around the world. Marie Keenan's work as a treatment provider for child sexual abusers has led to a decade of in-depth research on the abusers and the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. This is a must-read for any academic studying the sexual abuse of children in Church or organizations where adults develop mentoring and nurturing relationships with children and adolescents."-Karen J. Terry, PhD, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
"The scope of Dr. Keenan's analysis is wide-ranging and her conclusions are startling but not surprising. Dr. Keenan has produced a balanced, scholarly, deeply humanistic, and thought-provoking book that is sure to make a major contribution to the problem of sexual abuse by the clergy, and more broadly, that occurring within large, hierarchical institutions. This is a beautifully written and wonderful book."-Tony Ward, PhD, Chair in Clinical Forensic Mental Health, Deakin University
"Revelations of the magnitude of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy has elicited shock, horror, and puzzlement throughout the world. Attempting to unravel the complexities of this issue in a way that is scholarly yet sensitive to the humanity of those involved can seem a daunting task. Yet, this is just what Marie Keenan has accomplished in this book, producing a study that brings a new level of understanding to this controversial issue and outlines possible ways toward a safer future."-Stanley L. Witkin, PhD, Professor of Social Work, University of Vermont
Review
"A very erudite interdisciplinary analysis that will be of great value to all interested in seeking to understand and improve the lives of children in Ireland and internationally."
Synopsis
Child-abuse reports in the media make for good stories but at what cost?
This ground-breaking book explores the relationship between the media, child abuse and shifting adult-child power relations which, in Western countries, has spawned an ever-expanding range of laws, policies and procedures introduced to address the explosion of interest in the issue of child abuse.
Revelations of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland and its cover-up by Church authorities have given rise to one of the greatest institutional scandals of modern history. Through in-depth analysis of 20 years of media representation of the issue the book draws significant insights on the medias influence and its impact on civil society.
Highly topical and of interest and relevance to lecturers and researchers in the areas of childhood studies, sociology of childhood, child protection and social work, social and public policy and human rights as well as policymakers, this book provides an important contribution to the international debate about child abuse as reflected to the public through the power of the media.
Synopsis
What is the cost of including stories about child abuse in the media? In this groundbreaking book, Fred Powell and Margaret Scanlon explore the relationship among the media, the presentation of child abuse, and shifting adult-child power relations, examining its effect on the range of laws, policies, and procedures introduced to address the explosion of interest in the issue. Analyzing twenty years of representation of child abuse in Irelandincluding abuse by the church and schoolsDark Secrets of Childhood offers significant insight into the medias influence on the issue and provides an important contribution to the international debate on child abuse as it is portrayed through the media.
About the Author
Marie Keenan, PhD, is a Researcher and Lecturer at the School of Applied Social Science, University College Dublin, and a member of the Advisory Board of the UCD Institute of Criminology. She is Chairperson of the Family Therapy Association of Ireland and a registered psychotherapist who has worked for over twenty years with survivors and perpetrators of sexual crime and their families, in community and forensic settings.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I. Sexual Abuse, the Catholic Church, Clerical Men: A Critical Review
1. Child Sexual Abuse by Roman Catholic Clergy: The Scale and History of the Problem
2. Organized Irresponsibility (I): The Organizational and Institutional Culture of the Catholic Church
3. The View from the Ground: Clerical Men
Part II. Theorising Sexual Abuse
4. The Individual as the Unit of Analysis
5. A Social Approach for Understanding a Social Problem
6. Power and Gender
Part III. The Irish Case: Its Context and Wider Implications
7. Sexuality and Masculinity
8. Organized Irresponsibility (II): Clerical Elites, Rules, Obedience, and Loneliness
9. The Handling of Abuse Complaints
10. Understanding and Explaining Child Sexual Abuse within the Catholic Church
Conclusion: Prospects, Visions, Agendas
Appendix
Glossary
References
Index