Episode 3: Understanding Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church

06/17/20 • 35 min

In Episode 3, Alexa and Alissa interview Dr. Karen Terry about her research on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Karen J. Terry is a Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. She holds a doctorate in Criminology from Cambridge University. Her primary research interest is sexual offending and victimization and offender policy. Her current research focus is on the abuse of children in an institutional setting, and she was the principal investigator for two studies on sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in the United States.

The interview delves into multiple topics related to sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests including how the two studies were designed, the major findings of both studies, and a discussion of situational crime prevention strategies that can aid in the prevention of sexual abuse.

For the full report on the Nature and Scope of the Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests click here.

For the full report on the Causes and Contexts of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests click here.

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse can be found here.

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In Episode 3, Alexa and Alissa interview Dr. Karen Terry about her research on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

For the full report on the Nature and Scope of the Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests click here.

For the full report on the Causes and Contexts of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests click here.

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse can be found here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

Episode 2: Into the Weeds: Measuring Silence

“It depends...”

This is the language that research often use when people ask them questions about sources of data.

This is because the findings we obtain in our research depend on how we ask questions, when we ask questions, who asks the questions, etc. There are also different methods for obtaining data and just because two data sources provide different data doesn’t mean that either is incorrect. It depends...

In episode 2, Into the Weeds: Measuring Silence, Alexa and Alissa talk about the major sources of counting sexual crimes that occur in the United States. The compare two major data sources and discuss some of the benefits and shortfalls of each.

In this episode we utilize data from the following sources (each bullet point is hyperlinked):

The Uniform Crime Report

The National Crime Victimization Survey

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey

An additional resource we did not use in the episode related to child neglect, abuse and maltreatment is the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS).

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Next Episode

Episode 4: The Many Reasons Why

In Episode 4: The Many Reasons Why, Alexa and Alissa breakdown some of the various reasons why people commit acts of child sexual abuse and rape. It might come as a surprise, but there is not one reason why these kinds of offenses happen. In order to prevent future crimes from happening and to ensure that people who do sexually offend get the help they need, it is crucial that we understand the factors that lead to offending behavior in the first place.

In this episode, we bust some myths about sexual offending and provide some insight into the complex nature of sexual offending. We discuss paraphilias, cognitive distortions, grooming behavior, opportunities, adverse childhood experiences, and rape myths, among other factors.

This might be a difficult episode to listen to, as we talk about these factors in an open and non-judgemental way. We recognize how hard this can be and suggest listening with care. It is okay to listen in short chunks, listen with friend, or tune out completely.

For a transcript of The Many Reasons Why, please click here.

For a direct download of Episode 4: The Many Reasons Why, click here.

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