The Phenomenon of Child Sexual Abuse in the Society Research Paper

Introduction

On 8^th December 2005, 36 year old Bradley Duane Hoschouer was sentenced to serve a prison term of 260 months and a further 5 years of supervision upon his release. The reason is that he had sexually harassed a minor and impregnated her. Evidence brought before the court pointed out that Duane had had sexual intercourse with a 14 year old girl who, sadly, happened to be his daughter. Speaking to the court, the girl said that her father had been abusing her sexually ever since she was 13 years but she could not report the affair because of fear. The girl had given birth to a baby boy and the DNA report ascertained that Duane was the biological father. The girl had given up hope and had decided to accompany Duane to North Carolina where he had decided to look for work (Department of Justice 2005, par. 2).

Such cases are on the increase globally. Sexual abuse, and more so on the minors, has taken centre stage in the last decade. This has forced different states to come up with statutes that outlaw this act. Just like in Duane’s case, those behind cases of child abuse are almost always acquainted with the victims. Such cases involve fathers, teachers, caregivers, pastors, priests, and uncles, amongst others. However, sexual abuse of children by the clergy is on the increase at an alarming rate. Wide demographic disparities have been reported to exist between on the one hand, sexual abuse by members of the clergy and on the other hand, sexual abuse as witnessed from the larger population (Penrod, Schlesinger & Terry, 2004, p. 12). The authors opine after 9 to 13 years following their ordination, a celibate priest shall usually start struggling with issues concerning their sexuality. Such wide disparities between priests who commit sexual abuse and the other perpetrators from the general population could be indicative of a desire by the members of the clergy to fulfil intimacy. This is because if they were only after gratifying themselves sexually, or a need to assert their power control as reported by Haggett (2005 p. 32), we would not experience a large difference in terms of the number of members of the clergy who abuse children sexually, and the perpetrators of sexual abuse from the general public.

The Catholic Church has especially been affected following the involvement of members of its clergy in the sexual abuse of minors. In 2002, a number of the Catholic Dioceses were obliged to expose their files concerning child sexual abuse not just to the police but also the public. Several organizations joined in the public outcry advocating for reforms in the structure of the Catholic Church. Some people even called upon the Catholic Church to revoke its priestly celibacy vow and allow its clergy to get married. There was a further call for the church to allow for the ordination of female priests and even their consecration as bishops (Robinson 2006, par. 6).

Defence of the Church

However, the Catholic Church has taken this as a moral panic. The Catholic Church has argued that the public’s generalization of the issue to involve the whole unit of the Catholic Church was simply a result of the structural characteristics of the church’s monolithic centralized organization. As a result, the church argued that the percentage of priests involved in this vice is very small, and that the media had played a significant role in magnifying the situation. In its defence, the church has argued that the public has altered the real meaning of paedophilia to mean hebephilia. To be precise, the Catholic Church has argued that the issue of child sexual abuse is not rampant in their institution and that the reported incidents are isolated cases, and do not reflect on the whole Catholic Church. They also argue that neither the priestly celibacy vows, nor the inclusion of females in priesthood has anything to do with child (Robinson 2006, par. 8).

The Controversy

This issue leaves a lot to be clarified. Considering the two perspectives of the argument, one is left to wonder which side of the argument has a basis for its suppositions. For instance, is it true that by the revocation of the priestly oath of celibacy the Catholic Church will be in a position to salvage its reputation concerning the issue of child sexual abuse? On the other side, is it true that the oath has no implication on the issue of rampant cases of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church? Accordingly, this paper will try to ascertain the truth in both sides of the argument by the application of theories of child abuse. In conclusion, the paper will point out that the priestly celibacy oath has contributed greatly to the increase in the cases of child sexual molestation in the Catholic Church.

The cases of child sexual abuse have been rampant in the Catholic Church. Whether the church resorts to describing the events as paedophilia or hebephilia, the basic concept remains that a child below the consent age has been subjected to trauma. According to the argument forming the church defence, only the Boston case could be classified under paedophilia which is the “…sexual molestation of pre-pubertal children” (Robinson 2006, par. 9). However other cases could be classified as hebephilia which involves “…adults attracted to post pubertal adolescents.” According to the church, many of their priests have been involved in gay relationships with 16 and 17 year old seminarian boys.

Prevalence

Even as accusations of the sexual abuse of minors by the clergy have been revealed in a number of countries on a global scale, there lacks an all-inclusive study that seeks to compare the rates of incidence of clergy sexual abuse from various areas. Nonetheless, the countries in watching the general perceptions on sexual abuse of minors by the clergy have been seen to be highly rampant are in order, the United States, followed by Australia, Ireland, and then Canada (Penrod et al, 2004, p. 13).

In their report on the prevalence of youth sexual abuse by Catholic priests, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops pointed out that in females, the rate of reporting a case of sexual abuse was 27% this was slightly above their male counterparts whose likeliness to report a case of sexual abuse was only 16%. A percentage of 42 of all the participants could not have reported the case while 26% of the respondents had not reported the case to anyone else before the research was carried out. This clearly indicates that the few estimates that have come out concerning the rate of prevalence simply reflect a small tip of the iceberg. This means that many of the priests are engaged in this affair and the males whose chances of reporting are too low are living with the secret.

Studies trying to ascertain the prevalence level of this crime in YMCA and the Catholic Church show that the prevalence of this crime in the Catholic Church beats its YMCA counterparts by far. The study points out that the cases of people involved in child sexual abuse in YMCA were so rare that only a handful of people were found to have involved in the vice. Due to the rarity of the cases, the statistical data sheds very little light. However, the prevalence in the Catholic Church has led to studies that have identified an accurate number. Of the 1322 priests involved in their study sample, 8.4% which translates roughly to about 112 priests were involved in a sexual misconduct with a minor. In another study by Fones et al. as pointed out by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (2009, p.15), a research that that involved 19 clergy of which 17 were Catholic priests, 39% had been involved in sexual activities with adolescents and 52% of them confessed to have done the same deliberately. This is a clear indication that the Catholic priests are more involved in child sexual abuse at a higher degree as compared to other religious and non religious organizations. Considering this, we have to identify the characteristic that is unique to the priests and which does not exist in the other organizations. This character is without doubt, celibacy. But can celibacy really drive an individual into sexually abusing minors?

Theoretical Approach

Several scholars have tried to analyse the issue of child abuse and hence have come up with several theories pointing out the reasons why people engage in such activities. Among the most common theories of child abuse include the biological theory, the psychodynamic theory, behavioural theory, the cognitive behavioural theory, the integrated theory and the attachment theory. These theories have been thoroughly analysed and exposed to research and have proved to stand the test of time. Considering the argument and the thesis of this paper, the theory that draws much relevance is the attachment theory.

The attachment theory states that it is a natural establishment for humans to develop strong “emotional bonds” amongst themselves (US Conference of Catholic Bishops 2009, p.15). Emotional distress and loss subsequently implicates negatively on a human. The loneliness and isolation established by this emotional distress makes a human being act in an unlikely manner. Sexuality and social competence are critical development stages in human development during pubescence and early stages of adolescence. By this stage of development, the child would have developed the societal inhibitory measures that govern him in his sexual relationships and aggressive behaviour. It is at this stage that the young children develop social skills that are essential in the development of relationships that are effective. They must develop self confidence to ensure that they can comfortably establish quality relationships. Studies based on the theory further point out that sexual offending and poor relationship qualities are directly proportional.

Poor social skills and the inability to form intimate relationships that effective can lead to involvement in sexual offending. The studies pointed out that the inability to form intimate relationships was a characteristic found in most of the child sexual offenders (US Conference of Catholic Bishops 2009, p.15).

Theoretical Application

It has been the suggestion of the clergy themselves that the training that they received during their years at the seminary was not adequate enough to help them cope with a celibate sexuality for life. There is also the issue of declining standards within the Catholic Church. According to the arguments by Roman Catholics that are ultra-conservative, the “Second Vatican Council” of between 1962 and 1965 may have helped in encouraging its clergy to sexually abuse children. The 20^th century has also been attributed with the declining morals that have been seen at the Catholic Church. As a result, there has an increase in the number of priests that abuses children sexually.

The clerical celibacy has also been attributed to the increase in the number of priests that sexually abuses minors. Similar sentiments have also been echoed by an article that appeared in 2005 in Western People, an Irish conservative newspaper. This article suggested that clerical celibacy plays a role in the problem of child abuse owing to the fact that the “morally superior” status that celibacy has created is often mismanaged by an abusive clergy. As this paper has observed, “The Irish Church’s prospect of a recovery is zero for as long as bishops continue blindly to toe the Vatican line of Pope Benedict XVI that a male celibate priesthood is morally superior to other sections of society.” (Western People 2005 p. 18). Nevertheless, there are those who have sought to differ with this point of view. Sexual scandals amongst members of the clergy need to be viewed as an infringement on the discipline of the church, as opposed to a result of indiscipline. This is especially the case bearing in mind that only a handful of priests have thus far been accused. Moreover, there lacks data that indicate that the rates of sexual abuse of children amongst the Catholic clergy are higher in comparison with their counterparts from other denomination, or even school teachers. Detractors, as well as the supporters of clergy celibacy both concur that those priests of the Roman Catholic who are more prone to becoming victims of sexual temptation are less lily to immediately target children merely because they are not allowed to get married by virtue of the celibate vows that they take.

Conclusion

Incidences of sexual abuse of children by the clergy have been on the increase in recent decades. The Catholic Church clergy appears to have especially been the worse hit. There is a variation with regard to the global prevalence rates of sexual abuse of minors by the catholic clergy, with the United States Catholic clergy being implicated in a majority of the sexual abuses involving minors. Whereas there has been a claim that the moral standards of the Catholic Church have been eroded and more so in the 20^th century, the Catholic clergy themselves have also opined that the training that they received at the seminary did little to prepare them for a life of celibacy. On the other hand, opponents of the debate on the sexual abuse of minors by the catholic clergy contend that there lacks a comparative study that would implicate the Catholic priest as the wrist offenders of child sexual abuse, relative to their counterparts from the other denominations, or even school teachers.

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