Myth: Sexual abuse by Catholic clergy is far more prevalent than in other religious sects.
Based on media coverage, one gets the impression this is the case. This perception is simply not supported by the facts, according to one of the country’s foremost education researchers.
Charol Shakeshaft, a professor at Hofstra University in New York, states, “There are no reliable national statistics at all on what percentage of children have been exploited by Catholic clergy or employees.”
As part of a report for the U. S. Department of Education, Shakeshaft has set out the parameters of the problem in another major national institution, the school system, where she found that seven percent of students report physical and sexual exploitation by a teacher or other school employee. Shakeshaft notes that sexual exploitation of children has been reported in other religious denominations and in groups serving youth such as the Scouts.
These studies clearly reveal that sexual exploitation of children is a universal problem.
Shakeshaft came to another interesting conclusion. The response of educators to the problem of abuse in the schools is now at about the same level as the Catholic Church was in the 80s and 90s.
Only a few research articles have been written about either abusing priests (Haywood, Kravitz, Grossman, et al., 1996; Hayward, Kravitz, Wasyliw, et al., 1996; Jenkins, 1996; F
Posted on August 8th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Child Abuse Concern
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