Collective Healing: A Restorative Justice-based Response to Sexual Abuse

• In Event: Institutional Offending and Victimization

Abstract

Sexual abuse in institutional settings, such as faith communities, is a serious and underestimated problem. The Catholic Church has commissioned extensive studies on sexual abuse of minors within its organization. The findings regarding the nature and scope and causes and context of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse have been invaluable in developing policies and practices to protect children in the aftermath of the scandal. However, little research has been conducted on restorative work focusing on survivors. This presentation will examine restorative events occurring in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia and discuss the application of restorative justice to child sexual abuse.

Author

• Delene Bromirski, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center