Survey of Survivor Wants and Needs -- Preliminary Results

All priests and members of religious orders should sign each reply (to this survey) submitted, and included their own estimate of how much money they personally intend to pay for the damages to victims and when.  Responses will then be initialed by their immediate supervisors, collated and tabulated by their superiors, audited by victim owned accounting firms, results published in all the places named in Question 8b, which would be mandatorily subscribed to by every church, and placed daily on the dining table in every residence inhabited by priests and members of religious orders.  The independent auditor would also be hired by priests and members of religious orders to conduct an evaluation of effectiveness for the aforementioned process with continual review and change, in perpetuity.

--Anonymous survivor of clergy abuse

I really appreciate this survivor’s support.  I quite agree with him, but I can’t even remotely attempt to do this without much more support from many more people.  Please help for the sake of this survivor and many other survivors.  Both survivors and their family members or loved ones can fill out this survey -- please, only one response per survivor.

You can take the survey of survivor wants and needs here:  Survey of Survivor Wants and Needs for Healing

Origin of the Survey

I started working on this survey on what clergy abuse survivors want and need for healing in the Fall of 2006, after contacting Olan Horne.  Olan is a Massachusetts resident who was abused by the very prolific abuser, Fr. Joseph Birmingham.  He worked with other survivors abused by Fr. Birmingham to organize meetings between survivors and both Cardinal Law and Cardinal O’Malley.  He later met with Pope Benedict XVI.  Olan also participated in an advisory group for the US Conference of Bishops on a survey of survivors and their experiences with the Catholic Church.  Olan advised me to conduct a survey of what survivors wanted and needed for healing.  It seemed obvious to me that he was correct.  I wrote down a list of things survivors had suggested to me from Olan, Ray Higgins (father of a survivor and founder of the Therapy Trust for Victims of Clergy Sex Abuse) of Santa Barbara, California, and Elizabeth Goeke, then the SNAP support group facilitator here in Portland, Oregon, as well as ideas I had seen in numerous newspaper articles.  Some ideas included in the survey were inspired by the work of Aaron Lazare MD, former Dean of the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine.  Dr. Lazare studied apology for more than 20 years and is an expert on the healing power of effective apology.  I presented my ideas to three different Victims’ Assistance Coordinators who worked for the Catholic Church, but they were not interested in my in put.  So I sought advice on the construction of the survey from an instructor and researcher in the School of Social Work at Portland State University.  She advised me on the construction of the survey. 

Obstacles to Disseminating the Survey.

To disseminate the survey, I first attempted to contact the leadership of the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests.  They never returned my e-mails so I have no idea why they chose not to participate.  Please note that no one taking the survey criticized SNAP in any way, and 53% of respondents felt that SNAP support groups had helped them heal from the wounds of clergy abuse.

In the summer of 2007, I contacted several lawyers in Oregon who had represented survivors of clergy abuse and asked them to distribute the survey to their survivors.  However, I never received back any copies of the survey that I sent to various lawyers and have no idea whether or not any of the attorney I contacted ever made any attempts to disseminate the survey to their survivors.

Without any help from any of the major possible sources of help, I just let the survey lie dormant for a year.  Then, when we walked across Oregon to raise awareness about abuse for the first time in 2008, I paid a computer programmer $500 to post the survey on my website.  Unfortunately he did not manage to complete the project until after the Walk was completed so I was unable to take advantage of the media attention the Walk generated.  After the Walk ended, I e-mailed a link to the online survey to the survivors I worked with, but only three responded.  The survey is rather long, and I suspect some survivors or their family members found it difficult to find time to fill it out -- specifically because they kept promising to fill it out and did not do so.

In the fall of 2008, I contacted some of my media contacts from the Walk Across Oregon to see if they were interested but was informed they would be interested after I had significant results and not before hand.

The lack of support I received was very discouraging.  However, periodically, someone would find their way to my website and peruse it and fill out a survey.  Some people find survey time consuming to fill out but for others the survey appears to have given voice to some survivors who needed it.  Infact, over the years, a few non-clergy abuse survivors filled out the survey or asked to fill out a similar survey for non-clergy abuse survivors.

