PSYCHOLOGICAL-ASPECTS OF SEXUAL FUNCTIONING AMONG CLERIC AND NONCLERIC ALLEGED SEX OFFENDERS

Cleric sexual misconduct with miners is a problem receiving increased attention from the media, victims groups, and church authorities. Ment al health professionals are increasingly being asked to assist church and civil authorities to help better understand the problem of cleric sexual misconduct with miners. In the current study we compared self-r eported sexual functioning among cleric alleged child molesters, noncl eric alleged child molesters, and normal control subjects. We hypothes ized clerics would differ from nonclerics and normals in reported sexu al functioning. Our sample included 30 Roman Catholic clerics and 39 n onclerics who were alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct with m iners, and 38 normal control subjects, all of whom took the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI) as part of their forensic psychiat ric evaluation. Our results indicated clerics were more likely to repo rt fewer victims, older victims, and victims of male gender than noncl eric alleged child molesters. Clerics differed from nonclerics and nor mal control subjects on several dimensions of self-reported sexual fun ctioning. Lower offense rate histories among clerics suggest that as a group, clerics may be less seriously psychologically disordered than noncleric child molesters. Low DSFI scores among Roman Catholic cleric s may be accounted for in part by their unique training and socializat ion process. Future studies should attempt to study the influence of s ocial desirability on DSFI scores. Normative data from nonoffending ce libate clergy are needed.