SEXUAL SHAME: 
AN URGENT CALL TO HEALING

 By Karen A. McClintock
Fortress Press, 2001, 159 pages
Review by Wayne Copenhaver

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This book is about healing, healing of a profound pain in human existence: shame, a sense of profound unworthiness of one's very being due to situations of sexual violation. As with many large social issues, the problem of shame is not confined to the so-called "secular" realm. It is as prevalent and diverse within religious congregations as anywhere else.

With careful historical references the author traces many of the shaming elements in biblical interpretation and church history that have passed from generation to generation into the present Christian experience and our culture at large. McClintock is deeply concerned for the healing of the profound trauma of shame not just in individuals, but within group systems, such as marriages, families and congregations. Using seismological imagery, she sees long-unhealed shame as a dangerous "fault line" running through individual and congregational lives.

While this subject is a delicate one, often avoided or denied, the author forthrightly lays out the wide spectrum of such shaming both through careful scholarship and via glimpses into the lives of those suffering the problem and moving into healing. The author's vulnerability in sharing some of her own experiences with being shamed, both interpersonally and in the corporate, congregational context, invites the reader into his/her personal engagement with this issue. Yet this sharing is restrained and appropriate to the books development, while providing an example of movement into healing.

The author emphasizes repeatedly the importance of congregational leaders’ becoming
conscious of the workings of shame in their own lives and being intentional about doing what is
necessary to heal themselves and their congregations. This book "provides the tools to identify
the assumptions, behaviors, and structures that promote--while masking--sexual shame" and
to begin the healing process both individually and corporately.

McClintock's credentials for writing a book on this topic are impressive: She has a doctorate in clinical psychology, works as a therapist at Samaritan Counseling Center of Southern Oregon, and holds adjunct faculty status at Southern Oregon University. She is also a clergy member of the California/Nevada United Methodist Annual Conference, with several years' experience as a working pastor who has become acutely observant of congregational dynamics. This book is theologically challenging while being quite accessible to the "lay" reader; it is rooted in an obvious awareness and experience of the deepest truths of biblical scriptures.

The book includes helpful chapter footnotes and an excellent bibliography of related resources. Questions for reflection and discussion are included at the end of each chapter, making this book useful for both group and individual use.

Wayne Copenhaver is Administrative Assistant at First Friends Meeting, Richmond, Indiana, and is a graduate of Earlham School of Religion. He enjoys gardening and hiking.

[ISBN Number 0-8006-3238-9]

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