Comments on: Priest and Teacher Sex Scandals in Perspective

By: Dominic

Dominic — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:10:56 +0000

SO LET US JOIN HAND TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD BY HAVING SOUND JUDGEMENT OF OTHERS AND TRY OUR BEST TO LIVE WITH SANITY ON OUR OWN.

By: Dominic

Dominic — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:04:19 +0000

Dear readers and writers,I am not here to compare both professions as many have done but I want reason along with many of you,that, on the case of the priests there are many cases of set-up.People trying to earn money thruogh the wrong route thereby setting the priets up with their famale folk in order to sap cash from the church,s account whereby they are sure that the priest in question never indulge in such stupid act.
However, many others try to spoil the name of the church by broadcasting false allegations of sexual scandal againt the Catholic priests because of the big name “CATHOLIC” in order to pull to the church down.Those people fail to recognise that there is no amount of allegation against the priests that can draw the church back or pull it down.That’s why the church has its own way of reacting to such bad news.
So, I’m suggesting that condemning these people involved will not yield any good fruit but rather we should find a way of helping the defaulters and give them that benefit of the doubt to see if they can change to a better life in the society.thanks.

By: Zouteloos en smakeloos « Kattekliek

Zouteloos en smakeloos « Kattekliek — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:43:08 +0000

[...] leraren, dominees en rabbi’s Uit een Amerikaans onderzoek blijkt dat mannelijke leraren even vaak met kindermisbruik geassocieerd worden als – per [...]

By: Jay P. Greene

Jay P. Greene — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:02:08 +0000

Hi Dom,

I don’t make any claims about which is “worse.” They’re certainly both awful. My claim is simply about how common sexual misconduct is among both groups.

By: Dom tomasso

Dom tomasso — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:11:27 +0000

your comparing apples to oranges. A bad teacher to a bad priest,Is like comparing a crooked Judge to a crooked lawyer. Or bad nurse to a bad surgeon. One is more respected, more trusted. When the most trused of them all lets us down, the loss is felt forever.

By: Jay P. Greene

Jay P. Greene — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:14:15 +0000

There are important differences between typical sexual misconduct by priests and by teachers, but I don’t think it’s the difference in institutional response that Larry suggests. The point of Scott Reeder’s reporting at http://www.thehiddencostsoftenure.com/ is that it is actually shockingly common for teachers accused of misconduct not to be fired. Even if they are removed from the school it is sometimes under a legal settlement in which the school promises to provide a neutral reference if the teacher applies elsewhere for a teaching job. As the Church has been accused, schools also have engaged in “passing the trash,” where those accused of misconduct just move on and abuse children again somewhere else.

One ofhe important differences between abuse by male teachers and priests is that teachers are typically accused of misconduct with high school girls while priests have more often been accused of misconduct with pre-pubsescent boys. They are both very wrong, but we think about them differently.

While there are significant differences between teacher and priest misconduct, what’s amazing is that the rate of misconduct appears to be in the same league. Given the disparity in attention, that’s surprising.

By: Larry Bernstein

Larry Bernstein — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:09:00 +0000

I think the real issue is how does an institution deal with sexual misconduct. I assume that public schools terminate teachers that commit sexual abuse, and teachers with a sexual misconduct in their record will have trouble finding work in neighboring school districts.

One clearly upsetting aspect of priest sexual misconduct is that the Church did not terminate employment with the perpetrators, and the priests who committed the indiscretions were able to find other suitable employment within the Church that allowed for additional sexual crimes.

Sexual deviancy is part of the human condition. How institutions deal with the sexual misconduct and how institutions try to minimize inappropriate behavior is the point.

By: Greg Forster

Greg Forster — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:31:57 +0000

Another place to look on the issue of staff misconduct in public schools is, ahem, the study I conducted last year, which found that staff misconduct (including sexual misconduct) was more frequently reported in public schools than it was in private schools:

http://www.friedmanfoundation.org/friedman/research/ShowResearchItem.do?id=10080

That’s OK, Jay, I’m sure you’ll remember to plug me next time.

By: Corey

Corey — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:24:40 +0000

Seems like it would be more useful to figure out how to prevent abuse than to calculate which profession is more evil.

Besides, since we have no idea what percentage of abuses are reported in either field I’m unconvinced that a comparison has much utility.