Understanding Clergy Misconduct in Religious Systems: Scapegoating, Family Secrets, and the Abuse of Power

by Benyei; Candace R

• ISBN13: 9780789004512
• ISBN10: 0789004518
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-04-07
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In Understanding Clergy Misconduct in Religious Systems, you'll take an incisive look at why sexual misconduct occurs in religious systems and how to implement proactive strategies for holistic change. Applicable to both Jewish and Christian communities, this illuminating exploration takes a look at the psychology behind scapegoating, why it is perpetuated, and how you can quell the damaging tradition of silence. Understanding Clergy Misconduct in Religious Systems helps you see leaders of religious institutions in a way that the world has been afraid to see them--in a glass clearly. Enriched with metaphoric myths and fairy tales instead of technical jargon, its unique systemic perspective reveals the psychodynamics behind the obsession with family secrets and lets you understand this dysfunction from the perspectives of victim, abuser, and counselor. These specific areas will both inform and aid you in dealing with this difficult subject: the religious institution as a family system the religious system as an illusion of the perfect family the concept of God-transference and the overidealization of clergy clergy personal relationships and clergy congregational relationships vulnerability and the psychology of the victim strategies for healing dysfunctional religious systems Understanding Clergy Misconduct in Religious Systems comes at just the right time--in an era when little has been written on the subject, especially from a systemic perspective, this work comes at a time when the phenomena of clergy sexual misconduct has rocked the very foundation of religious systems worldwide. Whether you're a lay congregational leader, judicatory administrator, pastoral counselor, psychologist, or seminarian, you'll find that the coping strategies and intervention techniques it outlines will guide you in pinpointing the sickness at its source and restoring felicity and order to your religious leaders and their communities.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi	(2)
Nancy Myer Hopkins
Preface	xiii	(2)
Acknowledgments	xv
Chapter 1. The Congregation As a Family System	1	(20)
The Role of Rules	2	(4)
Power and Projection	6	(3)
The Impact of History	9	(2)
The Religious Institution As a Family System	11	(3)
The Congregation As a Marriage	14	(4)
Summary	18	(3)
Chapter 2. The Illusion of Eden and the Fortified City	21	(12)
A Lack of Emotional Nourishment and the Hunger to Be Filled	21	(3)
Faith, Belief, Trust, Commitment, and the Hope of Security	24	(2)
The Fear of Conflict	26	(2)
The Fortified City: The Public Face of Prosperity That Hides the Private Face of Poverty	28	(3)
God in the Garden: The Idolization of the Spiritual Leader	31	(1)
Summary	32	(1)
Chapter 3. God Transference, the Good Object, and the Makeup of Ministers	33	(14)
God Transference and the Good Object	34	(2)
The Makeup of Ministers	36	(9)
Summary	45	(2)
Chapter 4. Mirroring God: Clergy in Relationship	47	(12)
Relationship As Marriage	47	(3)
Relationship As Vocation	50	(6)
Summary	56	(3)
Chapter 5. The Issue of Clergy Sexual Misconduct	59	(14)
Sexual Harassment and Sexual Abuse	59	(4)
The Issue of Power: Abandonment, Authority, and Animal Force	63	(2)
How It Happens: Misconduct from the Part of the Perpetrator	65	(7)
Summary	72	(1)
Chapter 6. Vulnerability and the Psychology of the Victim	73	(12)
How the Primary Victim Becomes Involved	73	(4)
Why the Victim Doesn't Disclose	77	(3)
Secondary Victims	80	(1)
False Accusations	81	(1)
A Matter of Ethics	82	(1)
Summary	83	(2)
Chapter 7. The Scapegoat As the Bearer of Evil	85	(16)
Scapegoating in Families	87	(3)
Scapegoating in Communities	90	(3)
Scapegoating in Congregations	93	(3)
The Price They Pay: The Destructive Effects of Scapegoating	96	(3)
Summary	99	(2)
Chapter 8. Untold Tales and Skeletons in the Closet	101	(20)
Pandora's Box	101	(4)
Institutional Patterns and the Painful Footprints of a Secret	105	(12)
Incestuous Systems and Collegial Collaboration in the Service of the Secret	117	(1)
Summary	118	(3)
Chapter 9. The Case of Hope Church	121	(24)
The History of Hope Church	122	(12)
An Analysis of Behavioral Patterns	134	(11)
Chapter 10. Reowning Responsibility	145	(22)
Personal Responsibility	145	(1)
Ethical Behavior and Ethical Systems	146	(1)
An Ethic of Responsibility	146	(1)
Corporate Responsibility	147	(1)
The Role of Consultants in Reowning Responsibility	148	(7)
Reowning Responsibility Through Preventative Maintenance	155	(1)
Reowning Responsibility by Creating Boundaries	156	(5)
Reowning Responsibility Through Proactive Clergy Training	161	(3)
Summary	164	(3)
Chapter 11. Postscript: Becoming a Functional Spiritual Family	167	(6)
The Creation of Holy Space	167	(1)
The Preservation of Tradition	168	(1)
The Creation and Maintenance of Ethical Community	168	(1)
Developing and Nurturing a Sense of Mission	168	(1)
Enabling an Experience of God	169	(1)
The Changing Face of Religious Institutions	169	(4)
Appendix. Clinical Presentation of Survivors of Sexual Abuse	173	(2)
Notes	175	(8)
Glossary	183	(6)
Index	189