title: Sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church and other institutions : A literature review.
abstract: Sexual violence against children remains a global public health problem. The health sector has an opportunity and responsibility to be part of the multisector collaboration to prevent and respond to sexual abuse of minors. The following article presents a critical analysis of hitherto published empirical studies that examine the extent and variety of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church and other institutions. The analysis consists of 40 studies concerning the Catholic Church and 13 studies concerning other institutions not belonging to the Catholic Church. We report the characteristics of the offenders and the offenses. Furthermore, the devastating consequences for children abused by members of powerful institutions are discussed. Knowledge on the role of institutions in sexual abuse of minors and psychological distress following these experiences is necessary to point the way to improvements in prevention and intervention strategies. This literature review is part of a larger research project on the sexual abuse of minors in the context of the Catholic Church in Germany (MHG Study) that is conducted by an interdisciplinary team of psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, and sociologists and is funded by the German Bishops' Conference.
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of Mental Health, University Heidelberg, J 5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany. harald.dressing@zi-mannheim.de.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dressing
authors.affiliation: Institute of Criminology, University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dölling
authors.affiliation: Institute of Criminology, University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Criminology, University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Horten
authors.affiliation: Institute of Gerontology, University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kruse
authors.affiliation: Institute of Gerontology, University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.affiliation: University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Britta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bannenberg
authors.affiliation: University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Whittaker
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of Mental Health, University Heidelberg, J 5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Joachim
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Salize
mesh_terms: D002410:Catholicism; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002977:Clergy; D006801:Humans; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012069:Religion and Psychology
keywords: Catholic Church; Child abuse; Sexual abuse; Sexual abuse in institutions