Organizational Deviance and Professional Decision-Making in an Institutional Child Sex Abuse Case

• In Event: Narratives of Sexual Violence Against Children and Organizational Responses

Abstract

Multiple large-scale institutional child sexual abuse cases have recently come to the attention of the criminal justice system, policymakers, and the public. A common narrative surrounding these cases is one of individual responsibility, which solely blames the abuse on a few bad people who perpetrate these offenses and/or cover them up. However, this narrative of individual responsibility fails to take into account the institutional and organizational factors that facilitate the ongoing abuse. This presentation is a case study of a large-scale child sex abuse case that occurred at the hands of a trusted community pediatrician in Delaware. Based on 27 in-depth interviews with professionals involved in the case, this research uses Vaughan’s (1996) theory of Organizational Deviance as a theoretical framework for understanding the institutional contexts in which decisions were made by professionals in the case. Specifically, this research illustrates that the culture and structure of professions influenced professionals’ responses to claims of victimization over time. Recommendations for future implementation will also be discussed.

Author

• M. Kristen Hefner, The Citadel