Abstract
A remarkable amount of international attention has focused on the sexual misconduct by Roman Catholic clergy in recent years. While the demographics and risk factor profiles of clergy sex offenders is now fairly well established, the psychological and personality profiles of these men are not. Very few empirical research studies have been published on the psychological and personality functioning of clergy who engage in sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological profiles of 21 Roman Catholic clergy who have confronted credible accusations of sexual misconduct. Relative to national norms, MMPI-2 results suggest that these men tend to have profiles that were defensive, repressive, mistrustful, isolative, and irritable. Precautions and limitations of the current study, as well as implications for future research are offered.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blanchard, G. T. (1991). Sexually abusive clergymen: A conceptual framework for intervention and recovery. Pastoral Psychology, 39, 237–245.
Boston Globe Investigative Staff. (2002). Betrayal: The crisis in the Catholic Church. NY: Little Brown.
Goodstein, L. (2003). Trail of pain in Church crisis leads to nearly every diocese. New York Times, January 12, 2003.
Hathaway, S. R., & McKinley, J. C. (1989). Manual for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2TM (MMPI-2TM). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Haywood, T. W. (August, 1994). Cleric misconduct with minors: Minimization and self-reported sexual functioning. Paper presented at the 13th annual conference of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, San Francisco, CA.
Haywood, T. W., Kravitz, H. M., Grossman, L. S., Wasyliw, O. E. (1996). Psychological aspects of sexual functioning among cleric and noncleric alleged sex offenders. Child Abuse and Neglect, 20, 527–536.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice. (2004). The nature and scope of the problem of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons in the United States. New York, NY: Author.
Lothstein, L. (1999). Nueropsychological findings in clergy who sexually abuse. In T. G. Plante (Ed.), Bless me father for I have sinned: Perspectives on sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests, pp. 87–110. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Plante, T. G. (Ed.). (1999). Bless me father for I have sinned: Perspectives on sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Plante, T. G. (Ed.). (2004). Sin against the Innocents: Sexual abuse by priests and the role of the Catholic Church. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Plante, T. G., Manuel, G. M., & Bryant, C. (1996). Personality and cognitive functioning among sexual offending Roman Catholic priests. Pastoral Psychology, 45, 129–139.
Robinson, T. (July, 1994). Shadows of the lantern bearers: A study of sexually troubled clergy. Paper presented at the 23rd International Congress of Applied Psychology, Madrid, Spain.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Plante, T.G., Aldridge, A. Psychological Patterns Among Roman Catholic Clergy Accused of Sexual Misconduct. Pastoral Psychol 54, 73–80 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-005-6184-8
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-005-6184-8