BishopAccountability.org
	A Tipping Point Healing and Spirituality June 8, 2010 http://www.jaimeromo.com/blog/ Why is there so much Religious Authority Sexual Abuse (RASA)? It's like an epidemic. Malcolm Gladwell, in The Tipping Point, discusses how ideas, products, messages, and behaviors spread like viruses. His discussion helps me to understand, not so much the problem of Religious Authority Sexual Abuse, but a possible solution to end the epidemic of RASA. Gladwell discusses a crime virus in Baltimore in 1992 that was tipped by small and significant changes in the environment. The crime rate from the mid-60s to the mid-90s flat lined at a high rate. In the early 60s, there were 20,000 reported crimes per year. Beginning in 1965, into the early 70s, the numbers spiked to 650,000 crimes per year. In 1992, the crime rate plunged. He suggests that as a virus can spread in geometric proportions, and that its turnaround can also be dramatic. In the crime rate example, the crack cocaine trade decreased a little, the population aged a little, and police actions made some small changes. The turnaround, however, was as dramatic. It was as if the community was infected with anti-crime virus. In this and other examples, he makes the point that little changes can have big effects. These little changes can also come at the margins of the industry and community. We're familiar with biological examples of contagion: AIDS virus. We're familiar with social contagion, like yawning. One person yawns and then another and soon the yawning circle spreads. The story of 'The 100th Monkey' discusses critical mass by illustrating a learned behavior in one monkey (e.g., washing potatoes in the ocean) that spreads to other monkeys and becomes a social behavior that, without direct connection, leaps to become a learned and social behavior on other islands. Many examples about large change run counter to our way of thinking about change because we're an incrementalistic people. We are used to thinking about change in small steps and in a linear progression. That's why the Onion's parody of the pope's (i.e., church's) response to religious authority sexual abuse is funny, "Pope Vows to Get Church Pedophilia Down to Acceptable Levels." The mock story says that the Pope's plan is to reduce clergy sexual abuse to 40% of current levels in five years. I believe that everyone would say that any clergy abuse is unacceptable, and I also see a disconnect with the behavior of religious leaders that seem to be more like the mock news article. For instance, it recently came to public knowledge that the subject of documentary, 'Deliver Us from Evil', Oliver O'Grady is receiving ongoing payments and serving in churches in Europe. A tipping point is the amount of critical mass it takes to see a significant change, like a boiling or freezing point. A few degrees in either direction and we're dealing with a different reality: rain becomes snow or water becomes vapor. In 1984, Sharp introduced fax machines; by 1987, enough people had fax machines that everyone wanted or needed them. The tipping point seemed to be 1 million machines, before everyone was using them. In the early 1990s, cell phones were introduced. By 1998, the tipping point had been reached and now everyone everywhere has cell phones. Gladwell points out an example of how positive role models in a community can be a tipping point for shifting epidemic behaviors. In one community, when the percentage of professional and high status role models dipped below 5%, that drop outs and teen pregnancy doubled. This exemplifies how small changes can lead to major social changes in a community. What would the tipping point be to promote healing and end sexual abuse in religious settings? Would 5% positive role models (e.g., clergy or religiously affiliated people who are known to advocate for transparency and accountability) be enough to end abuse? A recent Baylor study about Clergy Sexual Misconduct (CSM) showed that More than 3% of women who had attended a congregation in the past month reported that they had been the object of CSM at some time in their adult lives. In other words, in a church, temple, or mosque of 400 people, 60% of whom are women, 7 women will have been sexually abused, as adults by a religious leader. Why do some ideas, behaviors, or products start epidemics and others don't? What can we do to start and control positive epidemics of our own—like an epidemic of ending sexual abuse everywhere, beginning with religious authority sexual abuse? Behaviors, beliefs, and ideas are contagious. What about ending sexual abuse, particularly religious authority sexual abuse? Really. Little actions can have a big effect. Does every church, temple, mosque have a functional Response or Safe Team and a meaningful Safe Church Policy? Why not? This could have a big effect, if even 10% of temples, mosques, and churches had functional Response Teams and meaningful Safe Church Policies. Change can be dramatic. Going from soul death to a new life is dramatic. Going from denial of the problem to being part of a healing community is dramatic. Going from protecting image or power to protecting children and vulnerable adults is dramatic. Are you part of the tipping point that will make these happen? Dr. Jaime Romo is the author of "Healing the Sexually Abused Heart: A Workbook for Survivors, Thrivers, and Supporters.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.