Typology of Clergy Who
Engage in Sexual Misconduct
by Gary Richard Schoener
Gary Schoener is a licensed psychologist and Executive Director of the Walk-In
Counseling Center in Minneapolis, MN. He is the senior author of "Psychotherapists'
Sexual Involvement with Clients: Intervention and Prevention", co-author of
"Assisting Impaired Psychologists", and has written many
articles on this topic. Schoener has consulted in more than 3000 cases of sexual
misconduct by professionals and was a member of the Task Force on Sexual Impropriety of the
American Psychological Association and its Advisory Committee on the Impaired
Psychologist. The Walk-In Counseling Center was the recipient of the 1977 Gold
Achievement Award in Hospital and Community Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric
Association.
This article has been reproduced with permission from the
Walk-In Counseling Center. Copyright © 1998 WICC.
Typology of Clergy Who Engage in Sexual Misconduct
- PSYCHOTIC & SEVERE BORDERLINES
Impulsivity due to poor controls; sexual contact due to bizarre belief systems or
theories; poor social judgment concerning actions and words; may have variety of sexual
targets. Some related cases are:
- MANIC STATE (especially when previously diagnosed; stopped taking medications)
- ACUTE PSYCHOSIS SECONDARY TO DRUG REACTION (e.g. steroids)
- ORGANIC/NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEM (e.g. tumor)
- SOCIOPATHS & SEVERE NARCISSISTIC CHARACTER DISORDERS
Self-centered, gratification-oriented; sexual acting out varies considerably; good at
manipulating & getting out of trouble; no concern for harm to others
- IMPULSE CONTROL DISORDERS
Longstanding, ingrained impulsiveness, with or without substance abuse or addictions;
sexual issues may be primary or secondary
- SEXUAL IMPULSE CONTROL DISORDER
Full range of diagnostic categories including pedophilia; sexual or aggressive needs being
met by actions
- GENERAL IMPULSE CONTROL DISORDER
When sex is not the major area of acting out, but one area of abuse (e.g. Character
Disorder)
- SEVERELY NEUROTIC AND/OR SOCIALLY ISOLATED
Typically overly involved with clients & parishioners emotionally; sexual contact
develops secondary to emotional involvement; however, this can become a repetitive pattern
- MILDLY NEUROTIC & SITUATIONAL BREAKDOWN IN OTHERWISE HEALTHY PERSON
Having ruled out more serious pathologies and deficits, in these situations with a single
victim and remorseful offender, the situational factors and timing appear to have played a
major role -- Rev. Marie Fortune calls these people "wanderers"
- UNINFORMED/NAIVE
Having ruled out pathology and deficits, a lack of training and good organizational
structure and supports appear to be the basis for boundaries crossings which set the stage
for the involvement; this must be a non-predator, and the explanations cannot be
rationalizations, excuses, or justifications; there should be remorse; sometimes person
has a distorted view of the professional helping relationship or pastoral role and does
not distinguish it from friendship
*NOTE: These categories are not mutually exclusive, nor do we necessarily sort
offenders into them. Their purpose is to describe a variety of reasons for offenses from
the perspective of offender pathology. Situational factors, program policies,
supervision or its lack thereof, training, etc. may all play a key role.
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but asks that multiple reproductions for use as handouts be made known to them.
Please contact them, if you are considering this, to see if they have a more recent
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credit the sources -- WICC and the AdvocateWeb site
(http://www.advocateweb.org). For permission to reproduce more than one copy,
contact: Walk-In Counseling Center, 2421 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55404.
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