Analyzing of the criminal records and self-reported religious affiliations of 111 incarcerated sex offenders, researchers Donna Eshuys and Stephen Smallbone at Australia's Griffith University found:
... that stayers (those who maintained religious involvement from childhood to adulthood) had more sexual offense convictions, more victims, and younger victims, than other groups. Results challenge assumptions that religious involvement should, as with other crime, serve to deter sexual offending behavior.
Another study found evidence that sexual predators consider churches an attractive environment. In 2003 one predator told a researcher [.pdf]:
I considered church people easy to fool ... they have a trust that comes from being Christians...They tend to be better folks all around. And they seem to want to believe in the good that exists in all people ... I think they want to believe in people. And because of that, you can easily convince, with or without convincing words.
Despite their limitations, these studies do suggest that predators who stay in church understand how to manipulate the environment in ways which permit them to continue their predatory careers.
Neither possibility is a surprise to either the victims of clerical predators or those who labor for reform of church practices.
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I tend to believe in the sickness model for pedophilia (studies have shown differences in the pedophile's brain), so I still believe in the goodness of people. However, as with bipolar disorder, family and friends need to keep a watch. Because the sickness of pedophiles is so ingrained and because there is no treatment for it, there is no trusting them with children.
ReplyDeleteOne Quaker Meeting, I know of, had a pedophile in their midst. He expressed contrition for what he had done. The way the meeting handled it was to insist that he attend an early morning meeting where there were no children, to vacate himself from the vicinity of the meeting house, and to avoid all events where there were children. This I think is a reasonable and compassionate approach to accepting a pedophile in your midst. It requires that the pedophile be open about his illness and the congregation to make adjustments to their schedule but it is the only way to allow pedophiles into churches.
Secretive pedophiles must be identified, treated, and segregated, at least until there is an effective cure for the illness.