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Pedophiles and priests : anatomy of a contemporary crisis / Philip Jenkins.
Van Pelt Library BX1912.9 .J46 2001
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Jenkins, Philip, 1952-
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Child sexual abuse by clergy--United States.
- Child sexual abuse by clergy.
- United States.
- Catholic Church--Clergy--Sexual behavior--United States.
- Catholic Church.
- Clergy.
- Physical Description:
- ix, 214 pages ; 24 cm
- Edition:
- Paperback edition.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Oxford University Press, 2001.
- Summary:
- If we can believe the six o'clock news, there has been an epidemic of sexual abuse among the clergy, and especially among the Roman Catholic clergy. We have certainly seen many well-publicized cases, with front-page photos of priests led off to jail, and television interviews of parents afraid to let their children associate with clergy. But did the news media get the story right? Is there really an epidemic of clergy sex abuse? And is there, as some charge, something about the institution of the priesthood itself that attracts or creates pedophiles? Neither an expose nor an apology, Pedophiles and Priests takes a close, dispassionate look at the entire history of this mushrooming scandal, from the first rumblings to today's headlines. Philip Jenkins has written a fascinating, exhaustive, and above all even-handed account that not only puts this particular crisis in perspective, but offers an eye-opening look at the way in which an issue takes hold of the popular imagination. Jenkins argues convincingly not only that clergy sex abuse is far less widespread than the headlines suggest, but that there is nothing at all particularly Roman Catholic about the problem.
- Contents:
- 1. The Construction of Problems and Panics 3
- Recognizing a Problem
- The Process of Social Construction
- Alternative Views
- Constructing "Pedophile Priests"
- The Catholic Dimension
- Unconstructed Cases
- The Book
- 2. The Anti-Catholic Tradition 19
- Anticlericals and Anti-Catholics
- The American Inheritance
- The Sexual Component
- Puritan Pornography
- Homosexuals and Pedophiles
- The Sins of the Fathers
- The German "Pedophile Crisis"
- The Decline of Anti-Catholicism?
- 3. The Discovery of Clergy Sex Abuse 33
- An Age of Innocence?
- The 1980s
- The Impact of the Gauthe Case, 1984-1989
- Facing Facts?
- The New Wave of Cases, 1989-1992
- Crisis in Chicago, 1991-1994
- The Cases Proliferate
- "Priest of Porn"
- The Porter Case, 1992-1993
- The Cycle
- Restoring Trust
- Not Just Catholics
- 4. The Media and the Crisis 53
- Reporting the Problem
- The Use of Language
- The Cartoon Vision
- Fall from Grace
- A Historical Context
- "Conspiracy of Silence"?
- Changing Media Values
- Constructing Crisis
- Experts
- Television
- Recreating the Cases
- Defending the Church?
- 5. Pedophilia and Child Abuse 77
- Defining the Problem
- How Many Priests?
- Child Abuse: A Historical Context
- The Age of Complacency
- Formulating Child Abuse
- Scale and Effects
- Reframing the Sex Offender
- Framing Clergy Sex Offenders
- Treating Clergy Abusers
- 6. Conflict in the Churches 95
- The Origins of Conflict
- Gender, Sexuality, and Authority
- Homosexuality
- Traditionalists
- Clergy Abuse as a Liberal Issue
- The Media and the Catholic Reformers
- The Rhetoric of Reform
- Reforms as Remedy: Celibacy and the Seminaries
- Interpreting Clergy Abuse
- Impact of the Scandals
- 7. "Sins of the Fathers": The Feminist Response 113
- Feminism and Sexual Abuse
- Feminism in the Churches
- The Theology of Abuse
- Feminists and Clergy Abuse
- The Uses of Abuse
- 8. The Legal Environment 125
- The Litigation Explosion
- Litigating Child Abuse
- Clergy Abuse in the Courts
- Expanding the Liability Net
- The Effects of Litigation
- Defending the Suits
- Consequences
- 9. Defending Therapy 139
- Believing the Children
- Ritual Child Abuse
- The Recovered-Memory Debate
- Recovered Memory and Clergy-Abuse Allegations
- Clergy Abuse and Ritual Abuse
- Defending Therapy
- Survivor Movements
- Backlash
- 10. Meanings and Directions 153
- Constructing the Problem
- The Church and the World
- Sects and Scandals
- Values, Authority, and Religious Change
- Therapeutic Values
- The Rhetoric of Religious Problems
- "The Greatest Crisis"?
- Understanding Clergy Abuse: Activism and Audience.
- Notes:
- First published in 1996.
- Contains a new preface.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 0195145976
- OCLC:
- 48195617
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