
Beyond Betrayal
The Priest Sex Abuse Crisis, the Voice of the Faithful, and the Process of Collective Identity
University of Chicago Press
Published on 21. August 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
978-0-226-64426-4 (ISBN)
Description
In 2002, the national spotlight fell on Boston's archdiocese, where decades of rampant sexual misconduct from priests-and the church's systematic cover-ups-were exposed by reporters from the Boston Globe. The sordid and tragic stories of abuse and secrecy led many to leave the church outright and others to rekindle their faith and deny any suggestions of institutional wrongdoing. But a number of Catholics vowed to find a middle ground between these two extremes: keeping their faith while simultaneously working to change the church for the better.
Beyond Betrayal charts a nationwide identity shift through the story of one chapter of Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), an organization founded in the scandal's aftermath. VOTF had three goals: helping survivors of abuse; supporting priests who were either innocent or took risky public stands against the wrongdoers; and pursuing a broad set of structural changes in the church. Patricia Ewick and Marc W. Steinberg follow two years in the life of one of the longest-lived and most active chapters of VOTF, whose thwarted early efforts at ecclesiastical reform led them to realize that before they could change the Catholic Church, they had to change themselves. The shaping of their collective identity is at the heart of Beyond Betrayal, an ethnographic portrait of how one group reimagined their place within an institutional order and forged new ideas of faith in the wake of widespread distrust.
Beyond Betrayal charts a nationwide identity shift through the story of one chapter of Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), an organization founded in the scandal's aftermath. VOTF had three goals: helping survivors of abuse; supporting priests who were either innocent or took risky public stands against the wrongdoers; and pursuing a broad set of structural changes in the church. Patricia Ewick and Marc W. Steinberg follow two years in the life of one of the longest-lived and most active chapters of VOTF, whose thwarted early efforts at ecclesiastical reform led them to realize that before they could change the Catholic Church, they had to change themselves. The shaping of their collective identity is at the heart of Beyond Betrayal, an ethnographic portrait of how one group reimagined their place within an institutional order and forged new ideas of faith in the wake of widespread distrust.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
269 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-64426-4 (9780226644264)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Ewick Patricia Ewick | Steinberg Marc W. Steinberg
Beyond Betrayal
The Priest Sex Abuse Crisis, the Voice of the Faithful, and the Process of Collective Identity
E-Book
08/2019
1st Edition
University of Chicago Press
from
€22.80
Available for download
Persons
Patricia Ewick is professor of sociology at Clark University and coauthor of The Common Place of Law, also published by the University of Chicago Press. Marc W. Steinberg (1956-2019) was the Sydenham C. Parsons professor of sociology at Smith College and author of England's Great Transformation, also published by the University of Chicago Press.