Power Literacy in Abuse Prevention Education: Lessons from the Field in the Catholic Safeguarding Response

Abstract

The phenomenon of sexual abuse by Catholic leaders has led to many responses by clergy, dioceses, and the global Catholic Church. One underexplored aspect of preventing sexual abuse by Catholic leaders is the educational practice of abuse prevention and the moral implications therein. Here we examine best practices for abuse prevention by turning to the interdisciplinary study of intimate partner violence and prevention education as tools for deeper theological exploration of safeguarding initiatives. Using these interdisciplinary insights, we offer theological grounding for power and relationship education in abuse prevention, identifying children’s moral agency, right relationship, a theology of power literacy, and structures of vice as key components in the phenomenon of pervasive abuse. We explain the analysis of safeguarding materials conducted as part of Fordham University’s Taking Responsibility grant initiative, and our concerns regarding the lack of best practices and theological gaps noted in our review—gaps related to social ethics, power, and the structural or communal effects of abuse. We conclude with recommendations for developing future safeguarding training, rooted in a relationship-based, systemic understanding of abuse, used to create our own safeguarding workshop for adolescents.