| This qualitative research study focuses on the Roman Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis in the United States. Clergy sexual abuse perpetrator research has focused primarily on a medical model that is grounded in individual pathology and responsibility. More recent research suggests a multilevel interactionist model that takes into account variables present in individual, family, and organizational life over time.;Grounded in organizational socialization theory and family systems theory, this phenomenological research explored questions unanswered by the John Jay College studies (2004; 2011): • What happened in the developmental lifespan socialization---especially the psychosexual development and family, community, religious order or diocesan seminary socialization---of the men who offended innocent children and those who did not offend? • To what variables might we attribute the difference in the sexual abuse rate between diocesan priests (4.3%) and religious order priests (2.7%)?;Through a complete set of 40 in-depth narrative interviews, religious order and diocesan offending and non-offending clergy were invited to share their lifespan stories of socialization: their lived experiences and sensemaking of family, community, educational, and organizational dynamics.;This study validated that clergy sexual abuse must be explored in a broader and more robust context, model, and theory of organizational socialization. Study findings further supported a movement toward cultural change in the Roman Catholic Church. |
