Perceptions of Catholic Priests Toward Help-Seeking Behavior of Parishioners

Abstract

Randomly sampled Catholic priests functioning in parishes throughout the United States were surveyed to determine who they believed should assist people in 13 moral, emotional, familial, and personal problem‐situations. To each problem situation, respondents were asked to choose one of the following four options: (1) a priest; (2) a priest with advanced mental health training in clinical social work, counseling, psychology or psychiatry; (3) a lay mental health professional; or (4) these specific situations should be handled by the person alone and without skilled help. The findings indicate that priest‐respondents believed that moral problems such as marrying a non‐Catholic (92.0%) and conflict over birth control (78.9%) should be handled by priests, whereas severe emotional problems (74.9%), spousal abuse (62.8%), personal alcohol abuse (59.3%), abnormal grief reactions (54.8%), and teenagers using drugs (52.3%) should be referred to lay professionals. “Hearing the voice of God” and “seeing Jesus” were situations perceived to be within the competence of priests, especially those with advanced clinical training. Years of pastoral experience and advanced clinical training seem to have an effect on few of these decisions. Implications for social work are discussed, particularly in light of policy initiatives for faith‐based service provision.

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