The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Royal Commission) recently released its newest research report which investigates the manner in which an organisation’s culture may contribute to the institutionalisation and promotion of child sexual abuse.

The report entitled "The role of organisational culture in child sexual abuse in institutional contexts” was produced by Professor Donald Palmer of the University of California (the Report). It appears to be completely unique, in that theories of organisational culture have never been applied in the context of institutional child sexual abuse.

By drawing on existing theory and scholarly literature, as well as the Royal Commission’s own case studies, the Report finds that organisations with certain cultural factors may support the perpetration of child sexual abuse, slow its detection, or promote a poor response in the event of allegations being made.

This article summarises the findings of the Report, in particular the cultural factors it identifies and suggests what the overall implications might be for schools.

Total Institutions

According to Professor Palmer’s research, total institutions are a type of formal organisation with the following characteristics:

• they consist of staff  and inmates (such as prisoners, psychiatric patients, and boarding school students);
• staff exert nearly total control over all aspects of the lives of ‘inmates’ in a confined space;
• control is exercised through impersonal and formalised rules/procedures (such as rigid schedules and artificial rules); and
• their principle objective is transforming individuals.

The Report reasons that total institutions may be resistant to the prompt and efficient detection of child abuse. They may also discourage or undermine an effective response when a sexual incident involving a child is exposed by taking the following actions:

• conducting internal investigations into allegations, as opposed to referring the allegations to the proper authorities;
• forbidding children from having personal items and discouraging interpersonal development;
• promoting secrecy and withholding information and inappropriate recording keeping practices; and
• promoting or commanding behaviour by children which makes abuse more likely and reporting less likely.

While there are few schools which are considered to be ‘pure’ total institutions in Australia, the study did highlight that a significant number do exhibit some of the characteristics outlined above. The key example given by Professor Palmer being the constraining of the lives and identities of religious figures within the Catholic Church.

Institutionalised Organisations

An ‘institutionalised’ organisation, in the sociological sense, is one which is viewed as an end unto itself by its members, independent of the goals it was originally established to pursue. This is an example of a ‘top management’ culture, in which the effectiveness with which the organisation’s goals are achieved is secondary to maintaining its public image. The Report suggests that 'elite private schools' are an example of this phenomenon.

According to Professor Palmer, when instances of child sexual abuse are exposed in institutionalised organisations, their leadership and membership have an increased likelihood of managing these incidents to minimise their negative effect on the organisation’s image rather than resolve organisational goals.  This approach may encourage withholding information in an effort to avoid scandal and legal consequences.

Macho Cultures

A macho organisational culture is considered to be an extension of patriarchal societal culture, which allegedly discourages the discussion of matters relating to vulnerability, in particular child sexual abuse. The Report reasons that men and boys are assumed to be naturally aggressive and tending towards domination.  This behaviour may even be valued as a healthy expression of masculinity. As a result, when incidents occur, persons of authority may implicitly justify and tolerate inappropriate behaviour as ‘just boys being boys’.

Professor Palmer suggests that by conditioning men to behave aggressively, those embedded in macho cultures are more likely to sexually abuse children and other young people and victims are less likely to disclose.

What Does This Mean for Schools?

Philip Reed, CEO of the Royal Commission, stated that the Report provided a thought-provoking analysis, extending current understanding of organisational values, beliefs and norms. By undermining assumptions, it is hoped that the Report will facilitate organisational change, foster positive cultures such to better protect children in institutional settings.

According to the Report, a number of organisations, including school groups, exhibit many of the cultural characteristics outlined above, which may increase the likelihood of child sexual abuse, grooming behaviours and sexually abusive behaviour by young people occurring.

If a school believes that there is an aspect of their culture which contributes towards abusive behaviour occurring or discourages reporting, then they should consider taking steps towards cultural change. However, as our previous School Governance article Don’t jump at shadows – back your culture suggested, while culture is something which schools should focus on, changing it is an incredibly difficult and arduous task.

But by becoming more safety conscious and striving towards child safety, the report reasons, an institution which exhibits some or all of the cultural characteristics outlined above will be taking positive steps towards implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

One of the Report's suggestions is "that stakeholders of institutions that provide services to children and young people pledge to introduce a culture in their organisations that is the opposite of one that...facilitates child sexual abuse."  Leaders are encouraged to "behave in ways that convey the suggested culture; by training staff members to embrace such a culture; and by engineering cultural artefacts and practices that symbolise this culture."

James Field, Managing Director, CompliSpace's article ‘Compliance with Current and Future Child Protection Laws – Embedding a Child Protection Culture.  How can this be achieved?’ is a valuable resource on how to create or improve upon, a culture of child safety at your school.

Going Forward: A National Approach to Child Sexual Abuse