Through the “Lens” of the Organizational Culture Perspective:

A Descriptive Study of

 American Catholic Bishops’ Understanding of Clergy

Sexual Molestation

and Abuse of Children and Adolescents

 

 

by

 

 

Barbara Susan Balboni

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION

 

 

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy in Law, Policy, and Society in the Graduate School

of Arts and Sciences of Northeastern University, September 1998.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes data from twenty Roman Catholic bishops and six priest-perpetrators. During in-depth semi-structured interviews the bishops discussed their understanding of the phenomenon of clergy abuse of children and adolescents that occurred during the 1970s to mid-1980s. Using the organizational culture perspective as the “lens” through which to view the data, I identified two basic underlying assumptions held by the bishops and priests in their “preconscious.” The two dominant assumptions are: (1) bishops had a commitment to preserve the institution of the Catholic Church and (2) both bishops and priests had a commitment to the permanency of a vocation to the priesthood. These assumptions helped clarify the explanations the bishops gave for the way they and their fellow bishops acted during the early days of the clergy abuse crisis.

Also included are a literature review of the Church as a social institution, interviews with six priest-perpetrators, and explanations of how bishops and priests perceived the priests’ behavior. For example, clergy abuse was seen as a moral failing that called for a moral solution—prayer and penance. Most often the parents of the victims did not want the priest removed from the parish; they just wanted him away the children and adolescents. The bishops’ responses paralleled the way families responded to similar situations at home.

This study concluded that in the late 1960s the bishops ignored a psychological study (Kennedy 1971) commissioned by them, the National Council of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), which found that the priests had deep emotional and developmental problems. The study indicated that priests were 7% developed, 18% developing, 66% underdeveloped, and 8% maldeveloped. Kennedy advised the bishops to address two questions on priorities: Did the Church want to assist their priests to achieve greater personal maturity and effectiveness as priests, or Did the Church want the priests to adjust their expectation to help meet the goals of the institution? It seems that the bishops did not discuss these questions nor did they implement the other suggestions. This study suggests that the NCCB return to the issues raised in the report, especially the two main questions on institutional priorities with which all social institutions must deal.