First helpful aspect: this scandal almost certainly alerted parents again of the need to talk to children about sexual abuse and about the risk at the hands of people who are known and respected by children and families. There are few Catholic parents who did not ask their children sometime during the course of this year, “Did Father so-and-so ever do anything funny with you?” Surely, this prompting of conversations with children and the renewed sense of the importance of educating children has done some good.
Second helpful aspect: this scandal has furthered the destigmatization of sexual abuse and lowered the barriers to disclosure. The scandal showcased many working-class men coming out publicly about their abusive experiences. We saw them being championed for their courage. This was not the image of sexual abuse victims that the public had formerly, and it may certainly help encourage others, especially men, to come forward about their abuse in the future.
Third helpful aspect: this scandal has certainly put organizations and administrators on notice about their affirmative responsibilities for dealing with problematic employees in a responsible way. The negative consequences of “passing the trash” are more apparent than ever. The consequences of failure to report abuse should also be clear. Many organizations are revising their policies, improving their screening and taking other prevention steps in light of what happened in the Catholic Church. There is a more alert and vigilant organizational environment as a result.
These are powerful positive developments that have grown out of these tragic events. At the same time, the scandal and its attendant publicity may have contributed to the national discussion about child maltreatment in ways that do not necessarily serve the field and the cause of child protection. What are some of the negative effects on our field from the controversy?
Fist problem: the scandal continued and exacerbated the elevation of the problem of sexual abuse above all other forms of child maltreatment. Sexual abuse, as most professionals should have learned in Child Abuse 101, constitutes no more than 10% of all the child maltreatment that comes to official attention (US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children Youth and Families, 2002). Yet there were many times in the course of this crisis when child abuse was actually used as a synonym for sexual abuse. But religious officials have certainly been guilty of other forms of child maltreatment. Accounts abound of children being caned, locked in closets, threatened with having their tongues sliced off on paper cutters, cursed with eternal damnation, or discouraged from seeking medical care by clergy and religious officials (Raftery & O’Sullivan, 2001). Unfortunately, this year's conversation remained exclusively about sexual abuse, and child maltreatment professionals need to work assiduously to broaden the topic in the national dialogue. It is getting increasingly hard to talk about any other form of child maltreatment, even though evidence suggests that these other forms are equivalently as damaging as sexual abuse.