An Initial Exploratory Survey of Referrers’ Views on the Quality of Psychological Reports Completed on Clerics for Church Safeguarding Investigations

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper offers an examination of the utility of forensic psychological assessments that were carried out under the instruction of Catholic Church Safeguarding Coordinators (SCs) in England. It is based upon feedback received from SCs using a questionnaire sent in relation to priests evaluated by a private, secular, psychological practice, between January 2019 and December 2021. The results are explored and the authors note a broadly positive response to Likert-scale and narrative response items. The survey also identified perceived problems with the Church’s past reliance upon ‘in-house’ professionals to undertake such assessments.