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Predatory Pastors & Restoration 02

 


How Experienced Clergy Consider Offense and Age In Decisions About Restoring Clergy to Ministry Following Clergy-Congregant Sex

In my previous post (March 30), I looked at the background to the study of clergy sexual abuse along with some of the data available at the time. In this post, I summarise the results of an experiment that looked at factors clergy might consider in restoring a pastor following a sexual offense.

My colleague and I chose to study a sexual offense because of the widespread damage it causes to the victims, their families, the congregation, the faith, and the pastor.

How bad is the problem?

    We found some relevant studies not included in the previous article.

Pastors who were victims of childhood sexual abuse were more likely to violate a sexual boundary with a congregant (Hadman-Cromwell, 1991).

We couldn’t find a lot about clergy-congregant sex and boundaries at the time. So, we turned to the helping professions. The ethical codes of conduct were and continue to be strict regarding prohibitions against clinician-patient sex.

In 2003, Lamb and others found that 3.5% of psychologists reported a sexual boundary violation with a client.

Wincze and others (1996) asked clinicians about treating people who had been sexually involved with a therapist in the past 3-4 years. One group reported 26% (Rhode Island) and another 22% (Western Australia). In Rhode Island, 17% involved clergy and in Western Australia, 5% involved clergy. 

In 1986, Pope and others evaluated surveys completed by 585 psychologists—6.5% had a sexual encounter with a client.

What happens to the client?

It’s bad. The effects of clinician-patient sex negatively affects many patients. Reports include increased depression, suicidal feelings or behaviour, the need for hospitalization, and wariness about choosing a counsellor.

What about restoration of offenders?

We did not find much in the research so we looked at forgiveness studies and the different, albeit related concept of reconciliation.

Wells (2003) reported that 74% of respondents to a survey believed sexually offending clergy should be allowed to return to ministry if they have no access to victims.

Our Study

After a trial of materials and a set of survey questions, we conducted an experiment to learn how experienced clergy would consider restoration of clergy following a sexual offense.

Following a common social psychology method, we constructed realistic scenarios varying two different factors we thought might affect forgiveness and restoration decisions. We varied type of relationship (nonsexual romantic vs. sexual) and pastor age 28 or 42). There were four different scenarios all involving a married male pastor and a married female congregant.

1. nonsexual romantic relationship, pastor age 28

2. nonsexual romantic relationship, pastor age 42

3. sexual relationship, pastor age 28

4. sexual relationship, pastor age 42

The participants

58 evangelical male pastors

Mostly of European descent (88.7%)

Most pastors were in their middle years and most had an undergraduate degree.

Most had more than 20 years of experience; our cut-off was at least 5-years of experience

The procedure

Emails contained a link to a webpage. Those connecting to the study were randomly assigned by the software to one of the four scenarios.

The survey measures of restoration

A global rating of

  Restoration to ministry

  Restoration to spouse

Likert-type scales

Restoration to public ministry

Restoration to spouse

The results

You can see the means and standard deviations in Table 1 of the article (page 593).

We used a 2 x 2 MANCOVA with participant age as a covariate.

Experienced pastors believed a successful restoration to public ministry more likely for the younger pastor than the middle-aged one.

(For statistical terms, see the glossary of Statistical Concepts and Principles)

Another study

We repeated study 2 at a clergy retreat but we only had a small sample. The results were similar—restoration for the younger pastor was viewed as likely more successful than for the middle-aged pastor.

Overall and So What

For experienced pastors completing the study, the age of the pastor committing a sexual offense was a factor in restoring him to ministry.

The pastor’s age in the scenario did not make a difference when the relationship was phrased as “nonsexual romantic.”

The experienced pastors completing the study also considered the younger pastor in the scenario would have a better chance at a restored relationship than the older pastor.

We didn’t put this in the article, but it looks like a possible “boys will be boys” attitude. That is, the younger pastor gets some slack when it comes to sexual misconduct. Perhaps it is just the idea that younger people can learn from experience. In real life, there will be other factors to consider when it comes to restoring abusive clergy. One study is never enough to consider all important factors. More on this in other studies.

If the available data are accurate, the helping professionals present less risk than do professional clergymen.

From the perspective of the #metoo movement, the male clergyman in the scenarios sexually assaulted the married woman. He is the professional authority figure who is reasonably expected to develop and maintain firm boundaries when it comes to interacting with congregants who are always in a vulnerable position with respect to clergy.

Recommendations considering the literature review and the study:

1. All clergy should be carefully screened for previous sexual abuse and boundary violations before entering the ministry.

2. All clergy who supervise other clergy ought to have coursework and supervised experience in helping clergy maintain accountability and strong pastor-congregant sexual boundaries.

3. Clergy education should consider their beliefs about age as a factor in restoring a pastor to ministry. No one factor should be decisional.

Three Related Books

Parts of these books deal with matters of sexual abuse, treatment, and considerations of forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration. Free samples and reviews or recommendations from others can help decide if they help with your own study of these concerns.

 

Mittelstadt, M. & G. W. Sutton (eds.) (2010) Forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration: Multidisciplinary studies from a Pentecostal perspective. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications. ISBN: 9781608991945     AMAZON

Sutton, G. W. (2021). Counseling and psychotherapy with Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians: Culture & Research | Assessment & Practice. Springfield, MO: Sunflower.  ISBN-13 : 979-8681036524   AMAZON

Sutton, G. W. (2016). A House Divided: Sexuality, morality, and Christian cultures. Eugene, OR: Pickwick. ISBN: 9781498224888     AMAZON

 

Key concepts and words

Forgiveness and restoration

Clergy sexual abuse, clergy sexual harassment, clergy sexual boundary violations, clergy adultery, clergy affairs

Congregants as victims

Evangelical clergy, Pentecostal clergy


 

References

Conlin, S. C. (2001). Seminary sexuality education survey: Current efforts, perceived need and readiness in accredited Christian institutions. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy, 26, 301–309.

Hadman-Cromwell, Y. C. (1991). Sexual misconduct by clergy. Journal of Religious Thought, 48, 64–72.

Lamb, D. H., & Catanzaro, S. J. (1998). Sexual and nonsexual boundary violations involving psychologists, clients, supervisees, and students: Implications for professional practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 29, 498–503.

Pope, K. S. (1988). How clients are harmed by sexual contact with mental health professionals: The syndrome and its prevalence. Journal of Counseling and Development, 67, 222–226.

Pope, K. S., Keith-Spiegel, P., & Tabachnick, B. G. (1986). Sexual attraction to clients: The human therapist and the (sometimes) inhuman training system. American Psychologist, 41, 147–158.

Sutton, G.W., & Thomas, E. K. (2005). Can derailed pastors be restored? Effects of offense and age on restoration. Pastoral Psychology, 53, 583-599. 

Wells, K. (2003). A needs assessment regarding the nature and impact of clergy sexual abuse conducted by the Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute. Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, 10, 201–217.

Wincze, J. P., Richards, J., Parsons, J., & Bailey, S. (1996). A comparative survey of therapist sexual misconduct between an American state and an Australian state. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 27, 289–294.

Get the Article here >> Click to Download 



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