Sexual Abuse and the Culture of Catholicism: How Priests and Nuns Become Perpetrators

by Hidalgo; Myra L

• ISBN13: 9780789029553
• ISBN10: 0789029553
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-02-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Sexual Abuse and the Culture of Catholicism digs beneath the public scandals to explore the underlying causes of sexual abuse by priests and nuns from the unique perspective of an abuse victim/survivor who is an experienced mental health practitioner and social science researcher. This powerful book includes the author's personal account of sexual abuse by a nun and her years of struggle to recover. Passionate but scholarly and objective, the book advocates the need for healing dialogue, empirical research, and informed prevention strategies to bring a meaningful resolution to the crisis of sexual abuse in the church. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
The Revelation of Crisis	p. 1
A Personal Case Study	p. 4
Sr. Mother Molester	p. 5
The Secret	p. 8
Eruption of Shame	p. 10
Recovery	p. 12
Confrontation	p. 13
Taking a Closer Look: Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church	p. 21
Prevalence	p. 22
Characteristics of Catholic Sexual Abuse	p. 34
Perpetrator Characteristics	p. 37
Victim Characteristics	p. 41
Summary	p. 43
Political Attempts to Identify a Singular Cause	p. 45
Celibacy	p. 46
Homosexuality	p. 48
The Power Structure of the Church	p. 51
National Review Board Findings	p. 53
Conclusion	p. 55
The Catholic Church As a Human System	p. 59
What Is a Human System?	p. 60
The Catholic Church As an Incestuous Family System	p. 68
The 2002 Scandal: A Case Study of Incest	p. 76
Systemic Sexual Shame and Catholicism	p. 81
Major Etiological Theories of Sexually Abusive Behavior	p. 81
A Multifactor Ecological Approach to Sexual Offending	p. 86
Risk Factors for Sexual Offending by Priests and Nuns	p. 99
Implications for Recovery, Research, and Prevention	p. 109
Healing the Wounded	p. 110
Research and Informed Prevention	p. 119
References	p. 121
Index	p. 131
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