From the fall of 2008 to the spring of 2010, I waited, doing nothing to disseminate the survey, until after I started a blog.  I wrote a blog to advertise the survey, but then the news broke that the pope appeared to have known about the abuse of children when he was a bishop and failed to do anything about it, my writing turned to that issue and by the time media interest had died down, I had to pay full attention to the Walk Across Oregon 2010 and to my 501 (c) 3 application.  In the fall of 2010 I had to revamp my website to make it more user friendly, and then I fell and broke my elbow and all my efforts to work on the issue of abuse went on life support.

Once again, I have to revamp my website as I have used Apple’s Mobile Me to host my main website since the Fall of 2009.  Apple is discontinuing Mobile Me.  I want to build a new website that can do more than my current .org website so I have to dismantle the old website.  The survey is now rather old as it refers to the Healing Alliance, which has been defunct for some years, but the core ideas remain valid -- namely survivors are more likely to heal, the more they have in put and control over the healing process.  Somebody should ask survivors what they want and need for healing, so I will.

Below are the preliminary results from the rather small number of responses received from the survey along with the comments (in blue) survivors sent to me along with a few of my own comments (in red).

From the date of the publication of this blog, January 11, 2012, the survey will remain on the website for one month.  Then I will remove it.  I will publish final results in the fall of 2012 after the Walk Across Oregon 2012 is over.

I may conduct surveys in the future using Survey Monkey or some other resource, but construction of surveys, their dissemination and their analysis is time consuming.  I welcome help from interested people.  So if you like this survey, please contact me, Virginia Jones, at compassion500@gmail.com, to offer your help.    Both survivors and their family members or loved ones can fill out this survey -- please, only one response per survivor.

The full survey is available here if you wish to express your opinion:  Survey of Survivor Wants and Needs for Healing

 At the end of the survey I include a few comments about the scientific validity of the survey.

An Independent Assistance Fund can be established with money donated from the church, parishioners, community members who care about survivors, and from survivors themselves. The fund would be independent of the Catholic Church and would be operated by a board consisting of survivors, family members of survivors, and social workers who are not employed by the Catholic Church. This board would meet once a month, take requests for grants of money, discuss the requests, and give out money to survivors for various needs such as help paying past due rent and utility bills, mortgage foreclosure, college tuition, medical bills, therapy, drug and alcohol treatment, or even help paying for summer camp for a survivor’s children. The amount of money given out each time would total a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

82% of respondents were willing to use such a fund; 

18% were not.  One of these people is a clinical counselor who does not believe it is helpful to give people money.

45% were willing to help set up such a fund or serve on the board of directors.

Survivor comment: I think something life the Farm (former Healing Alliance retreat center) a healing place away from the Church would be useful.  Skills could be taught and new projects could be funded through staff/board.

One model for helping survivors of trauma heal is mentoring by another survivor further along in the process of healing. Mentors typically validate feelings and experiences and offer their own experiences with coping strategies, therapy, etc.

64% were willing to mentor other survivors

64% were willing to be mentored by another survivor

82% wanted more information.

Some survivors are able to maintain a relationship with the Catholic Church. Others are uncomfortable working with church employees. In some places survivors are able to go to other survivors for assistance in dealing with church employees, such as a Victim Assistance Coordinator.

73%  wanted assistance going to a coordinator

36% would be willing to assist others in contacting the coordinator

Retreats

82% were willing to participate in a retreat

9% was not willing

73% wanted trained survivors leading retreat

64% wanted experienced therapist leading retreat

36% wanted a non-Catholic organization leading retreat.

Sharing story in church

45% wanted to share without anonymity

27% would share if they could be anonymous

18% did not want to share their stories under any circumstances

9% said maybe 

My comment: The co-founder of Compassionate Gathering, Elizabeth Goeke was one of the people who was dubious that she’d find the experience of being listened to by other Catholic healing.  However, she found the experience very uplifting when she participated in it.  She had been so wounded by her experiences with other Catholics she was dubious if it could work.  When we trained Catholics to listen with compassion, she found the experience very uplifting and supported further efforts to listen to other survivors.

Ways people were willing to share their stories with others:

Photographic Display 45%

Booklet of stories: 55%

Small group of parishioners: 55%

Larger mixed group of survivors and other Catholics: 55%

Large group of priests (as in Philadelphia) 27%

Small group of priests with other survivors 45%

At a penance Mass ( Boston) 27%

Survivor comment:  All depends upon the openness of the priests participating.  What is the agenda?

