Citation

McGrath-Merkle C. J. Relig. Health 2010; 49(1): 73-86.

Affiliation

Department of Theology and Religious Studies (spirituality track), The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA. cmm4@verizon.net

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Academy of Religion and Mental Health, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10943-009-9288-0

PMID

19779974

Abstract

In this article, Erik Erikson's and subsequent researchers' ideas on generativity are applied to "the clerical abuse crisis," in which 111 U.S. Roman Catholic bishops protected priests rather than safeguard children. The goal was to discover what psychological dispositions led bishops to act in the manner they did. A case is made that pre-existing tendencies coupled with an all-male, celibate environment and formation indoctrination led to deficits in psychological development, moral judgment and leadership capacity, revealing an Episcopal subculture characterized by pseudo-speciation and authoritism.

Language: en