The addiction model has been continuously applied to clergy sexual abuse cases. This model has been effective and enlightening when used with alcoholism and other drug abuses. However, when applied to clergy sexual abuse, it fails to take into account important dynamics like anti-social, narcissistic and other personality disorders which account for the abuse of power, role and boundaries involved. One can be chemically abusive all by oneself (this is not to deny extensive collateral damage); sexual abuse always involves a powerful crossing of boundaries and victimizing of a subordinate person.

In a letter to the editor [TLC, Sept. 24], I criticized the article "Grace and Forgiveness" by an anonymous priest [TLC, Aug. 20]. In an editorial [TLC, Oct. 1], it was stated that a person can recover from an addiction, be forgiven and restored. The addiction model has a limited place with sexual abusers, but there is more in sexual abuse than addiction. The comparison with alcoholism reveals more differences than similarities for the pastoral life of the church.

First, it is necessary to define some terms. The words "sexual misconduct" can mean almost any sexual behavior except between two consenting, married adults. "Sexual abuse" refers to the abuse of power and trusted role on the part of clergy having sex with someone subordinate. Sometimes this term is used for child molestation while "sexual exploitation" is used for sex between clergy and adult parishioners. Both could be regarded as sexual abuse because the violation of role and power are similar, regardless of age.

The legal term "sexual assault" carries both meanings and is used for adult and child victims. In some states, sex between pastor and parishioner is criminalized sexual assault. "Sexual addiction" can refer to any kind of sexual activity, solitary, criminal or legal, that is compulsive. The introduction of the word "addiction" adds almost nothing denotative except an increased dangerousness and higher risk because of compulsivity.

Both alcoholism and sexual abuse involve control. The alcoholic medicates his pain, numbs out hurtful emotions he cannot face alone. He is controlling his emotions. The sexual abuser is into another kind of control, the use of power over another for self-gratification or aggrandizement.

In alcoholism, there is unnecessary crossing of boundaries to offend against another person. The sexual abuser adds an anti-social dimension and does not experience appropriate empathy for his victim. Sexual abusers are charming, conning and manipulative, whether they groom minors or win the trust of adults. This dimension is beyond simple addiction or compulsion.

It is rare for clergy sexual abusers to have only one victim. The offenses which bring them to our attention are the tip of an iceberg. There is a progression toward re-offending which both resembles and differs from the relapses of an alcoholic.

At first is a change of mood, similar to that of the alcoholic whose painful mood is numbed by the alcohol. For the sexual abuser, this mood shift is usually of a depressed type for abusers of minors, or an angry or "flex one's muscles" type for the male abuser of adult women. This can be episodic or continuous.

Harming others is clearly and directly involved in the case of sexual abuse. This is less apparent in cases of clergy alcoholism. The addiction model has been used to exculpate the sexual abuser, to take away his responsibility for choosing to feed his addiction the way he does. The alcoholic or sexual addict is not responsible for being an addict. He is, however, responsible for not acting out his addiction. For the alcoholic, it means never taking the first drink; for the sexual addict, it means not progressing from the mood change.

Men addicted to abusive sex demonstrate anti-social and narcissistic traits. In the typical scenario, a priest would have sex with adult women throughout his ministry. He was co-dependent on his parish and marginal in his career while his wife was more successful and healthier. He relied upon this sexual abuse pattern to shore up a weakened sense of himself. He viewed himself as a victim of an uncaring and unsupportive parish and felt some restoration of his depleted self by overpowering vulnerable women in his parish who, apart from the leadership, adored him.

Sexually abusive clergy are disordered in more than addictive ways. Their disorders disable them from the exercise of the ordained ministry. Compassionate treatment would involve help in realistic outplacement toward a safer career. This is not punishment but a prudent and logical consequence of such disabling disorders. Such men are not excluded from the church's lay ministry, nor are they excommunicated. They are removed from the ordained ministry, the trusting access they once enjoyed with the faithful. Such removals restore the laity's trust in the ordained ministry and can provide the amends-making which the addiction model demands for the abuser's wholeness and serenity. Once clergy have crossed the line and abused another person, especially if there is addiction or compulsion involved, then the risk of relapse is high.

There have been many workshops and seminars in dioceses and seminaries to alert us to these dangers. For clergy to continue to abuse others sexually is surely no longer naiveté or ignorance. Disorder and addictive factors can both be at work and must be addressed in both compassionate help toward outplacement and loving forgiveness. The clergy abuser must surrender his ministry to save his soul. o

The Rev. Donald R. Hands is a clinical psychologist and group therapist who formerly was director of the St. Barnabas Center. He resides in Waukesha, Wis.