Clergy Sexual Misconduct Against Adults in the Roman Catholic Church: The Misuse of Professional and Spiritual Power in the Sexual Abuse of Adults

This article describes and discusses the power-vulnerability intersect in thelives of 23 women and 6 men who experienced clergy sexual misconductagainst adults (CSMAA) within the everyday life of the Roman CatholicChurch. It argues that framing CSMAA around a ‘vulnerable victim' ratherthan an ‘...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: De Weger, Stephen Edward (Author) ; Death, Jodi (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Equinox Publ. [2017]
In: Journal for the academic study of religion
Year: 2017, Volume: 30, Issue: 3, Pages: 227-257
Further subjects:B Roman Catholic Church
B spiritual abuse
B vulnerable adult
B Professional Misconduct
B Clergy sexual misconduct
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:This article describes and discusses the power-vulnerability intersect in thelives of 23 women and 6 men who experienced clergy sexual misconductagainst adults (CSMAA) within the everyday life of the Roman CatholicChurch. It argues that framing CSMAA around a ‘vulnerable victim' ratherthan an ‘abusive cleric' has led to the misinterpretation and continuation ofCSMAA, and an overall attitude of victim blaming. However, when victims/survivors of CSMAA are given the opportunity to tell their stories, a differentpicture emerges. The article concludes that CSMAA does not occur becausethere is a vulnerable adult but, rather, because there is a cleric willing tomisuse their powers to abuse adult vulnerabilities. This article also arguesthat the unique dynamics of CSMAA become more evident andunderstandable when those clergy powers and adult vulnerabilities areclearly delineated as being both positional and personal realities.
ISSN:2047-7058
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the academic study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/jasr.32747