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The story of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests has sent shock waves around the nation and will not fade from consciousness or the news. We ask, "How could this happen?" And then we ask, "How could the Catholic Church let this continue for so long -- in seeming silence and duplicity?" Paul R. Dokecki, a community psychologist at Vanderbilt University, an active Catholic, and a former board member of the National Catholic Education Association, investigates the crisis not only with the eye of an investigative reporter, but with the analytical skills and training of a psychologist as well. Moreover, he lays the foundation for reasonable and practical reform measures.
Through the scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston as well as the earlier, if less well known but momentous, case in the Diocese of Nashville, Dokecki reports on and analyzes what is ultimately an abuse of power -- not only by the clergy but by church officials. As distasteful as these instances may be, they are compelling reading, enlightened by the author's abilities to contextualize these events through the lenses of professional ethics, the human sciences, and ecclesiology. According to Dokecki, these and other instances of clergy sexual abuse reveal a systemic deficiency in the structure and the nature of the church itself, one that has prevented the church from adequately dealing with its own worst sins.
Dokecki may shine a spotlight into the church's dark corners -- but he does so in the service of enlightenment, calling the church back toward the vision of Vatican II and the spirit of Pope John XXIII -- toward a greater transparency, a more open and participatory governance in the church, and for a greatly expanded role for the people of God who make up the church. It is in this way, Dokecki believes, the church will be better able to keep the innocent children of the church safe from harm.
IntroductionValue Analytic PerspectivePlan of the Book
1. One Clergy Sexual Abuser's StoryThe Diocesan SettingThe McKeown Story BeginsThe Nature of McKeown's Sexual AbuseThe Church RespondsMcKeown Leaves the Active PriesthoodMcKeown is Finally ArrestedThe McKeown Case Enters the Broader Social DomainVictims' Parents File Multimillion Dollar LawsuitsBlaming the Victim?Further Legal ManeuveringThe Boston Scandal Enters the Public ConsciousnessQuestions and Issues Attendent to the McKeown Case
2. Clergy Sexual Abuse in the WorldMoral Crisis or Moral Panic?The Journalistic Shot Heard Around the WorldEntering the Clergy Sexual Abuse SystemA Comparative Look at the Clergy Sexual Abuse System in Nashville and Boston
3. Professional Ethics and Clergy Sexual Abuse SystemThe Ethics of Human Development and CommunityThe Use and Abuse of Power: Professionals Having Sex with ClientsThe Third Position and the Community of PersonsHistorical Perspectives on the Third Position Theory of CommunityEmpowermentThe Institutional Church's Management of Clergy Sexual Abuse
4. Human Science Perspectives on the Clergy Sexual Abuse System The Organizational Culture of the Catholic ChurchThe Ideology of the Catholic ChurchAuthoritarianism or Authority?The Structures of the Clergy Sexual Abuse SystemPsychological Sense of Community in the Clergy Sexual Abuse SystemConclusions from Human Science Analysis of the Clergy Sexual Abuse System
5. Ecclesiological Perspectives on the Clergy Sexual Abuse System: The Context of ReformThe Church's 2002 Efforts to Reform the Clergy Sexual Abuse System: Processes and OutcomesThe Church's Understanding of Itself
6. Towards Reforms Addressing and Preventing Clergy Sexual AbuseRationale for Reforms addressing the Clergy Sexual Abuse SystemDiversity, Justice, Equality, and Participative Decision Making in the Pursuit of CommunityGranting Discretion to Church OfficialsToward the Restoration of Trust in the Church Through Democratic Reforms
Notes
References
Overview
The story of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests has sent shock waves around the nation and will not fade from consciousness or the news. We ask, "How could this happen?" And then we ask, "How could the Catholic Church let this continue for so long -- in seeming silence and duplicity?" Paul R. Dokecki, a community psychologist at Vanderbilt University, an active Catholic, and a former board member of the National Catholic Education Association, investigates the crisis not only with the eye of an ...