The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950 ...

152 Pages·2011·2.69 MB·English

The Causes and Context
of Sexual Abuse of Minors by
Catholic Priests in the
United States, 1950-2010
A Report Presented to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
by the John Jay College Research Team

Karen J. Terry, Principal Investigator
Margaret Leland Smith, Data Analyst
Katarina Schuth O.S.F., Consultant
James R. Kelly, Consultant
Brenda Vollman, Research Associate
Christina Massey, Research Associate
In June 2002 the full body of Catholic bishops of the United States in their General Meeting in Dallas approved the Charter
for the Protection of Children and Young People. The Charter created a National Review Board, which was assigned responsibility
to oversee the completion of the study of the causes and context of the recent crisis. The National Review Board engaged the
John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York to conduct research, summarize the collected data,
and issue a summary report to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops of its findings.
This report by the John Jay College is authorized for publication by the undersigned.
Msgr. David J. Malloy, STD
General Secretary, USCCB
First printing, May 2011
ISBN 978-1-60137-201-7
Copyright © 2011, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved. No part of this
work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................1
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................2
Methodology ......................................................................................................................................2
Findings ................................................................................................................................................2
Historical and Sociocultural Context .....................................................................................................2
Seminary Education ..............................................................................................................................3
Individual, Psychological Factors ...........................................................................................................3
Organizational Factors ...........................................................................................................................4
Onset, Persistence, and Desistance from Abuse .....................................................................................4
Situational Factors and Prevention Policies ............................................................................................5
Summary.................................................................................................................................................5
Chapter 1: Context for the Study of Sexual Abuse of Minors by
Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010 ...........................................................6
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................6
The Nature and Scope Study .........................................................................................................7
Summary Findings ................................................................................................................................8
Distribution of Incidents by Year, Region, and Size of Diocese .............................................................8
Abusers and Victims ........................................................................................................................9
Type and Location of Offenses ........................................................................................................10
Diocesan Action in Response to Reports of Abuse ............................................................................10
Context for the Crisis ..................................................................................................................11
Understanding Sexual Abuse in Society ...............................................................................................11
Historical Overview of the Problem of Sexual Abuse in the United States ..........................................11
Estimates of the Prevalence of Abuse .............................................................................................11
Early Psychological Studies of Child Sexual Abusers ........................................................................13
Understanding “Normal” Sexual Behavior and Identity ....................................................................14
Sex Offender Typologies and Multimodal Explanations of Behavior ....................................................15
The Role of Opportunity in Sexual Abuse ......................................................................................16
Understanding Sexual Abuse in Youth-Serving Organizations ..............................................................16
Schools .........................................................................................................................................17
Child Care Settings .......................................................................................................................17
Boy Scouts of America ...................................................................................................................17
Big Brothers Big Sisters ..................................................................................................................18
Athletic Organizations ...................................................................................................................19
Professional and Legal Remedies .....................................................................................................19
Understanding Sexual Abuse in Religious Institutions .........................................................................20
Protestant Denominations ..............................................................................................................20
Southern Baptist ............................................................................................................................20
Episcopal ......................................................................................................................................20
Jehovah’s Witnesses .......................................................................................................................20
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—Mormons ..............................................................21
Jewish Community ........................................................................................................................21
Understanding Sexual Abuse within Families .......................................................................................22
Causes of the Crisis: Why Was There a Sexual Abuse Crisis in
the Catholic Church? ............................................................................................................24
Research with Empirical Methods ........................................................................................................24
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................................25
Chapter 2: Historical Analysis of Sexual Abuse in the Catholic
Church: Explaining the Distribution of Abuse over Time .....................................26
Incidence and Reports of Abuse, 1950-2010 ............................................................................27
Patterns of Incidence of Abuse, 1950-2002 .........................................................................................27
National Patterns ..........................................................................................................................27
Patterns of Reporting Abuse, 1950-2002 ............................................................................................27
Estimating the Distribution of Unreported Cases of Abuse ................................................................32
Reports of Sexual Abuse, 2004-2009 ...............................................................................................32
Understanding Change over Time ...................................................................................................32
Research Questions: Incidence of Abuse ...............................................................................34
Reasons for Variation in Sexual Abuse ................................................................................................34
The Commitment to Celibacy ..............................................................................................................34
