Sports
Penn State crisis shows sex abuse pervasive in US society, many say
Liz O'Connor
Catholic News Service
Levittown, Pa.
The child sexual abuse crisis at Penn State University brings into focus the
harsh reality that the problem is pervasive in U.S. society, according to experts
in the field and church officials.
Former defensive coach Jerry Sandusky has been charged with sexually assaulting
eight boys over a 15‑year span. Other college officials have been indicted
for a failure to respond appropriately to reports that Sandusky was seen engaging
in sexual behavior with children recruited through his connection with a children's
charity.
The school fired football coach Joe Paterno, who was in his 46th year, and the
university president for not doing enough to act on reports of the alleged abuse.
Linda L. Dunlap, a psychology professor at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.,
said if the 84‑year‑old Paterno had "just been some coach at
some college somewhere," and not a coach with such a stellar reputation,
the Penn State case might have made the local news, but not drawn national attention.
Such abuse of children "is not happening more with coaches than with other
groups," Dunlap said; most abusers are family members.
The news of Penn State's problems "has reopened a wound in the church as
well," New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan said Nov. 14 at a news conference
in Baltimore during the bishops' fall general assembly.
"It shows the scourge (of sex abuse) is not limited to any one faith and
certainly not limited to priests," said the president of the U.S. bishops'
conference. "It's in organizations, in universities, all over the place,
in families and, yes, in priests."
Archbishop Dolan said the church's own sex abuse scandal "makes us a little
timid about wanting to give advice ‑‑ glass houses and all that."
But he said the church's experience with providing safe environment training
to help children and their parents, as well as clergy and church volunteers,
become more aware of the warning signs of child sex abuse has been "phenomenally
advantageous" over the past decade.
"We've got a long way to go, but we have made major strides," he said.
The Penn State situation makes everyone aware that "we're looking at a societal
issue," agreed Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the U.S. Catholic
bishops' Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection.
The church's response ‑‑ in line with the bishops' "Charter
for the Protection of Children and Young People" first adopted in 2002
and revised in 2005 and last June ‑‑ focuses on reporting, putting
the children's needs first and ongoing education, Deacon Nojadera told Catholic
News Service.
"Education has been absolutely key" to giving parents and children
a voice, he said. "Anyone working with a vulnerable population" should
absolutely know about ways to prevent abuse and how to report abuse if they suspect
or witness it. "Our children should know that they are safe and protected."
What the church specifically has to offer, Deacon Nojadera said, is that "we
realized we made mistakes" in the past "and we're learning from those
mistakes."
The church also is aware, he said, that simply acknowledging past mistakes
doesn't mean the need for action is past, or ever will be past.
"Vigilance (remains) paramount, and the call is for everyone to be vigilant
in this matter."
Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Spokane, Wash., immediate past chairman of the bishops'
Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, agreed that the
work of the church, especially the "causes and context" study done
in conjunction with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, has
shown the abuse of children is a problem throughout society.
The situation at Penn State, where college officials to whom the abuse was
reported failed to follow through with investigation and report to law enforcement
even after all the publicity, he said, is "stunning ‑‑ that
they didn't see it (the scandals in the Catholic Church) as a wake‑up
call."
The bishop said a complete, organic safe environment program must be in place,
including background checks, clear guidelines for reporting abuse, and the
education of children and adults about what is and isn't appropriate behavior
with children and young people.
"This work is never over. We have to create a culture where kids come
first," he said.
Al Notzon of San Antonio, chair of the bishops' National Review Board, also
addressed the importance of reporting abuse. "You report it when you see
it, and you report it to law enforcement," he told CNS. It also should
be reported within the organization involved, but must be reported to legal
authorities.
Charol Shakeshaft, professor and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership
at Virginia Commonwealth University, was an early researcher in the area of
sexual abuse of children in public schools.
She said the first thing the Penn State staff should have learned from the
Catholic Church's experience was to "report immediately."
Too often, she said, reports are made within institutions but go nowhere. Despite
any concerns for the reputation of the institution or individuals, she said, "when
you do start to disclose, disclose fully and honestly."
Preventing abuse in the first place is the most important thing, Shakeshaft
said, and being aware that a seemingly kind, good person may be an abuser.
In fact, several experts note that abusers are often seen as the most popular,
generous, congenial people in a group ‑‑ characteristics that give
them access to children.
IM SHAFFER/REUTERS/CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICEPenn State and Nebraska football players and staff join at midfield for a prayer prior to their NCAA football game in State College, Pa., Nov. 12. Many say the Penn State abuse crisis shines the spotlight on just how pervasive the abuse problem is in U.S. society.
According to Shakeshaft, many organizations have a protocol that keeps the
mandated reporting of suspected child abuse within the organization, as happened
at Penn State.
But, she said, "when you see a child being abused, you are witnessing
a crime, and you call the police." Just as with any other crime, "if
you view it, if it's reported to you, you call the police."
She said progress has been made in preventing child abuse, including good training
programs, some of them developed within the Catholic Church; taking the problem
seriously; and wider reporting of offenses. But the Penn State case, she said,
shows us how much further we still have to go.
Any place where there are children, she said, there's likely to be sexual abuse,
because "people who sexually abuse kids go to places where there are children."
As Notzon put it, "healthy adults do not socialize one‑on‑one
with children," and there should be no relationships that involve keeping
secrets from the child's parents or from supervisory personnel.
Other examples of boundary violations mentioned by experts included such things
as a teacher having breakfast alone with a child before school, giving a child
his or her personal cell phone number, driving alone in a car with a child
to a school sports event, or giving a child a valuable gift.
Training must be ongoing, Notzon said, because there are always new children,
coaches, teachers, priests and volunteers coming into the system, and organizations
have to keep monitoring and evaluating their policies.
"Every institution in society" has to look at everything they are
doing with a focus on children, he said. "We've got to protect them."