Interpersonal violence and abuse in religious contexts — how one Anglican diocese is responding - ABC Religion & Ethics

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In Australia supporting child safety and addressing child abuse, ending violence against women and children, and ending domestic and family violence are all efforts supported by national plans and strategies. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence both identified religious institutions as playing a key role in prevention and as places to increase response capacity to interpersonal violence and abuse.
Research into religious contexts and interpersonal violence and abuse has highlighted how religion and faith communities may be a source of hope and support for victims/survivors experiencing and recovering from such abuse. But there is also evidence that religious norms and concepts may be used by a perpetrator to support their violence — and furthermore, that religious leaders often feel unprepared or do not understand safety implications embedded in different forms of interpersonal violence and abuse.
In recent years many religious communities have resourced activities and research to help respond to interpersonal violence and abuse. There are also examples of inter-faith collaborations and capacity building to address it. The critical questions are: Do such capacity building activities work to create 'better' responses to interpersonal violence and abuse? And are church leaders feeling more prepared to respond to interpersonal violence and abuse?
Answering these questions often requires research to be conducted over an extended period of time (for instance, a longitudinal design) to determine if there are changes within individuals or groups by observing a variable (such as attitudes or behaviour). Longitudinal opportunities often do not present themselves because of time, complexity and shifting social and policy contexts. The Anglican Diocese of Adelaide provided such an opportunity for important learnings to emerge from a study into responses of church leaders to interpersonal violence and abuse over time.
The Anglican Diocese of Adelaide instigated research following a request by the diocese's Survivor Advocacy Group, to support improving response practices to child abuse, adult sexual assault and domestic violence. The study methods included a survey to ascertain changes over time regarding clergy and church worker experiences and education, and to find out how a selection of results compared to a study previously conducted for the diocese 20 years earlier.
Comparing survey results
We presented findings from the survey with a total of 84 people, 29 per cent (24) were clergy and 71 per cent (60) were church workers. This represents 15 per cent of the total clergy and 5 per cent of the total church workers in the diocese. 33 per cent of the survey respondents were aged 49 years or under; 38 per cent were between 50 and 69 years; and 29 per cent were 70 years or over. 56 per cent identified as female, 43 per cent as male and 1 per cent as using a different term. Clergy respondents had worked an average of 19 years with the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide, and church workers an average of 14 years.
We report the following changes:
75 per cent of clergy received information about or formed a suspicion of the abuse of children compared to 25 per cent of church workers — which is an increase from 49 per cent of clergy 20 years earlier. This indicates a substantial increase in reporting following receiving information about or forming a suspicion of child abuse and reporting immediately.
75 per cent of clergy received information about or formed a suspicion of the abuse of children compared to 25 per cent of church workers — which is an increase from 49 per cent of clergy 20 years earlier. This indicates a substantial increase in reporting following receiving information about or forming a suspicion of child abuse and reporting immediately. There was overall aggregated agreement in confidence in recognising signs of child abuse and responding to disclosures, supporting the safety needs of victim/survivors and feeling supported by the diocese in responding to child abuse.
There was overall aggregated agreement in confidence in recognising signs of child abuse and responding to disclosures, supporting the safety needs of victim/survivors and feeling supported by the diocese in responding to child abuse. There was overall aggregated agreement in confidence expressed by respondents in responding to perpetrators of child abuse, and that the church holds perpetrators to account.
There was overall aggregated agreement in confidence expressed by respondents in responding to perpetrators of child abuse, and that the church holds perpetrators to account. As a percentage more clergy (42 per cent) than church workers (9 per cent) have responded to adult sexual abuse — an increase from 35 per cent of clergy 20 years earlier.
As a percentage more clergy (42 per cent) than church workers (9 per cent) have responded to adult sexual abuse — an increase from 35 per cent of clergy 20 years earlier. 20 per cent of the total survey respondents have not completed any training about how to respond to disclosures of adult sexual assault, and levels of confidence in responding varied — including 84 per cent of clergy indicating they felt confident, compared to 67 per cent of church workers.
The 2005 study did not ask about domestic violence, however the current study did find the following:
More clergy (63 per cent) than church workers (37 per cent) have responded to disclosures of domestic violence.
More clergy (63 per cent) than church workers (37 per cent) have responded to disclosures of domestic violence. 19 per cent of the survey respondents reported that they have not received any training about responding to domestic violence, and overall church workers have received less education and training than clergy.
19 per cent of the survey respondents reported that they have not received any training about responding to domestic violence, and overall church workers have received less education and training than clergy. Levels of confidence in responding varied — including 78 per cent of clergy indicating they felt confident, compared to 65 per cent of church workers.
Over the last twenty years, the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide has invested in policies and training requirements with respect to child abuse — including the Safe Ministry screening process, training for clergy and volunteers every three years, legislated mandatory reporting, and mandatory licensing for clergy and employed church workers to undertake professional supervision. They also operate with a Professional Standards Committee that receives information and complaints about all church workers.
Evaluating survey findings
So, to answer the questions posed we posed earlier — do capacity building activities enable better responses, and are church leaders feeling more prepared to respond to interpersonal violence — there are some promising findings to indicate yes . The opportunity to compare our survey results to those reported by 20 years ago found that clergy in the Adelaide Diocese have increased their reporting of child abuse, and both clergy and church workers describe finding the diocesan training requirements useful in supporting their response and reporting practices.
There is thus an indication that culture change has occurred with respect to taking action to stop child abuse, compared to the findings presented in 2005.
On the other hand, the survey results demonstrate that a significant number of clergy and church workers have not received any training in responding to adult sexual assault or domestic violence, and that church workers have received less training than clergy in responding to these types of interpersonal violence. Interestingly, the confidence with respect to their capacity to understand and respond to adult sexual assault and domestic and family violence was lower than their capacity to understand and respond to child abuse.
To look at investment overtime into training and education activities and levels of confidence, by a religious community, shows evidence that efforts to support safety and promote understanding of interpersonal violence and abuse does make a difference when it comes to responding to child abuse. Furthermore, investment in education and training can be strengthened to support clergy and church workers to identify, respond and refer with respect to adult sexual assault and domestic violence.
Strategic directions and investments continue to support the work of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide, and our study goes some way to show that they represent important examples of early intervention and safe responses for different forms of interpersonal violence and abuse that are making a difference. Such investments are important to grow healing in religious contexts, not harm.
The request for the research by the diocese's Survivor Advocacy Group also illustrates the work underway within a religious institution to listen and respond to internal advocacy efforts to increase its capacity to recognise and understand the risks of interpersonal violence and abuse, and to safely respond. The diocese has outlined its commitments in its response to the research report's recommendations, illustrating the work of the diocese is ongoing, in the effort to increase its capacity and make necessary changes that will support interpersonal and community safety.
If you need to get in touch with a domestic violence support service, you can contact the 1800 RESPECT national helpline: 1800 737 732.
Sarah Wendt is Professor of Social Work in the ARC Centre for Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women at the University of Melbourne.
Josephine Clarke is a Research Fellow in the Department of Social Work and with the ARC Centre for Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women at the University of Melbourne.