This is both a memoir of childhood trauma and a searing work of social criticism. Through his own experience of clerical abuse and his struggle with the system that allowed it to happen, the author documents an important period of social change in Ireland. The aim of the study is to situate tough personal experiences in lifeworld contexts for the purpose of changing powerful beliefs and practices.

The author contends that psychological disciplines seldom interface with regional histories in a convincing way. The book is critical of dominant ideologies which reinforce acquiescence and exaggerate the power to act in the face of multilevel disempowerment. The author also maintains that old ways of knowing are still replicated in the structure of dominant psychological frameworks. A constancy principle of micro-regulation engenders mindful quietude and/or robust notions of psychological invulnerability. This truncated worldview comes at too high a cost.

The book will be of interest to historians, social commentators, psychologists and critical theorists, as well as those in the field of trauma, addiction and psychiatry.

About the Author

Gerard Rodgers holds a B.Sc (Hons) Psychology and a doctorate in psychotherapy. This is his second academic book.

Reviews

"For too long psychology studied issues independent of context, often leaving constituencies misunderstood, wrongly blamed and poorly supported. Mea Culpa is a brave and impressive corrective to this approach, offering new and insightful understandings of how social and religious attitudes impact every aspect of gay men's lives in Ireland. A painful yet profound contribution to the human sciences." (Martin Milton, Regents University London)

"In an extraordinary, moving synthesis of family trauma, clerical sex abuse, and stigmatization by the Catholic Church in Ireland, Gerard Rodgers leads readers on an emotional, sometimes tragic and sometimes hopeful journey into personal suffering to uncover the indelible imprint early experiences make on self-formation. Challenging psychiatry and psychology to heed and examine the power of social contexts over human development and embodiment, the book is a courageous exposition of how socio-historic circumstances shame and shape personal histories. Refusing to disappear with his story or to surrender it to the silence that shame so often bequeaths to those who have endured trauma, Rodgers highlights how integrating academic research with lived experience offers a pathway for self-reflection, understanding, and self-love, offering a gift of hope to readers who share his experience." (Stephanie N. Arel, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion, Boston University)

"Mea Culpa weaves together the recent history of Ireland, the Catholic Church, and many episodes of psychic trauma inflicted by family and church. Trauma studies frequently divide experience from theory. Gerard Rodgers locates experience as personal history, Church history, and Irish history, reminding us that trauma is always located in space and time. A brave and bold book." (C. Fred Alford, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, and author of Trauma and Forgiveness 2013)

"This book takes hold of the reader, refusing to deny shame, by articulating family trauma and suffering alongside tumultuous historical and cultural contexts. Gerard Rodgers is deeply engaging, honest, and vulnerable while offering significant insights into new pathways for integrating personal experience with academic research." (Stephanie N. Arel, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion, Boston University, and Author of Affect Theory, Shame and Christian Formation 2016.)

Book Information
ISBN 9781788746564
Author Gerard Rodgers
Format Paperback
Page Count 332
Imprint Peter Lang International Academic Publishers
Publisher Peter Lang International Academic Publishers
Weight(grams) 469g