Reporting Child Sexual Abuse within Religious Settings: Challenges and Future Directions

Abstract

The sexual abuse of children within religious settings is an issue that has gained increased popular and professional attention over the past two decades. Various reports have highlighted the scale of such abuse, along with shortcomings in reporting practices. In this article, we outline some contemporary research that sought to understand the psychology that underpins variable reporting practices. In line with this research, we set out two conceptual frameworks that have some potential to help to explain such practices: system justification theory and moral foundations theory. Further, we describe how these frameworks could be adopted in research moving forward in order to make sense of the ways in which members of religious groups respond to allegations of child sexual abuse within their institutions. We close the article by arguing that by gaining a deeper understanding of the psychology underlying reporting practices, it may be possible to communicate more effectively about child sexual abuse within religious institutions, and therefore encourage more widespread reporting of allegations before more children are harmed.‘We outline some contemporary research that sought to understand the psychology that underpins variable reporting practices’Key Practitioner Messages Those most likely to observe or suspect child abuse in religious settings are themselves likely to participate in such settings. The challenge for these ‘onlookers’ is to overcome the psychological dynamics that push against the recognition and reporting of child abuse in religious settings. These dynamics can be understood via established psychological theories and frameworks. Practitioners concerned with improving reporting practice in these contexts can draw on this work to inform training and intervention strategies.