Psychology Today.

com blog by Katherine van Wormer

Priest Abuse: Male Compared to Female Victimization Impact
Girls as well as boys have been traumatized
Published on May 20, 2010
The sexual crimes committed against children and adolescents by Catholic priest
has figured prominently in the media over the past decade, and rocked the Cathol
ic Church the world over. The "sins of the fathers" have been more than matched
by the sins of the church hierarchy which showed more concern for the protection
of the abusive priests than for the prevention of future violations or for the
suffering caused to the victims.
Whereas the media focus has been largely on the scandal of the cover up, on the
behavior of individual priests, and on Pope Benedict's complicity in reassigning
fallen priests, a concern that is rarely addressed is the psychological impact
on the victims of these violations. The psychological impact varies by gender.
First, a look at the statistics: The most detailed statistics on child abuse for
the Catholic clergy that I can find comes from the special report based on a na
tional survey of victimization conducted for the 2004 American Catholic bishops'
conference. The findings reveal that the frequency of child abuse among Catholi
c priests is not remarkable-involving around 4 % of priests and deacons who serv
ed in the U.S., but its pattern is. Outside of the Catholic Church, the overwhel
ming numbers of juvenile victims of sexual abuse are female. Within the church,
however, four out of five of their victims are male. Most were adolescents aged
14 or over; 15% were under 10.
Impact on Both Male and Female Victims
To the Catholic child growing up in a Catholic family, the authority of the prie
st has no parallel. The moral authority of the priest transcends that of ordinar
y mortals because it is assumed to come from God. In the Roman Catholic Church,
the ordained priest is addressed as "Father" by Catholics both young and old. He
carries out his functions largely without supervision.
Frequently, congregations idolize their spiritual leaders and view them as God's
representative on earth. Accusations of misbehavior, therefore, are apt to be r
efuted by the community and family members. Not only do priests possess a power
granted by a divine being, but they are celibate or sexually pure. Such is the g
eneral assumption within the Catholic Church. A sexual advance made by "a man of
God" is thus extremely disillusioning to the child, who is often highly religio
us and trusting of this highly esteemed adult. The male victim is apt to have be
en an alter boy; the female victim, a vulnerable girl who has gone to the priest
for personal counseling. As a predator, the priest takes advantage of the vulne
rability of the child or youth. Typically one priest has multiple victims. Repor
ts from adult survivors of priest and other clergy abuse indicate a high rate of
trauma among the survivors.
A review of the literature on priest/clergy abuse reveals that for both genders
the typical survivor became disillusioned with the church and suffered a loss of
religious faith as a result of the abuse and the subsequent institutional respo
nse to the abuse. An inadequate amount of research has been done to determine th
e full extent of suicide attempts or completed suicides of victims of this form
of abuse. One estimate in the literature is that 20 percent of children who were
abused by religious authorities considered suicide at some point.
Psychological Impact on Molested Boys
The disproportionate number of male compared to female victims is seen as a refl
ection of the role that priests traditionally were expected to play as role mode
ls to young males. Keep in mind the fact that until fairly recently, only boys c
ould be altar boys (servers) who got to work alongside the priests.
Media accounts have focused almost exclusively on the violation of boys. Because
priest molestation of boys is homosexual, the public reaction to these violatio
ns is pronounced in a heterosexist society. Sexual relationships between men and
boys are associated with sexual identity issues in the maturing youth. Often he
tells no one and tries to deal with his conflicted feelings alone. Testimony fr
om adult survivors reveals feelings of extreme anger and resentment and a psycho
logical inability to confide in anyone about the abuse.
Psychological Impact on Female Victims
In contrast to the low estimate of victimized females by the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops, a random survey of over 7,000 active Catholics in the U.S. and
Canada found a closer ratio, that 1.7 percent of the females and 3.3 percent of
the males had been sexually abused in childhood by a priest. In any case, a sig
nificant number of girls have been victimized by priests. Such sexual relationsh
ips with female parishioners reinforce a traditional male power dynamic.
It is my good fortune to have access to some first-hand data obtained by my form
er student, Lois Burns, for her women's studies thesis at the University of Nort
hern Iowa. In her ethnographic interviews with 9 female survivors of Catholic cl
ergy misconduct, Burns found two major themes: loss of religious faith, and atta
cks on their personal integrity when they told of the abuse.
These survivors reported that their faith in God was shattered. Not only had the
y endured personal violation, but they found themselves without a spiritual home
which to turn. An unexpected finding was that all had lost their fathers early
in life or were estranged from them. Significantly, several of those surveyed ha
d experienced some kind of sexual violation earlier in life, even before the pri
est encounter. This increased their vulnerability.
All those who were interviewed reported that they were forced into secrecy, ofte
n after a few failed attempts to get help. Some were accused of having been sedu
ctive with an innocent priest. Most responded either by repressing the memory fo
r long periods or by blaming themselves. Several of the women were successfully
healing from their pain as therapeutic and social support many years later. Some
turned to a Heavenly Mother for solace.
Prevention
The institutional church has reluctantly begun to acknowledge the magnitude of t
he damage that has been done through years of denial and deception. Oversight by
lay Catholics and reporting of criminal cases to the authorities would further
ensure the integrity of the Catholic Church.
Admission of women to the priesthood and reevaluation of the enforced celibacy r
ule are changes that might prevent further abuse, although they are not likely t
o occur at the present time. Both steps might help provide a much larger pool of
intelligent, healthy candidates from which to choose. The Vatican's response, w
hich is to remove known homosexuals from the priesthood, is not helpful. This is
a case of scapegoating and a false equating of homosexuality with pedophilia.
Once an allegation of priest sexual abuse has been reported, there are two parti
es in need of treatment. First, the focus should be on the victim, to provide su
pport and reassurance. Secondly, the priest, is in need of therapeutic attention
and support and the opportunity to make amends, so that, even if he is dismisse
d from the priesthood, and/or imprisoned, he will not continue his apparent harm
ful behavior.
For a grassroots organization fighting for clergy abuse survivors' rights see Su
rvivors Network of those Abused by Priests at www.snapnetwork.org.