- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press; New edition edition (April 15 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0195145976
- ISBN-13: 978-0195145977
- Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 16.1 x 1.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 354 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #404,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Since 1982, 400 Catholic clergy (out of a total of 50,000 American priests) have been accused of sexual misconduct with minors. In this in-depth study, Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University, examines the circumstances surrounding the molestation charges that peaked in the early 1990s. He looks at such prominent cases as those of Father Bruce Ritter, founder of Covenant House, who was forced to resign in disgrace in 1990; and the notorious Rev. James Porter, who may have molested more than 100 children before he was convicted and sentenced to prison. Jenkins probes scandals in other religions; looks at the traditional "anti-Catholic" feelings in the U.S.; documents the media's frenzied reactions to the charges; chronicles the feminist response to the allegations; and researches the financial drain on the Church caused by litigation (estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars) as well as the debate surrounding recovered memory and repressed memory. Jenkins (Intimate Enemies) has written a thorough, academic study that convincingly challenges the popular estimate of the extent of pedophiles in the Church.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
"A thorough, academic study that convincingly challenges the popular estimate of the extent of pedophiles in the Church."--Publishers Weekly
"Philip Jenkins...brings to the issue of clergy abuse an experienced eye. Pedophiles and Priests is a fine cautionary tale that should give all parties to the pedophile-priest crisis something to think about."--The New York Times Book Review
"For those who have been offended by the media coverage of the 'epidemic' of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, here at last is somewhere to turn for the facts."--National Review
"While he may overestimate the long-term consequences of the malfeasance he examines, Philip Jenkins' admirable study is without doubt the best account we have of clerical sexual scandal and the way it has been exploited by contending forces within contemporary religion and the media. The book is a model of scholarly and judicious treatment of a subject much sensationalized and therefore much misunderstood."--The Reverend Richard John Neuhaus, editor in chief of First Things
"Philip Jenkins...brings to the issue of clergy abuse an experienced eye. Pedophiles and Priests is a fine cautionary tale that should give all parties to the pedophile-priest crisis something to think about."--The New York Times Book Review
"For those who have been offended by the media coverage of the 'epidemic' of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, here at last is somewhere to turn for the facts."--National Review
"While he may overestimate the long-term consequences of the malfeasance he examines, Philip Jenkins' admirable study is without doubt the best account we have of clerical sexual scandal and the way it has been exploited by contending forces within contemporary religion and the media. The book is a model of scholarly and judicious treatment of a subject much sensationalized and therefore much misunderstood."--The Reverend Richard John Neuhaus, editor in chief of First Things
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
In 1985, Filbert Gauthe, a Roman Catholic priest from rural Louisiana, was tried on multiple counts of child molestation. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In 1985, Filbert Gauthe, a Roman Catholic priest from rural Louisiana, was tried on multiple counts of child molestation. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid Social Science,
This review is from: Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis (Paperback)
Professor Jenkins contributes immeasurably to the current discussion of clergy sexual abuse by doing what every social scientist should. Jenkins steadfastly refuses to add to the volume of this shrill and partisan debate by offering conjectures or personal opinions. Instead, he calmly presents the data in a detached manner, and then draws his conclusions based solely on the data.Anyone with an interest in the current crisis would benefit from reading Professor Jenkins' sane, calm, and lucid analysis.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book on this Crisis,
By A Customer
This review is from: Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis (Paperback)
This is a non-Catholic scholar who makes the case that there is an objective anti-Catholic agenda at work behind the expolitation of the relatively few cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Pedophilia is a sociatal problem and about 3% of the members of organisations (Scout, community and other key groups in society) are pedophiles. In the Catholic church the percentage is .02% of priests. In the current crisis there are about 200 cases in the current scandle (some going back 30 years), however the Christian Monitor reported that EVERY YEAR in the Protestant churches there are about 2000 cases of sexual scandle! Why don't we hear about this in the media? Read this book and find out. . . The media is losing its creditability in America. Its prejudice against the Catholic Church is at best unprofessional and at worse evil. This book offers the balanced, thoughtful and unbiased evidence of the prejudice. You will be shocked and given new eyes with which to see the truth behind the endless waves of media trash.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Objective, balanced and fascinating,
By A Customer
This review is from: Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis (Paperback)
Philip Jenkins has written a first-rate book, not just about the "moral panic" over "pedophile priests", but about our tendency as a society to seek simplistic answers for complex social problems. Jenkins argues persuasively, on the basis of extensive evidence, that the portrayal of the Catholic Church as a haven for pedophiles is just the latest version of the anti-Catholic stereotype which dates back at least as far as the Reformation. The scapegoating of the Catholic Church is also facilitated, as Jenkins points out, by the bureaucratic tradition of the Curia: keeping centralized records of abuse allegations makes a Catholic diocese an easy target for litigation, in a way which a dispersed Protestant denomination can never be.Highly recommended. Very clear, accessible, and thoroughly researched.
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