Abuse in religious settings: organisational cultures, public policy and survivors' experiences
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Kent
Department Name: Religious Studies
Abstract
This project will be the first of its kind anywhere in the world to undertake a major inter-disciplinary study of institutional, policy, professional and individual issues in relation to abuse across a wide range of religious traditions. It will also break new ground in paying sustained attention to both distinctive aspects of the experience and effects of abuse in this context - as well as processes of repair, restitution and recovery - using survivor experiences as the basis of its investigation.
Structured around seven inter-related pieces of research, the project will constitute a step-change for research in this field by bringing together an experienced multi-disciplinary research team with extensive contacts with survivors of abuse. The core project team will include senior researchers in the study of religion, specialists in psychological, legal and policy issues on abuse in religious organisations, and others with substantial experience of working with survivors of abuse across a range of religious traditions. In addition to generating new knowledge, disseminated through a range of traditional academic outputs, the project will also produce a wide range of other resources for individual survivors and for groups working with them, policy-makers, safeguarding professionals, faith communities and those involved in the education and training of religious leaders. The project will lead to the production of a landmark edited volume on religion and abuse that will become a key point of reference in this field, as well as other edited and authored books and articles, reports, films and podcasts, and training materials for leaders and safeguarding staff in statutory and religious organisations. In bringing together a range of individuals with expertise in this field in the UK and internationally, the project will also consolidate national and international networks which will continue to undertake research and engagement activities beyond the life of this project.
The project will build on the substantial body of material on abuse in religious contexts generated through the work of major national inquiries such as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). Whilst there is no conclusive evidence of abuse being any more prevalent in religious organisations than wider society, these inquiries have drawn on substantial submissions from religious organisations, survivors and other stakeholders, and on unprecedented access to records of religious organisations, to argue that factors specific to religious organisations contribute to conditions in which abuse has taken place and poor institutional responses to abuse are made. With a number of our project team already having been involved in the work of national abuse inquiries and other relevant bodies, this project will build on this analysis to establish in greater depth how the cultures and structures of religious organisations inter-sect with abuse, how public policy and safeguarding practice can best respond to abuse in these settings and what aspects of survivors' experience are particular to these religious contexts. The project's contribution to this field will also result from its more substantial engagement with theoretical approaches and substantive knowledge from the study of religion which will bring new perspectives to the existing, primarily social-scientific, literature in this field at present.
Structured around seven inter-related pieces of research, the project will constitute a step-change for research in this field by bringing together an experienced multi-disciplinary research team with extensive contacts with survivors of abuse. The core project team will include senior researchers in the study of religion, specialists in psychological, legal and policy issues on abuse in religious organisations, and others with substantial experience of working with survivors of abuse across a range of religious traditions. In addition to generating new knowledge, disseminated through a range of traditional academic outputs, the project will also produce a wide range of other resources for individual survivors and for groups working with them, policy-makers, safeguarding professionals, faith communities and those involved in the education and training of religious leaders. The project will lead to the production of a landmark edited volume on religion and abuse that will become a key point of reference in this field, as well as other edited and authored books and articles, reports, films and podcasts, and training materials for leaders and safeguarding staff in statutory and religious organisations. In bringing together a range of individuals with expertise in this field in the UK and internationally, the project will also consolidate national and international networks which will continue to undertake research and engagement activities beyond the life of this project.
The project will build on the substantial body of material on abuse in religious contexts generated through the work of major national inquiries such as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). Whilst there is no conclusive evidence of abuse being any more prevalent in religious organisations than wider society, these inquiries have drawn on substantial submissions from religious organisations, survivors and other stakeholders, and on unprecedented access to records of religious organisations, to argue that factors specific to religious organisations contribute to conditions in which abuse has taken place and poor institutional responses to abuse are made. With a number of our project team already having been involved in the work of national abuse inquiries and other relevant bodies, this project will build on this analysis to establish in greater depth how the cultures and structures of religious organisations inter-sect with abuse, how public policy and safeguarding practice can best respond to abuse in these settings and what aspects of survivors' experience are particular to these religious contexts. The project's contribution to this field will also result from its more substantial engagement with theoretical approaches and substantive knowledge from the study of religion which will bring new perspectives to the existing, primarily social-scientific, literature in this field at present.