Public apology from bishop or head of religious order: 45%

Personal apology from bishop or head of religious order: 27%

Public apology from abuser: 27%

Personal apology from abuser:  45%

What did survivors want to see in an apology:  These ideas are based on book and articles by Dr. Aaron Lazare.

55% want statements of responsibility which make clear who are the offenders and who are the offended.

36% Want statements acknowledging the clear failure of the leadership of the Catholic Church.

55% Want clear statements acknowledging the suffering of survivors.

73% Want statements that survivors are not responsible for abuses.

64% want assurance that the abuse and the cover- up of abuse won’t happen again.

36% want assurance of punishment for those perpetrated abuse.

45% wanted opportunities for survivors to grieve in a compassionate setting

36% wanted personal apologies from abusers

27% wanted a personal apology from Bishop of head or religious order

1 person added that they wanted apologies from family and friends to failed to support and believe them.

Survivor comment: Please be aware that an official apology from the Archdiocese of Portland was offered several years ago.  I know in my parish the apology was offered from the lectern and at a church service where victims came forward anonymously (sic) and told their story (briefly) to a priest.  This was very helpful, however it was a one time shot.  .......As I stated above, the “apology” was done several years ago and there have been Eucharistic Services dealing with this issue in a very non-confrontational manner.  I believe more could be done however.

Advertising of resources for survivors

100% wanted the church to actively advertise resources for survivors

63% in church bulletins

45% in church newspapers

63% in major local dailies papers

63% in alternative papers

63% wanted television stories

55% wanted pubic service radio announcements

55% wanted radio news stories

63% wanted resources actively advertised on Archdiocesan websites.

How helpful were various resources?

Justice and compensation from lawsuits against the Church

Very unhelpful 1 person -- this person was not able to sue the church

somewhat unhelpful 1 person -- this person sued in a landmark case.  He hoped for healing and found himself not feeling very healed when the lawsuit was done.  However, he felt it was extremely helpful and important for survivors to be able to sue the Church.

A little helpful 9%

somewhat helpful 18%

Very helpful 45%

The Church releases some personnel files of selected abusers 

1person found this unhelpful -- this person felt that the Church should release complete files for all abusers.

18 percent -- somewhat unhelpful

9 Percent -- a little unhelpful

9 percent somewhat helpful

27% -- very helpful

Church releases all personnel files of all abusers

18% somewhat helpful

45% Very helpful

Church names abusers in newspapers, websites and television news

9% -- very unhelpful

18% -- very unhelpful

18% -- somewhat helpful

45% --very helpful

Church writes letters to former parishioners of abusive priests asking if they or their family members were abused by that same priest

9% -- very unhelpful

9% -- somewhat unhelpful

18% -- somewhat helpful

27% -- very helpful

My comment: Please note this has happened.  The Santa Barbara Franciscans did this in 1993 and quite a number of survivors came forward.  This was also done by in New Jersey in the case of Fr. James Hanley.  There may be other cases I don’t know about.

Church leaders publicly apologize for failing to take action on reports of abuse

18% -- very unhelpful

9% -- a little helpful

9% -- somewhat helpful

27% -- very helpful

27% -- did not respond

Church lobbies politicians for more time to come forward to charge abusers with crimes (extension of statute of limitations for criminal prosecution) 

9% -- very unhelpful

9% - somewhat helpful

63% -- very helpful

19% -- did not respond

Church lobbies politicians for more time for survivors to come forward in order to file civil lawsuits

9% -- somewhat helpful

63% -- very helpful

Survivors sharing their stories with other Catholics in a safe environment:

