Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis

by Philip Jenkins

Overview

This volume takes a close, dispassionate look at the entire history of the issue of sexual abuse among the clergy, and especially among the Roman Catholic clergy. From the first rumblings to today's headlines, Philip Jenkins has written a fascinating, exhaustive, and, above all, even-handed account that not only puts this particular crisis in perspective, but offers an eye-opening look at the way in which an issue takes hold of the popular imagination. Jenkins reassures us about our local clergy, but also delivers a disturbing message about how vulnerable we are to the news media. Meticulously documented and dispassionately argued, this volume marks a watershed in the discussion of an issue of enormous current interest, one that will not disappear from the headlines any time soon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195145977
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/17/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 9.26(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Philip Jenkins, one of the world's leading religion scholars joined Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion as Distinguished Professor of History and Co-Director for the Program on Historical Studies of Religion.

Table of Contents

1.	The Construction of Problems and Panics	3
	Recognizing a Problem
	The Process of Social Construction
	Alternative Views
	Constructing "Pedophile Priests"
	The Catholic Dimension
	Unconstructed Cases
	The Book
2.	The Anti-Catholic Tradition	19
	Anticlericals and Anti-Catholics
	The American Inheritance
	The Sexual Component
	Puritan Pornography
	Homosexuals and Pedophiles
	The Sins of the Fathers
	The German "Pedophile Crisis"
	The Decline of Anti-Catholicism?
3.	The Discovery of Clergy Sex Abuse	33
	An Age of Innocence?
	The 1980s
	The Impact of the Gauthe Case, 1984-1989
	Facing Facts?
	The New Wave of Cases, 1989-1992
	Crisis in Chicago, 1991-1994
	The Cases Proliferate
	"Priest of Porn"
	The Porter Case, 1992-1993
	The Cycle
	Restoring Trust
	Not Just Catholics
4.	The Media and the Crisis	53
	Reporting the Problem
	The Use of Language
	The Cartoon Vision
	Fall from Grace
	A Historical Context
	"Conspiracy of Silence"?
	Changing Media Values
	Constructing Crisis
	Experts
	Television
	Recreating the Cases
	Defending the Church?
5.	Pedophilia and Child Abuse	77
	Defining the Problem
	How Many Priests?
	Child Abuse: A Historical Context
	The Age of Complacency
	Formulating Child Abuse
	Scale and Effects
	Reframing the Sex Offender
	Framing Clergy Sex Offenders
	Treating Clergy Abusers
6.	Conflict in the Churches	95
	The Origins of Conflict
	Gender, Sexuality, and Authority
	Homosexuality
	Traditionalists
	Clergy Abuse as a Liberal Issue
	The Media and the Catholic Reformers
	The Rhetoric of Reform
	Reforms as Remedy: Celibacy and the Seminaries
	Interpreting Clergy Abuse
	Impact of the Scandals
7.	"Sins of the Fathers": The Feminist Response	113
	Feminism and Sexual Abuse
	Feminism in the Churches
	The Theology of Abuse
	Feminists and Clergy Abuse
	The Uses of Abuse
	Conclusion
8.	The Legal Environment	125
	The Litigation Explosion
	Litigating Child Abuse
	Clergy Abuse in the Courts
	Expanding the Liability Net
	The Effects of Litigation
	Defending the Suits
	Consequences
	Conclusion
9.	Defending Therapy	139
	Believing the Children
	Ritual Child Abuse
	The Recovered-Memory Debate
	Recovered Memory and Clergy-Abuse Allegations
	Clergy Abuse and Ritual Abuse
	Defending Therapy
	Survivor Movements
	Backlash
10.	Meanings and Directions	153
	Constructing the Problem
	The Church and the World
	Sects and Scandals
	Values, Authority, and Religious Change
	Therapeutic Values
	The Rhetoric of Religious Problems
	"The Greatest Crisis"?
	Understanding Clergy Abuse: Activism and Audience
	Notes	173
	Index	209

What People are Saying About This

Richard John Neuhaus

While he may overestimate the long-term consequences of the malfeasance he examines, Philip Jenkins' admirable study is without doubt the best account we have of clerical sexual scandal and the way it has been exploited by contending forces within contemporary religion and the media. The book is a model of scholarly and judicious treatment of a subject much sensationalized and therefore much misunderstood.
—(The Reverend Richard John Neuhaus, editor in chief of First Things)

Editorial Reviews

"A thorough, academic study that convincingly challenges the popular estimate of the extent of pedophiles in the Church."—Publishers Weekly

"Philip Jenkins...brings to the issue of clergy abuse an experienced eye. Pedophiles and Priests is a fine cautionary tale that should give all parties to the pedophile-priest crisis something to think about."—The New York Times Book Review

"For those who have been offended by the media coverage of the 'epidemic' of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, here at last is somewhere to turn for the facts."—National Review

"While he may overestimate the long-term consequences of the malfeasance he examines, Philip Jenkins' admirable study is without doubt the best account we have of clerical sexual scandal and the way it has been exploited by contending forces within contemporary religion and the media. The book is a model of scholarly and judicious treatment of a subject much sensationalized and therefore much misunderstood."—The Reverend Richard John Neuhaus, editor in chief of First Things

From the Publisher