Child Abuse in the Catholic Church

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             In order to explain the problem of child sexual abuse in church communities it is important to know about sex offending in general. General explanations for sexual abuse and pedophilic tendencies are as relevant to perpetrators in churches as in the rest of the community. Sexual offending against children is a complex problem and there is more than one reason why a person might feel compelled to abuse children. There are bio-genetic explanations, psychological explanations, and socio-cultural explanations (Marshall, Laws, and Barbaree, 257). .
             It is important to realize that sex offenders against children are a diverse group. There are differences between offenders in terms of whether their targets are primarily within the family or outside it, whether they target mainly boys or girls, or target both, their age preference, whether they engage in sadistic behavior or not, and whether their offending is characterized by violence, or threats of violence towards victims. There is no one psychological profile for a person who sexually abuses children (Finkelhor 37). .
             While sex offending in church communities reflects a range of patterns of abusive behavior in the community, there may still be factors unique to church communities which have influenced patterns of offending. These factors may either contribute to why people to abuse children, or they may create a reason for why it is easier for a perpetrator to get away with abuse. These factors which are specific to churches are not complete explanations for abuse. .
             To understand the factors specific to church life which may contribute to sexually abusive behavior, it is helpful to consider the conditions which allow sexual abuse to occur. This is both the motivation of the offender and the opportunity for abuse. There are four preconditions for sexual abuse to occur. Finkelhor suggests "that in order for an abusive act against a child to take place, the perpetrator needs to have the motivation, must overcome internal inhibitors to abusing a child, must have the opportunity, free from external inhibitors, such as the supervision of parents, and must overcome the defiance of the victim" (114).