18% -- very unhelpful

9% -- a little unhelpful

9% -- a little helpful

9% -- somewhat helpful

36% -- very helpful

18% -- did not respond

My Comment: Please note, most of the people who responded to this have never shared their stories with other Catholics in a safe environment.  This is one of the activities Compassionate Gathering does for healing the wounds of clergy abuse.  One person, Elizabeth Goeke, the first survivor to take this survey, responded to this question with ambivalence.  Then she shared her story with the group of parishioners from Ascension Catholic Church, who had been introduced by me to the concept of Compassionate Listening.  Everyone participating found the experience uplifting and Elizabeth became a full partner with me as we went on to facilitate more such interactions, including the reconciliation between Steve Fearing, who was abused by a Franciscan priest in the state of Oregon, with, Fr. Armando Lopez, a brother Franciscan priest from the same order as his abuser.  Steve’s 1992 lawsuit went all the way to the state supreme court and was not resolved until 2001.  His legal victory opened up Oregon for many more such lawsuits.  My thought is that survivors who are doubtful that it is possible to have a good interaction with other Catholics probably have had bad experiences with other Catholics and can’t imagine support from anyone in the Catholic Church.  Fortunately some of us Catholics are trainable -- we can be taught to listen with compassion.

Retreats provided by Catholic Church

27% -- very unhelpful

9% -- somewhat unhelpful

28% a little helpful

18% -- somewhat helpful

18% -- very helpful

Retreats provided by non-Catholic spiritual groups

9% -- a little helpful

27% -- somewhat helpful

36% -- very helpful

18% -- did not respond

Retreats organized by survivors

9% -- somewhat unhelpful

27% -- somewhat helpful

27% -- very helpful

27% -- did not respond

Spiritual Direction by the Catholic Church

9% -- somewhat unhelpful

18% -- a little unhelpful

9% -- a little helpful

9% -- very helpful

55% -- did not respond

Survivor comment:  I would need better information about the person (offering Spiritual Direction).

Survivor comment:  I was given Spiritual Direction by the Vicar in charge of survivors abused by clergy, and he was extremely helpful.  He went on to establish a council comprised of different people who deal with the abuse in the diocese.

Spiritual Direction offered by a non-Catholic group

9% -- very unhelpful

18% -- a little unhelpful

9% -- a little helpful

9% -- somewhat helpful

45% -- very helpful

10% -- did not respond

Seeking therapy and support by yourself from a Church employed Victim Assistance Coordinator with a choice of therapists recommended by the Church

45% -- very unhelpful

9% -- a little helpful

36% -- somewhat helpful

10% -- did not respond

Another survivors assisting you when you seek therapy and support from a Church employed Victim Assistance Coordinator

18% -- very unhelpful

9% -- very helpful

27% -- somewhat helpful

18% -- very helpful

28% -- did not respond

Therapy provided through a church employed Victim Assistance Coordinator with the survivor choosing the therapist

9% -- Very unhelpful

9% -- Somewhat unhelpful

18% -- a little helpful

36% -- somewhat helpful

28% -- very helpful

Therapy provided through an independent assistance fund run by survivors and social workers who do not work for the Catholic Church

9% -- a little helpful

9% -- somewhat helpful

36% -- very helpful

46% -- did not respond

Help with emergencies such as medical emergencies and past due rent or utility bills provided through an independent assistance fund run by survivors and social workers who do not work for the Catholic Church.

9% -- very unhelpful

9% -- a little helpful

18% -- somewhat helpful

55% -- very helpful

9% --did not respond

Mentoring from another survivor on coping with the damage from abuse.  Please note that independent scientific studies found that this is the most effective form of assistance given to survivors.

9% -- very unhelpful

9% -- a little helpful

27% -- somewhat helpful

45% -- very helpful

10% -- did not respond

Support groups run by the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests

9% - a little helpful

18% -- somewhat helpful

36% -- very helpful

53% of survivors responded to this question

Attending activities held by the Healing Alliance or other survivor support groups

9% -- a little helpful

9% -- somewhat helpful

73% -- very helpful

9% -- did not respond

My comment:  Unfortunately the Healing Alliance is now defunct.

Church actively advertising resources of support for survivors

18% -- a little helpful

9% -- somewhat helpful

63% -- very helpful

10% -- did not respond

Clearly survivors want the church to provide lots of information in multiple venues so survivors can easily find out what resources are available 

18% were willing to meet with bishops or heads of religious orders to present their concerns and desires

36% were not willing to meet with bishops

46% did not respond

Survivor Comment: Most clergy abuse survivors will turn away if any “church involved” issue is a part of the task.  The attitutde “the church can help” should not be  apriority, it should be a secondary action onlu suggested for those that still think the bishops give a sh#*.

