12 SEXUAL ABUSE OF BOYS BY CLERGY

Adolescent Psychiatry,  2004  by Ponton, Lynn,  Goldstein, Dana

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

A similar scale was used to rate substance abuse, and 23 of the men (88%) admitted to past or present misuse of alcohol or drugs. Like the depression index, the substance abuse rating scale lists zero as indicating no evidence of substance abuse, one indicating mild abuse, two indicating moderate abuse, and three indicating severe substance abuse. Mild substance abuse is characterized by the presence of one of the four criteria listed in the DSM-IV-TR, severe substance abuse is characterized by the presence of most or all of the criteria, and moderate substance abuse is intermediate between mild and severe. The average intensity of substance abuse for the 26 men was 2.04. The substance most commonly abused by the men was alcohol.

RESULTS

The average age of initial abuse was approximately 12 years, with a range from 5 to 17 years of age. The duration of abuse varied from a single incident to an 18-year coercive sexual relationship; among all the cases, the average duration was approximately 2 years. On average, the men waited 18 years to disclose their abuse to anyone. Physical force was used by the clergy member in exactly 50% of the cases of sexual abuse, and some form of coercion was present in all cases. The abuse cases ranged from single incidents of fondling to hundreds of incidents of oral and anal sex spanning 18 years. Oral sex was part of the abuse in 13 cases (50%) and anal sex in 8 (31%) cases. Five (19%) of the men had unclear memories of the abuse and could not remember exactly what had taken place.

Only one of the men (4%) reported subsequent sexual abuse after the priest episode. Two men (8%) reported that the sexual abuse by the clergy member spanned most of their adolescence, lasting longer than five years.

Contrary to past findings, eleven of the men (42%) reported that they grew up in "warm, close" families, and only three (12%) reported that their fathers were absent during their childhood. However, five of the men (19%) mentioned physical abuse or severe dysfunction in their families of origin. The remaining six men (23%) reported that their families were intact but that one or both of their parents were emotionally distant. Only two of the men (8%) disclosed that they had later become perpetrators of sexual abuse, each as an adolescent. In both cases, they sexually abused their younger siblings within five years of their own abuse.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SEQUELAE

Of the 26 men interviewed, 85% met DSM-IV-TR criteria for current depression, and 88% met the criteria for current substance abuse. Symptoms of suicidality (55%), loss of spirituality (54%), and sexual issues (73%) were also common. Sexual issues included confusion about sexual orientation, fears about sexual performance, issues with sexual arousal, and problems regarding sexual behavior. Confusion about sexual orientation was discussed by 31% of the men, although only one man (4%) was self-identified as homosexual.

The 26 men were divided into three groups: Group A, whose members had distinct memories of anal penetration during the abuse (n = 8); Group B, whose members could not clearly remember the details (n = 5); and Group C, whose members remembered that the abuse did not include anal penetration (n = 13). The level of depression for group A was 2.63, which was significantly higher than the total average. The level of depression reported for Group B averaged 2.20, and for Group C, it was 1.38, signifying less-severe depression. A one-way ANOVA of the data in the three groups showed significant differentiation: F(2, 23) = 3.62, p