It is particularly important to emphasize that clergy are at elevated risk for becoming perpetrators of some kinds of abuse — and also at elevated risk for becoming victims of some other kinds of abuse.
Religious Professionals as Abusers
While public focus is generally limited to sexual abuse, there are other kinds of abuse which are common among religious professionals. Especially important is the role of clergy in spiritual abuse.
General Resources
Abuse Tracker: Media Reports of Clergy Abuse
James S. Evinger, Annotated Bibliography of Clergy Sexual Abuse, 3 PDF files. An excellent and quite comprehensive list of resources.
Books:
Elisabeth Horst. Recovering the Lost Self: Shame-Healing for Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse, (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1998).
Nancy Myer Hopkins, Mark R. Laaser, Editors. Restoring the Soul of a Church: Healing Congregations Wounded by Clergy Sexual Misconduct (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1995).
Nils C. Friberg and Mark R. Laaser. Before the Fall: Preventing Pastoral Sexual Abuse. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1998).
Anson Shupe, William A. Stacey, Susan E. Darnell, Editors. Bad Pastors: Clergy Misconduct in Modern America (New York, NY: New York University Press, 2000).
Networks:
Religious Professionals as Abused Persons
Religious professionals are not only at elevated risk for becoming perpetrators of abuse, they are also at risk for experiencing abuse themselves. How you think about this issue will probably be a reflection of your perception of the kind of power which clergy persons possess. If you think that religious professionals are always in a powerful position, then you will most likely have a difficult time imagining how they could be in the role of a victim. But the subjective experience of religious professionals about their power is a much more complicated situation. In some religious traditions, the power given to clergy persons is very limited. If you hang out with clergy for very long you will collect horror stories about abusive congregations, abuse by lay leaders, abusive working conditions and many other very troubling forms of abuse.
Books
- Clergy Killers: Guidance for Pastors and Congregations under Attack by G. Lloyd Rediger
- When Sheep Attack by Dennis R. Maynard
- The Wounded Minister: Healing and Preventing Personal Attacks by Guy Greenfield
Case Study
Preacher in the Hands of an Angry Church by Chris Armstrong
