The Psychological Assessment of Clerics

Alexander Jack,Daniel T Wilcox

doi:10.1007/s11089-017-0784-y

Abstract

The psychological assessment of novice and experienced clerics is an important component of ordination, suitability, and risk evaluation to ensure that representatives of religious organizations are equipped, motivated, and safe for a life commitment to a faith vocation. It is the authors’ opinion that such assessments should be conducted by skilled psychologists with expertise that covers occupational, clinical, and forensic domains. Further, the authors emphasize the importance of an objective and secular assessment to better inform the church about its role and responsibility for the oversight and spiritual development of the cleric. A thorough psychological assessment should incorporate a multimodal approach to information gathering, which includes a comprehensive review of background information and medical records, a personal history interview, a mental status examination, and administration of relevant psychometric measures and assessment tools. We also advise that, upon completion of the assessment, the requesting religious organization should be offered the opportunity to meet with the evaluating psychologist to discuss suitability issues and, if necessary, risk management planning.

Highlights

The sacrifices and commitments involved in dedicating oneself to a life of piety and religious servitude are considerable
A comprehensive psychological assessment is multi-faceted to enable the evaluating psychologist to gain a robust and thorough understanding of the referred individual (Wilcox 2000). To assist in this effort, we recommend an approach that incorporates a review of pertinent background documentation, a series of interviews, the implementation of carefully considered psychometric assessment tools, and, if appropriate, when greater levels of dissimulation seem apparent—as with sexual risk assessment (Wilcox 2009, 2013)—the polygraph may be helpful to augment and enhance the evaluation process
With regard to clergy McGlone et al (2010) highlighted a focus during the interview process that carefully explores several factors pertinent to psychological assessments conducted with priests in the United States; we believe that the mental status evaluation and personal history interview provide a helpful framework for examining these issues and their relevance to various types of clerical assessment

Summary

Introduction

The sacrifices and commitments involved in dedicating oneself to a life of piety and religious servitude are considerable. The evaluating psychologist might be instructed to assess factors relating to the referred cleric’s personal effectiveness and psychological well-being, for example, giving a view as to whether a Catholic novice is suited to fulfilling the requirements of his role.

Results

Conclusion