The Rock and the Hard Place Blog
A multi-chapter resource by Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, Esq. and Dr. Brent Lindquist about restoration following abuse and trauma.
A multi-chapter resource by Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, Esq. and Dr. Brent Lindquist about whether the psychological assessment should come before or after hiring.
A multi-chapter resource by Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, Esq. and Dr. Brent Lindquist about job descriptions and how they can apply differently in a ministerial or mission environment.
A multi-chapter resource by Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, Esq. and Dr. Brent Lindquist about psychological assessments for missionary candidates and what can be done in the interview process, how to do it, what information to ask, and whether it can be done in a nondiscriminatory fashion.
A multi-chapter resource by Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, Esq. and Dr. Brent Lindquist about when missions think that a family needs receive counseling, but the family doesn't want to go.
Therapeutic processes and legal processes are different. Certain things are appropriate in the therapeutic process that are not acceptable in a legal process. Absolute factual accuracy is not the primary goal of therapy. In the world of an investigation, with livelihood and organizational survival on the line, impartial factual accuracy is very important.
Although there are many lessons from the Catholic sexual abuse scandal, the largest lesson may be how easy it is for an organization to fail to act appropriately when there are allegations.
We’ve learned a lot from the Catholic sexual abuse scandal about good practices on preventing child abuse and investigating allegations. We’ve also learned a lot about how sexual abuse litigation works. You might say litigation is the worst case scenario for the organization when child protection issues haven't been adequately addressed.
A policy not followed is worse than no policy at all. A policy tells the world what you believe is a reasonable standard of care. If you then don't follow it, you're condemned out of your own mouth.
Theresa, I got stuck in a problematic place in my leadership a number of years ago. I was concerned about staff behavior that was counter to maintaining good and complementary relationships. I wanted a policy that I could use ...