Soul Murder”
Investigating Spiritual Trauma at the Royal Commission
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12646709 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kathryn Mcphillips (0000-0001-8390-7924, University of Newcastle Australia, corresponding author), Kathleen Mcphillips (School of Humanities and Social Science, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 231-242 |
| Publication date | 2018-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Australian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1444-3058 • E-ISSN: 1835-6419 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14443058.2018.1458329 |
| OpenAlex | W2809478729 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
During its five-year tenure, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse established that faith organisations, with inadequate practices of organisational transparency and accountability, hierarchical structures of power, and patriarchal cultures, have poor track records in child protection and high levels of child abuse. Evidence from the Royal Commission hearings identified spiritual trauma as an outcome of child sexual abuse across several religious organisations including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Salvation Army, the Yeshiva Jewish School in Melbourne and Sydney and the Satyananda Ashram in NSW. The Catholic Church had the highest levels of institutional child sexual assault and was the site of most of the narratives of spiritual suffering. This article examines existing research on spiritual trauma with regard to child sexual abuse, applies a five-point classification model developed by Kenneth Pargament and colleagues for identifying and analysing spiritual damage, and examines the evidence from both survivors and expert witnesses that was heard during relevant public hearings involving the Catholic Church at the Royal Commission. Institutional responses to spiritual injury will be considered and it will be argued that the Catholic Church is a distinctive institution that has produced a powerful culture of spiritual identity and belonging, where the impact of child sexual abuse has resulted in a loss of faith for many survivors, families and communities
Child sexual abuse · Commission · Criminology · Faith · Institution · Poison control · Political science · Royal Commission · Sexual abuse · Sociology · Soul · Suicide prevention · Theology · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Law · Medicine
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |