Child sexual abuse in religious institutions: A comparative study based on sentences in Spain

Child sexual abuse is a global problem that has several physical and psychological health implications for the victims. This study aimed to analyse the way criminal courts respond to allegations of child sexual abuse in religious institutions in Spain compared with cases of abuse committed in other institutional contexts. The sample is composed of 97 abusers from three institutional settings (religious institutions, educational centres, sports centres), responsible for a total of 335 child sexual abuse victims. Some of the results are similar to those found in other countries regarding the sex and age of the victims. There is a predominance of abuse involving bodily contact but without penetration, the abusers’ profiles are diverse, high exposure to minors was paramount as a risk factor, and there is a higher prevalence of diocesan priest abusers compared with members of religious orders. Significant differences were found between the three institutional groups (that is, religious, educational, and sports) in terms of penalties and civil compensation orders imposed on the abusers. The criminal courts consider sexual abuse committed by religious leaders to be a more severe form of the crime compared with abuse committed in other environments. Our study also revealed that several factors substantially influence the criminal courts’ response (for example, proven psychological harm, continuing crime, and the act of penetration), resulting in longer prison sentences and higher civil compensation. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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Sexual Abuse Within Employment Settings: A Comparison of Work-Related, Intra- and Extra-Familial Child Molesters

Sexual Abuse ◽

10.1177/1079063217708202 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 31 (5) ◽

pp. 524-542

Author(s):

Diana M. Falkenbach ◽

Antonia Foehse ◽

Elizabeth Jeglic ◽

Cynthia Calkins ◽

Linsey Raymaekers

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Clinical Practice ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Sex Offenders ◽

Child Molesters ◽

Future Research ◽

Victim Selection ◽

Work Related ◽

Institutional Settings ◽

Similarities And Differences

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a serious problem not only in the community but also in institutional settings such as youth-serving organizations, churches, and schools. Although research has started to examine the problem of abuse in institutional settings, there remains a dearth of information about the nature and context of CSA in different employment settings, including those that do not specifically cater to children. In addition, research on the similarities and differences between perpetrators who work with children and other sex offenders is scarce. As such, the present study compared offenders on variables relating to financial/employment lifestyle stability, risk/dangerousness level, abuse opportunity, and victim selection. Data revealed that child abusers who worked with children tended to be better educated, were less likely to be married, had fewer nonsexual convictions, and were more likely to abuse male post-pubescent children compared with intra- and extra-familial offenders who did not work with children. Implications for future research, prevention of CSA, and clinical practice are discussed.

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Deconstruction of a taboo: press coverage of sexual violence against children in pedagogical institutions in Germany 1950–2013

Media Culture & Society ◽

10.1177/0163443717745120 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 40 (7) ◽

pp. 973-991

Author(s):

Arno Görgen ◽

Heiner Fangerau

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Media Coverage ◽

Educational Institutions ◽

Press Coverage ◽

Semantic Field ◽

Violence Against Children ◽

Institutional Settings ◽

The Media ◽

Residential Educational

In 2010, Germany was shattered by a cluster of scandals concerning child sexual abuse in residential educational institutions. Previous attempts to broach the issue of child sexual abuse in institutions have repeatedly failed. This article investigates the historical preconditions that led to the immense awareness of child sexual abuse as raised by the media during this particular time. In order to create a holistic picture of the preconditions and awareness potential of the scandal, a database based on searching using a semantic field approach was created. The results were analyzed with respect to published discourses on child sexual abuse generally and in institutions in particular. Quantitatively, until the beginning of the 1990s, search results show a low but stable level of publication activity. This level increased strongly in the 1990s and, after a slight decrease in the new millennium, reached its peak in 2010. Qualitatively, the way violence against children in institutional settings was framed in the media coverage changed from emphasizing the motives of the perpetrator only (until the 1990s) to including more and more institutional and structural conditions that contribute to child sexual abuse.