Questions of Sexuality and Sexual Identity ..........................................................................................36
Social Influences on Sexuality: Period Effects ..................................................................36
Social Influences: Cohort Effects on Sexual Behavior ..................................................37
Resignations from the Catholic Priesthood ...........................................................................................37
Ordination Cohorts .............................................................................................................................37
Homosexual Behavior in United States Seminaries ..............................................................................38
Cohort Patterns ..................................................................................................................................38
Seminary Formation for Ministry ............................................................................................40
Changes in Formation Program Content in Diocesan Seminaries: Impact on or
Effect of Abuse? ...........................................................................................................................41
Curricular Change in Formation for Celibacy ......................................................................................45
The First Edition (1971) .................................................................................................................45
The Second Edition (1976) ............................................................................................................45
The Third Edition (1981) ...............................................................................................................45
The Fourth Edition (1992) .............................................................................................................45
The Fifth Edition (2005) ................................................................................................................46
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................46
Chapter 3: Psychological Analysis of Sexual Abuse by Catholic Priests:
Exploring the Individual-Level Characteristics of Abusers and
Explanations for Sexual Abuse ...............................................................................................48
Individual Causes of Deviant Sexual Behavior ...................................................................48
Data Sources, Samples, and Methodology ............................................................................49
Nature and Scope Study ......................................................................................................................50
Loyola Psychological Study .................................................................................................................50
Causes and Context Clinical Data ........................................................................................................51
Identity and Behavior Data .................................................................................................................51
Identity and Behavior Sample Characteristics .................................................................................52
Etiology of Sexual Offending: Understanding the Pathology of
Sexual Disorders .......................................................................................................................52
Data Analysis and Results ............................................................................................................54
Nature and Scope Data ........................................................................................................................54
Causes and Context Clinical Data ........................................................................................................54
Psychological Explanations: DSM Axis I Clinical Diagnoses .................................................................55
Personality and Psychological Testing Data ......................................................................................55
Psychological Test Results ..............................................................................................................56
Personality Subscales Generalized ...................................................................................................59
Behavioral Explanations: Causal Factors Based on Individual Experience ..............................................59
Causes and Context Clinical Data: History of Abuse or Family Trauma ................................................59
Clinical Data: Developmental Factors ...........................................................................................60
Causes and Context Clinical Data: Sexual History and Experience ......................................................60
Identity and Behavior Data: Sexual History .....................................................................................64
Identity and Behavior Data: Internal and External Esteem ................................................................65
Identity and Behavior Data: Social Bonding .....................................................................................65
Narratives about Identity and Behavior ...........................................................................................66
Sexual Deviance and Vulnerability ......................................................................................................68
Intimacy Deficits: An Overview ......................................................................................................69
Loyola Psychological Study Data .....................................................................................................69
Identity and Behavior Data: Situational Stressors .............................................................................70
Transition to Parish Life ..............................................................................................................70
Negative Early Parish Life ...........................................................................................................70
Uprooting ................................................................................................................................70
Distance Ministry ......................................................................................................................70
Family Stress ............................................................................................................................71
Poor Self-Care ..........................................................................................................................71
Parishioner Interactions ..............................................................................................................74
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................74
Chapter 4: Organizational Response to Incidents and Reports
of Sexual Abuse of Minors ........................................................................................................75
Disclosure of Abuse and Diocesan Response .......................................................................75
Development of Diocesan Response to Sexual Abuse by Priests ....................................76
The Case of Gilbert Gauthe ................................................................................................................77
NCCB Action on Sexual Abuse ..........................................................................................................77
Development of Treatment for Sex Offenders ....................................................................78
Early Treatments for Sex Offenders: The Medical Models ....................................................................78
Behavioral Treatment ..........................................................................................................................78
Cognitive Behavioral Models of Treatment ...........................................................................................79
Professionalization of Treatment .........................................................................................................79
Sex Abuse Treatment for Catholic Priests ............................................................................80
Nature and Scope Data on Treatment of Priests ...................................................................................80
Reassignment and the Understanding of Relapse ..................................................................................80
Development and Implementation of the “Five Principles” ............................................82
Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse ...................................................................................................82
Survey of Diocesan Practices ...............................................................................................................84
Understanding the Pace of Institutional Change ..........................................................84
Documenting Institutional Change......................................................................................86
Mid-1990s Diocesan Response ......................................................................................................86
Policies and Practices ..........................................................................................................................86
Treatment in the 1990s: Relapse Prevention ........................................................................................87
Failures of Institutional Response ........................................................................................................87
Actions of Diocesan Leaders ...........................................................................................................89
Priestly Advocacy for Victims .........................................................................................................89
Organization of Victims .................................................................................................................90
Priests’ Response to Their Peers ......................................................................................................91
Comparison between the Catholic Church and Other Organizations ..................91
Police Organizational Structure and Deviance ......................................................................................91
Organizational Structure and the Catholic Church ..............................................................................92
Authority ......................................................................................................................................92
Public Perception ..........................................................................................................................93
Isolation and Lack of Supervision ....................................................................................................93
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................93
Chapter 5: Sexual Victimization of Minors: Analyzing the Onset,
Persistence, and Desistance from Abuse Incidents by Priests ..............................94
Sociocultural Development of the Concept of Victimization and
the Harm of Abuse .....................................................................................................................94
Overview of Research on Sexual Victimization of Children ..................................................................94
Victimization and the Catholic Church ................................................................................................98
Onset of Abuse ..................................................................................................................................98
Situational Influences and the Onset of Abuse ....................................................................................99
Nature and Scope Data ...................................................................................................................100
Victim Assistance Coordinator (VAC) and Survivor Surveys ...........................................................102
Grooming Behavior and the Onset of Abuse .......................................................................................102
Persistence of Abuse ......................................................................................................................103
Excuses .............................................................................................................................................105
Denial of Responsibility ................................................................................................................105
Denying the Victim ......................................................................................................................105
Justifications ......................................................................................................................................107
Appealing to a Higher Authority ...................................................................................................108
Minimization of Harm ...................................................................................................................112
Condemning the Condemners .......................................................................................................113
Desistance from Abuse ..................................................................................................................115
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................116
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations .................................................................118
Summary of Findings ....................................................................................................................118
Historical Nature of Abuse ................................................................................................................118
Seminary Education and Priestly Formation ........................................................................................118
Clinical and Individual Factors ...........................................................................................................119
Organizational Responses to Abuse.....................................................................................................119
Onset, Persistence, and Desistance from Abuse ..................................................................................119
Recommendations for Prevention Policies ........................................................................120
Education ..........................................................................................................................................120
Situational Prevention Models ............................................................................................................120
Oversight and Accountability .............................................................................................................121
Directions for Further Research ...........................................................................................122
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................122
Appendix A: Glossary of Terms .....................................................................................................123
Appendix B: List of Figures .............................................................................................................127
Appendix C: List of tables ................................................................................................................128
Notes ........................................................................................................................................................130

Acknowledgments
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to • The United States Conference of
the study on the causes and context of sexual abuse by Catholic Bishops
Catholic priests, including the diocesan leaders, victim • Knights of Columbus
advocates, survivors, treatment centers, National Review • Raskob Foundation
Board members and consultants, and the Office of Child • Catholic Mutual Group
and Youth Protection. Many research assistants, con- • Sisters of Charity Ministry Foundation
sultants, and editors contributed to this report, and we • Luce Foundation
would like to acknowledge the following individuals for • Catholic Health Association of the United States
their assistance: Kathleen Anderson, Delene Bromirski, • St Joseph Health System
Jamison Fargo, Joshua Freilich, David Greenberg, Jan Hol- • Greater Cincinnati Foundation
land, Sharon Lauricella, Laura Litvinoff, Alisha Martin, • Assisi Foundation of Memphis
Cynthia Mercado, Veronica Neilan, and Michelle Silva. • Daughters of Charity Foundation/Province of
We would also like to thank John Jay College for its con- the West
tinuous support of this project and the research team. • “Anonymous” donations
Finally, we would like to acknowledge the funding • Individual donors
agencies that supported this study, including:(cid:13)
* The National Institute of Justice was incorrectly identified as a funder of this report released on May 18, 2011. We regret this
error and any confusion it may have caused.
