Ford Foundation Grant to Study Clergy Abuse of Women
Don't call it an affair. Call it abuse of power.
Editorial by Professor Diana Garland in the Waco Tribune (January 24, 2010):
"When a religious leader abuses the power a community gives him, it damages the whole community."
Baylor University School of Social Work Conducts National Study of Clergy Sexual Misconduct with Adults
For background on the study, click here. Results from the study were published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion in 2009.
The study found that 3.1 percent of adult women who attend religious services at least once a month have been the victims of clergy sexual misconduct since turning 18. To explain another way, in the average U.S. congregation of 400 adult members, seven women, on average, have been victimized at some point in their adult lives … According to Dean Diana Garland: "Many people, including the victims themselves, often label incidences of Clergy Sexual Misconduct with adults as 'affairs'. In reality, they are an abuse of spiritual power by the religious leader."
The Prevalence of Clergy Sexual Misconduct with Adults: A Research Study Executive Summary
In the nonrandom qualitative study that occurred concurrently with the survey, survivors hailed from 17 different Christian and Jewish affiliations: Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Seventh Day Adventist, Disciples of Christ, Latter Day Saints, Apostolic, Calvary Chapel, Christian Science, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Friends (Quaker), Mennonite, Evangelical, Nondenominational (Christian), and Reform Judaism.
This research has drawn wide attention in the press. Click here for more news coverage of the research project.
Master's Thesis Research Project Spring 2011
Carolyn Waterstradt, MA student at Grand Valley State University in Michigan is seeking participants for interviews in her research project on how women who were victims of clergy sexual abuse heal spiritually.
To be interviewed for this project, contact Ms. Waterstradt directly at: cjwaterstradt@yahoo.com
- Jill Scoggins. "Abuse of power." Baylor Magazine (Winter 2009-2010).
Carolyn--each survivor is identified by first name only--was a seminary student and a member of a Lutheran congregation. During a period when she had doubts about her faith, her husband suggested she seek out her pastor for counseling and guidance. With full trust in her pastor, she met him several times--and ignored his escalating physical advances. "If this was any other man, I would have known it was not right," she says. "But church is supposed to be a sanctuary. I couldn't make sense of what was happening. He broke my connection to all that is holy."
- Jacqueline L. Salmon. "Many women targeted by faith leaders, survey says." Washington Post (September 10, 2009).
Carolyn Waterstradt, 42, a graduate student who lives in the Midwest, said she was coerced into a sexual relationship with a married minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for 18 months. He had been her pastor for a decade, she said, and told her the relationship was ordained by God.
Reactions to Baylor University Study on Clergy Sexual Misconduct
Professor Diana Garland's research has drawn wide attention in the press. She continues to give interviews regarding the research on clergy sexual misconduct she conducted with co-author Mark Chaves of Duke University. Some articles have online reader comments illustrating confusion, disbelief and outright scorn for adults alleging sexual victimization by a clergy member. The need for wider public discussion is well illustrated by reactions to this research.
- Rev. Joel A. Bowman, Founder and Senior Pastor, Temple of Faith Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky. "Clergy sexual misconduct: Exposing the elephant in the living room."
Gospel Today (October 31, 2010). See also online reader comments on this article.
For ministers of the Gospel to engage in sexual activity with members of their faith community, to whom they are not married, is exploitive and abusive of such persons. … In the case of doctors or therapists, they could lose their license to practice, if allegations of abuse were substantiated. Whether forced or "consensual," clergy sexual abuse is dead wrong, sinful, and yes, criminal.
Of the 3,559 respondents surveyed by Dr. Garland and her partners, in 2008:
92% of these sexual advances had been made in secret, not in open dating relationships
67% of the offenders were married to someone else at the time of the advance
- Bob Allen. "Clergy sex abuse 'pervasive,' study co-author says." Associated Baptist Press News (October 1, 2010).
Many people in the study reported religious leaders establishing an inappropriate relationship over time, frequently around the work of the church, making it difficult to identify when a boundary had been crossed. Garland said she believes education is a key to addressing the problem, and it begins with the language that is used to describe what is happening.
