Does it really make a difference?
By Sharon Womack Doty, J.D., M.H.R.
Consultant to the VIRTUS® Programs
Have you ever wondered whether all this activity by the bishops is making any difference for children and young people? Are we doing a better job of creating safe environments? How about our opinion of the Church and the bishops, has implementing the program impacted those? What do people think about this effort?i
The Protecting God’s Children® program was created to raise awareness and shift attitudes among adults in the faith community about the issue of child sexual abuse in society. After the crisis erupted, the program became a major part of the Church’s response for over 100 dioceses and eparchies in the United States.
Several VIRTUS® articles over the past couple of years have demonstrated that participants in the programs are becoming more conscientious about people and situations that pose risks to children and young people. Virtually everyone who attends the session agrees that the information provided is insightful and provides a new perspective on this important issue. However, when this issue first hit the news, Catholics everywhere were angered, stunned, and hurt that this could happen in our community to our children and be committed by our trusted clergy and the program was not designed to deal with that situation.
People in the pews were convinced that this was a “priest problem” and many did not understand why the Church was now mandating that everyone who had any kind of regular contact with children attend training and learn how to prevent child sexual abuse. Among the questions I was asked at early sessions was one that pointed to the frustration Catholics in the pews felt at the way the Church dealt with the issue in the past. After about two and a half hours of the presentation to a group of about 350 people, a woman stood and asked me if, in my travels around the country, I had noticed a conspiracy among the bishops to keep this situation under wraps.
In reply, I said, that society has conspired to keep child sexual abuse under wraps and that through the creation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young Peopleii (Charter) the bishops of the United States took unprecedented action to meet the issue head on. Since that time, every diocese in the country has invested valuable resources into the fight to create safe environments and stop child sexual abuse.
Time will tell whether these efforts have made a significant impact on our commitment to keep children and young people safe. The bishops have promised to honor the commitment of the Charter for at least five more years. The commitment of human and financial resources to this issue over the past 6 years is unprecedented. As this kind of effort to deal with the problem of child sexual abuse has never before been implemented anywhere in the world, the effectiveness of the program will take time to discern.
However, we can begin to answer the question about how the VIRTUS program has impacted participants’ perception of the Church’s response to the issue. James Goodness, Director of Communication for the Archdiocese of Newark recently completed a research project to determine the impact of the Protecting God’s Children program on the attitude of Catholics toward the issue of child sexual abuse, and, in particular, the Church’s response to the problem and handling of the issue. The study was well-done and comprehensive. In fact, in order to deal with the possibility that the attitude of some could be impacted simply by the passing of time, he conducted two studies one year apart using the same questionnaire each time.
The research showed that the program had a significant impact on the attitudes of Catholics in the pews about the issue, the Church, Church leadership, and the response to the crisis. According to the results of this study, the Protecting God’s Children program changed participant’s attitudes toward the Church in some key areas.
The premise of the Protecting God’s Children program is that children are molested in our society and some of the perpetrators are clergy. The study indicates that participants got that message from the presentation. They left understanding that what they thought was a “priest problem” was a much larger issue and a greater risk to all children than they previously thought.
In addition, the information was useable—not just for Church facilities and activities, but everywhere that children gather. The message of the program also convinced participants that background checks and training are a necessary part of an overall strategy to provide a safe environment.
In addition, the findings indicated that the Protecting God’s Children program training is valid as a communication tool for the Church. Also, the credibility and value of the program and the fact that it is sponsored by the diocese apparently enhances the Church’s credibility with participants. As a result, in addition to raising awareness about the issue of child sexual abuse, participants are more attentive to what the Church says regarding abuse situations and more accepting of the Church’s responses and statements as credible.
The value and quality of this program seems to have impacted people’s perception of how the Church is doing in response to the issue. Perhaps future studies will be able to tell us whether children are actually safer because of this program. Ultimately, that is the question we all want to be able to answer with a resounding “YES.”
i In response to a March 26, 2007 VIRTUS® Online survey question, almost 56% of the respondents said that the safe environment initiatives of the Church are having an impact on all of society.
ii United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Meeting, June 2002, Dallas, Texas.
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