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Gender breakdown of respondents

27% males

63% female survivors

10% -- did not respond to this question

10% of respondents were family members of survivors

90% were survivors

36% were abused in Oregon

45% were abused outside of Oregon

10% of these people was abused in England, 9% did not repsond

100% of respondents stated that they were white but 10 percent also claimed mixed Hispanic and Native American heritage.  I happen to be the biological, white mother of two biracial black and white children.  I have worked with Native American and Asian clergy abuse survivors.  I invited them to take the survey, but they did not take it.  I can only speculate as to why or why not.

9% of respondents had sued the Archdiocese of Portland

18% had sued another Catholic Archdiocese

45% had not sued the Catholic Church

28% did not respond to this question

36% received settlements

18% did not receive settlements

46% did not respond to this question

27% were abused by Diocesan priests

45% were abused by Order priests, the orders mentioned were Franciscan serving in Oregon and Montfort Missioners of Mary

10% were abused by a nun

18% were abused by other people with connections to the Catholic Church

People reported abuse at various ages including

6 to 11 -- 27%

12 to 18 -- 18%

27% -- over 18

28% did not respond

The youngest age at which a person came forward was 36, the latest someone came forward was age 58.

To whom did you report the abuse?  Please note that many survivors reported their abuse to multiple sources.  A few survivors wrote in their own options that I had not included in my list.

36% -- police

18% -- parents

36% -- other family member

9% -- teacher of other Catholic school staff 

27% -- priest

9% -- nun

36% -- Church employed Victim Assistance Coordinator

36% -- Other Church staff

55% -- same age friend

36% -- attorney

9% -- therapist

9% -- Voice of the Faithful member

9% -- Child Protective Services

Did you feel believed and Respected by the person you reported the abuse to?

36% felt believed and respected

27% -- did not feel believed and respected

37% -- did not respond

Did the person you reported your abuse to take action?

27% -- yes

63% -- no

10% -- did not respond

Was that action what you wanted?

27% -- yes

27% -- no

46% -- did not respond

Who supported you after you reported the abuse?  Please note that many survivors received support from multiple sources so that these results will add up to more than 100%

63%-- family member

55% -- friends

45% -- therapist

27% -- attorney

36% -- Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests

9% -- other Catholic parishioners

18% -- Priest

9% -- Nun

9% -- Church employed Victim Assistance Coordinator

9% -- survivor mentor

9% -- Nobody supported me after I reported the abuse

What is your spirituality today?

5/11 -- I have my own spirituality

5/11 -- Catholic

1/11 -- Buddhist

1/11 -- Judaism

1/11 -- Hindu

1/11 -- Native American

My comment:  One survivor responded positively to all the listed options except for Muslim.  Nobody reported that they had become a Muslim.

Survivor comment:  I would not feel comfortable returning to the Catholic Church.  We have moved in different directions.

Rate the following options on how much they helped you heal from abuse:

Therapy

9% -- Very unhelpful

9% -- somewhat unhelpful

27% -- Very helpful

27% -- Did not use

28% -- Did not respond

My comment:  This response left me wanting to ask the question, “Why was therapy helpful or not helpful?”

Reading books on abuse

27% -- very unhelpful

45% -- Very helpful

9% -- Did not use

9% -- did not respond

My comment:  This response left me wanting to ask the question, “Why was reading books on abuse helpful or not helpful?”

Attending retreats

9% -- somewhat unhelpful

27% -- very helpful

36% -- did not use

28% -- did not respond

My comment: I would like to know wore about what kind of retreats people attended and what exactly was helpful or unhelpful.

Attending healing masses

9% -- very unhelpful

9% -- somewhat helpful

18% -- very helpful

27% -- very helpful

37% -- did not respond

Spiritual Direction

9% -- somewhat unhelpful

9% -- somewhat helpful

45% -- very helpful

18% -- did not use

19% -- did not respond

Relying on supportive family members and friends

9% -- very unhelpful

36% -- very helpful

55% -- did not respond

Mentor relationship with another survivor

9% -- somewhat helpful

36% -- very helpful

36% -- did not use

Suing Church for validation of and compensation for pain and losses

18% -- very unhelpful

9% -- somewhat unhelpful

18% -- did not use

55% -- did not respond

Relationship with Church employed Victim Assistance Coordinator

27% Very unhelpful

18% -- somewhat helpful

9% -- did not use

46% -- did not respond

My comment:  I think it is important to note that although some survivors did not like working with Church employed Victim Assistance Coordinators, some survivors did find the experience helpful.  For some survivors who have remained faithful Catholics, they may prefer working with sympathetic Church employees. I believe we should respect that everyone comes from a different place and that there needs to be accommodation for both survivors who don’t want to work with anyone employed by the Church as well as for those survivors who have healed through their Catholic spirituality.

Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests support group

27% -- somewhat helpful

9% --very helpful

27% -- did not use

37% -- did not respond

My comment is that although the leadership of SNAP did not respond to my e-mails to them, of those survivors who responded to my survey, 37% found SNAP support groups helpful and no one found them unhelpful.

Healing Alliance

18% -- very helpful

36% -- did not use

46% -- did not respond

My comment:  The Healing Alliance is now defunct, but some people had very good experiences with them.

Other survivor support group

9% --somewhat unhelpful

36% -- very helpful

18% -- did not use

37% -- did not respond

My comment is I want to ask what kind of support groups worked for survivors.

Reliance on spirituality

9% -- very unhelpful

18% -- somewhat helpful

18% -- very helpful

27% -- did not use

27% -- did not respond

Other things that people said that they found helpful to healing included putting the perpetrator in prison and receiving compensation for abuse through a lawsuit against the Church.

My comments on scientific validity of survey:

I have a degree in Zoology and used to work as a Foreign Fisheries Observer on Soviet, Japanese, and Polish vessels operating in the US Fishery Conservation Zone (Renamed Exclusive Economic Zone by Ronald Reagan).  In addition to this, my fahter obtained a degree in Physics from Stanford University.  Social Science is a much softer science than Zoology and Zoology is a much softer science than Physics.  The softer the science the more the variables and the less certain the data.   A variable is something that varies in a scientific experiement.  For example, one variable in this survey, is how inclined one is to complete a long survey.  Some people are more comfortable taking surveys.  Some people are too busy to take the surveys.  It is possible that ethnic background or education will influence how willing someone is to take a survey.  A question that may affect the outcome of the survey is, is there an association between the kind of answer one gives and their inclination to take surveys.  I have no idea, but this variable can bias the results of the survey.  Another variable is the number of people taking a survey.  If a survey is taken by thousands of people, it is more valid than a survey taken by a few dozen people.  Another possible variable is who disseminates surveys.  I suspect that none of the lawyers I contacted ever sent the survey to their survivors.  If they had, I may have received more replies saying that the survivor involved had received significant healing through suing the Catholic Church.  Instead, I think, the opposite effect occurred.  Three of the respondents were adults when they were abused -- adults are generally unable to sue for compensation as they are usually considered capable of consent. (My side comment here is that I’ve met a number of survivors who engaged in “consensual” relationships with priests.  Most were abused as children and were particularly vulnerable to the attention offered by the priests.) One other person appeared to have been unable to sue so these people who responded that lawsuits were very unhelpful may have found the legal system very frustrating to deal with.  One survivor who responded is also a clinical counselor who has seen some of her clients fare badly when they are given large amounts of money before they have progressed far in their healing .  Money helped these clients make bad choices faster and more easily so she remained very opposed to financial assistance for survivors in any form, preferring personal, one on one help instead.

All these factors limit the validity of this survey, but if more people respond to this survey, the survey will have more validity and more power.  

Moreover, each person who responded to this survey is important.  Everyone heals in their own way and their own time.  We cannot dictate the path another person must take for healing.  One of the core beliefs of Compassionate Gathering is that each person is sacred.  That means the opinions and needs of each person is also sacred.  Even if the validity of each response is limited to the person making that particular response, it is still valid for that person and the rest of us should honor that person’s feelings and needs.  One specific example here is that we received surveys from both survivors who were thoroughly alienated from the Catholic Church, for whom nothing good could come from the Catholic Church as well as from survivors who had remained devout Catholics for whom their faith had remained and important part of the their healing.  I think we all, survivors, supporters, as well as employees of the Church and members of the clergy and religious should honor these diverse views.

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