During the past several years the mass media in the United States
has been awash with reports of priestly pedophilia, ecclesiastical
cover-up, and clerical intimidation or financial settlements
intended to silence victims. Based on journalistic accounts, or
scholarly research, it might be assumed that this is a recent
phenomenon. Journalist reports began only within the past few
years. Similarly, most sociologists of religion and particularly
specialists in deviance and criminology did not reflect awareness
of clerical misbehavior in their work. Despite this, Anson Shupe
shows that clergy deviance, whether it is sexual or otherwise, is
not merely a recent problem. It is as old as the church itself and
is inevitably bound to recur due to the nature of religious groups.
This comprehensive analysis offers the first up-to-date analysis of
sexual, economic, and authoritative clergy malfeasance across
faiths and denominational authority structures. Drawing on examples
taken from antiquity up until the present day, and using reports by
historians, theologians, church spokespersons, therapists, social
scientists, and journalists, Shupe critically evaluates clergy
deviant behavior, dividing it into various types. He also makes use
of the therapeutic literature, addressing victimization at the
level of the individual, church, and community at large. In this
way, he compares the response of the clergy to victims' attempts to
mobilize movements calling for church reform. Perhaps most
controversial, this book considers the possible relationship of
homosexuality in the clergy to the occurrences of scandals in all
religious traditions across the board. As an overview of clergy
misconduct, this book is singular. There is simply no other
comprehensive serious examination of this subject. Written by a
sociologist for a wide range of readers, its multi-disciplinary
nature, vivid examples, and wealth of research, will make the
volume of interest to sociologists of religion and crime,
historians and theologians, as well as a general public.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
