Given their rhetoric on safeguarding, the
response of religious organisations to abuse by the clergy - sexual, physical
and spiritual - has been inept, thoughtless, mean, and without any sense of
urgency. Sex, Power, Control explores the underlying reasons for the
mishandling of recent abuse cases.
Using psychoanalytical and sociological
insights, and including her own experiences as shown in the BBC documentary
Exposed: The Church's Darkest Secret, Gardner asks why the Churches find
themselves in such a crisis, and how issues of power and control have
contributed to secrecy, deception and heartache.
Drawing on survivor accounts and delving into
the psychology of clergy abusers, she reveals a culture of avoidance and
denial, while an examination of power dynamics highlights institutional
narcissism and a hierarchical structure based on deference, with defensive
assumptions linked to sex, gender and class.
Sex, Power, Control is an invaluable resource for all those in the
church or similar institutions, and for anyone concerned about child abuse.
- ISBN10 0718895622
- ISBN13 9780718895624
- Publish Date 25 February 2021
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Lutterworth Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 211
- Language English