Executive Summary
This report outlines the results of an empirically based psychology of American Catholic priests; (5) surveys of
study of the causes and context of the phenomenon of survivors, victim assistance coordinators, and clinical files
sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in the United about the onset, persistence, and desistance from abuse
States between 1950 and 2010. It is the second of two behavior; (6) surveys of bishops, priests, and other dio-
studies produced by researchers at John Jay College of cesan leaders about the policies that were put in place after
Criminal Justice about sexual abuse by Catholic priests. 1985; and (7) analyses of clinical data from files obtained
The first study (the Nature and Scope study) focused on from three treatment centers, including information about
the description and extent of the problem from 1950 to priests who abused minors as well as those being treated for
2002 and was published in February, 2004. The Nature and other behavioral problems.
Scope study provided information about what happened,
including the number of abuse incidents, the distribution Findings
of offenses geographically and over time, the characteris-
tics of the priests against whom allegations were made and No single “cause” of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic
the minors they abused, the Catholic Church’s response to priests is identified as a result of our research. Social and
the allegations, and the financial impact of the abuse inci- cultural changes in the 1960s and 1970s manifested in
dents. This second study (the Causes and Context study) increased levels of deviant behavior in the general soci-
sought to understand why the sexual abuse of minors by ety and also among priests of the Catholic Church in the
Catholic priests occurred as it did by integrating research United States. Organizational, psychological, and situ-
from sociocultural, psychological, situational, and organi- ational factors contributed to the vulnerability of individ-
zational perspectives. ual priests in this period of normative change. The Causes
and Context report provides data about the historical time
Methodology period of the problem: the increase in incidence until the
late 1970s and the sharp decline by 1985. Although no spe-
The research group investigated the sexual abuse of minors cific institutional cause for the increase in incidence was
by Catholic priests using a combination of empirical found, factors specific to the Catholic Church contributed
approaches, both quantitative and qualitative. This work to the decline in the mid-1980s. Analyses of the devel-
is necessarily retrospective, with research focusing first on opment and influence of seminary education throughout
what initiated an increase in abuse incidents in the 1960s; the historical period is consistent with the continued sup-
what caused them to reach a peak in the 1970s; and then pression of abuse behavior in the twenty-first century. The
what led to the sharp and sustained decline in incidence priests who engaged in abuse of minors were not found, on
in the 1980s. the basis of their developmental histories or their psycho-
The comprehensive information collected in the logical characteristics, to be statistically distinguishable
Nature and Scope study shaped the investigation of the from other priests who did not have allegations of sexual
present study and served as a resource to verify results. The abuse against minors.
primary data sources for the Causes and Context study are
as follows: (1) longitudinal analyses of data sets of vari- Historical and Sociocultural Context
ous types of social behavior (for example, crime, divorce,
• The “crisis” of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic
premarital sex) over the time period to provide a historical
priests is a historical problem. The count of inci-
framework; (2) analysis of seminary attendance, the history
dents per year increased steadily from the mid-1960s
and the development of a human formation curriculum,
through the late 1970s, then declined in the 1980s
as well as information from seminary leaders; (3) surveys
and continues to remain low. Initial estimation models
of and interviews with inactive priests with allegations of
that determined that this distribution of incidents was
abuse, and a comparison sample of priests in active par-
stable have been confirmed by the new reports of inci-
ish ministry who had not been accused; (4) interview and
dents made after 2002. The distribution of incidents
primary data from the 1971 Loyola University study of the