Virtually
all the studies of clergy sexual misconduct have been clinical, focusing on the
motives of offenders, the dynamics of the abusive relationship, and the
devastating consequences for primary and secondary victims. Understanding these
dynamics is vitally important for those professionals faced with intervention
and treatment of offenders, survivor and their families, and congregations.
There is
virtually no research or information to inform prevention strategies, which is
the primary purpose of our study. Clergy sexual misconduct occurs across faith
groups and communities and occurs so commonly that we need to understand why
and how our communities of faith allow it to continue to happen. As believing
and worshiping people, we have responsibility to ensure that our communities of
faith are truly sanctuaries-safe places-to all who enter in. Explore this site
to find out what we have learned about preventing clergy sexual misconduct.
Resources for your use:
We have prepared several documents to help you learn more about clergy sexual
misconduct with adults, prevention strategies, a sample code of ethics for your
congregation, and much more.
Dual
Relationships when Clergy Counsel Congregants http://www.baylor.edu/clergysexualmisconduct/index.php?id=67408
Ongoing
studies:
The ongoing clergy sexual misconduct project is entering a new phase where we
want to explore more about the contextual factors involved with CSM itself and
how survivors have moved forward. If you are a survivor of clergy sexual
misconduct, or have a family member who is, and are interested in helping
researchers further understand this issue, we invite you to e-mail us and put
in subject line "survivor"*. We will keep your contact information
confidential, and you may use a pseudonym if you prefer.
In addition,
if you are a treatment provider who has worked with a survivor of CSM we
want to hear about your experiences in helping survivors heal. We invite you to
leave us your contact information also and in the subject line please put
"treatment"*.
Our contact
e-mail for this project is CSM2@baylor.edu