- Michel Martin. "Church tackles sex abuse by clergy" (interview with Dean Diana Garland and Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, former head of St. Luke's Institute, a treatment center for clergy) National Public Radio (October 1, 2010).
… one of the most troubling findings in [the Baylor] study was that clergy sexual misconduct is three times more likely to take place in the life of an African-American woman than a white woman. … the African-American clergy with whom I've talked recognize that this is a serious problem.
- "Study: Clergy sexual abuse an ongoing problem." The Lutheran (November 2009).
Diana Garland, dean of Baylor's School of Social Work and lead researcher in the study [explained]: "What this research tells us, however, is that clergy sexual misconduct with adults is a widespread problem in congregations of all sizes and occurs across denominations." One of the case studies involved an ELCA member coerced into a sexual relationship by her pastor.
- "Some faith leaders offer women more than prayer." NPR's Tell Me More (September 28, 2009).
this begins with … using language that describes what's happened … changing our language would be an important way for us to begin to have these conversations, then, about how we can protect both our leaders and our congregants.
- George E. Hardin. "Pastors' sexual misconduct is widespread, survey says."
Tri-State Defender Online (September 18, 2009).
The research determined that congregations and denominational groups do not always respond in a timely manner … Victims are blamed, discredited and urged to forgive and forget … Even in cases where the pastor is removed or moves on the pattern may persist because past indiscretions are not always a barrier to obtaining a new position.
- Traci Scott. "Sexual harassment continues in churches unaware, unprepared." Oregon Faith Report (September 16, 2009).
[Among the research findings reported in the study]: Religious leaders obtain intimate knowledge about their congregants' personal lives through the various hats they wear, including that of counselor and confidante, which makes congregants vulnerable [and] … Congregations are considered safe sanctuaries, so congregants are more likely to let down their guard with religious leaders than they would with others.
- Jacqueline L. Salmon. "Many women targeted by faith leaders,
survey says." Washington Post (September 10, 2009). Also read over 200 online reader comments on this story.
One in every 33 women who attend worship services regularly has been the target of sexual advances by a religious leader, a survey released Wednesday says. The study, by Baylor University researchers, found that the problem is so pervasive that it almost certainly involves a wide range of denominations, religious traditions and leaders.
- Erin Quinn. "Baylor study reveals sexual misconduct by clergy more common than many realize."
Waco Tribune-Herald (September 10, 2009).
Diana Garland … [has] studied congregational social work for the last 30 years … "I got tired of watching congregations destroyed by this," she said. "I got tired of seeing survivors and their families thrown into crisis and lose their communities, and even lose their families." … Garland said she was surprised by the magnitude of the problem and "had never imagined the extent."
- Ken Camp. "Baylor study reveals prevalence of clergy sexual misconduct with adults." Baptist Standard (September 10, 2009).
"We knew anecdotally that clergy sexual misconduct with adults is a huge problem, but we were surprised it is so prevalent across all denominations, all religions, all faith groups, all across the country," said lead researcher Diana Garland …
Background on Baylor University's Clergy Sexual Abuse Research
Baylor University received a $200,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to conduct the first national research on clergy sexual abuse of adults. According to Dean Diana Garland of Baylor's School of Social Work the goals of this research project include:
- to determine the prevalence of clergy sexual abuse of adults
- to teach religious leaders, congregants and the general public that sexual activity between a religious leader and a congregant cannot be considered consensual
- to communicate to survivors and their families that they are not alone and that they deserve support and professional care
In an article in the Baylor alumni newsletter Between the Lines Professor Garland further states:
- Another goal for the study is to develop model legislation to make clergy sexual abuse illegal in all fifty states.
Results of the Baylor study of Clergy Sexual Misconduct (CSM) are beginning to appear on the Baylor webpage. The research team states:
- We believe that understanding the processes of CSM is essential before public understanding of this situation will shift the language and perception from "affair" to "abuse of power."
Contact Dean Diana Garland at the Baylor School of Social Work for further information on this research project.
This site is established to share informational resources for victims and advocates of adult victims of clergy sexual abuse.