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Child Sexual Abuse in Organizational Settings: A Research Framework to Advance Policy and Practice

Sexual Abuse ◽

10.1177/1079063219858144 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 635-642 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Andrew J. Harris ◽

Karen J. Terry

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Public Attention ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

High Quality Research ◽

Organizational Settings ◽

Organizational Conditions ◽

Viable Systems ◽

Effective Strategies ◽

Institutional Settings

Recent decades have produced growing public attention to the problem of child sexual abuse (CSA) occurring within civic institutions, school settings, youth sports, religious institutions, and other youth-serving organizations. Often amid considerable media and public scrutiny, such institutions have been called upon to improve their responses to sexual abuse incidents, address underlying organizational conditions that may foster such incidents, and develop viable systems of early intervention and prevention. These system challenges, in turn, have produced growing demand for high-quality research that can refine our understanding of the correlates and dynamics of sexual abuse within institutional settings and can help identify the parameters of effective strategies and responses. This article introduces a special issue of Sexual Abuse featuring emerging scholarship focused on CSA within organizational settings and sets forth a framework for further advancing the base of knowledge in this vital area of policy and practice.

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Experiences and psychological health among children exposed to online child sexual abuse – a mixed methods study of court verdicts

Psychology Crime and Law ◽

10.1080/1068316x.2020.1781120 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Malin Joleby ◽

Sara Landström ◽

Carolina Lunde ◽

Linda S. Jonsson

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Mixed Methods ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Mixed Methods Study

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Recommendations for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in Youth-Serving Organizations: Implications From an Australian Royal Commission Review of the Literature

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260519869239 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (20) ◽

pp. 4199-4224 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Keith L. Kaufman ◽

Marcus Erooga ◽

Benjamin Mathews ◽

Erin McConnell

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Personal Development ◽

The United States ◽

Daily Basis ◽

Royal Commission ◽

Future Research ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Institutional Settings ◽

Broad Array

Evidence suggests that tens of millions of children and adolescents are involved in youth-serving organizations (YSOs) outside of their homes on a daily basis. Children’s involvement with YSOs clearly offers a broad array of emotional, social, and personal development benefits. This involvement can, however, also be associated with a variety of safety risks, including the potential for child sexual abuse (CSA) victimization and the myriad short- and long-term consequences to its victims and their families. Recognizing the significance of CSA within YSOs, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse funded a comprehensive review of the literature on risk and protective factors related to CSA in institutions. This yielded more than 400 primarily research articles from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, examining institutional CSA victims, perpetrators, and settings. Findings were provided regarding six specific types of institutional settings, including faith-based, early childhood education, childcare and schools, health care, out-of-home/foster care, and sport. This article is based on the findings of Kaufman and Erooga’s comprehensive literature review and Royal Commission findings. It provides a brief review of critical risks associated with CSA victims, perpetrators, and organizational settings, as well as highlights risks particular to specific types of YSOs and risks that are present across these organizations. Optimal prevention directions and strategies are outlined in response to identified patterns of organizational risk. Recommendations for YSO policy enhancements are also provided to complement the article’s prevention focus. Finally, suggestions are offered for future research directions to foster the development of an evidence-based foundation for work in this area.

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Malpractice & Negligence: State Supreme Courts Limit Therapists’ Duties to Third Parties

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1017/s1073110500012985 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 204-205

Author(s):

Megan Cleary

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Supreme Court ◽

New Hampshire ◽

Third Parties ◽

State Supreme Courts ◽

Recovered Memories ◽

Supreme Courts ◽

Repressed Memory ◽

University Of Colorado

In recent years, the law in the area of recovered memories in child sexual abuse cases has developed rapidly. See J.K. Murray, “Repression, Memory & Suggestibility: A Call for Limitations on the Admissibility of Repressed Memory Testimony in Abuse Trials,” University of Colorado Law Review, 66 (1995): 477-522, at 479. Three cases have defined the scope of liability to third parties. The cases, decided within six months of each other, all involved lawsuits by third parties against therapists, based on treatment in which the patients recovered memories of sexual abuse. The New Hampshire Supreme Court, in Hungerford v. Jones, 722 A.2d 478 (N.H. 1998), allowed such a claim to survive, while the supreme courts in Iowa, in J.A.H. v. Wadle & Associates, 589 N.W.2d 256 (Iowa 1999), and California, in Eear v. Sills, 82 Cal. Rptr. 281 (1991), rejected lawsuits brought by nonpatients for professional liability.

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