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Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church

Revisiting the Rotten Apples Explanation

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, miwhite{at}jjay.cuny.edu

Karen J. Terry

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

The Catholic Church response to its sexual abuse crisis and how the problem should be addressed parallels the "rotten apple" assertions of police deviance. The rotten apple theory, however, does not fully explain police deviance, as there are often also structural explanations. This article employs Kappeler, Sluder, and Alpert's (1998) police deviance framework to characterize and understand the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, drawing specific comparisons to the intentional use of excessive force by police. Though the analogy has limitations, there are similarities at both the individual and organizational levels, particularly because the Church has implemented accountability mechanisms similar to the police. The article concludes with a discussion of lessons the Church can learn from the police organization as they seek to prevent, control, and effectively respond to sexual abuse of children by their clergy.

Key Words: police misconduct • Catholic Church • sexual abuse

Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 35, No. 5, 658-678 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0093854808314470


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