Sociologist Studies Reactions of Christians to Spousal Abuse

SAN DIEGO —  Sociologist Nancy Nason-Clark has seen both sides of the way people in churches react to reports of spousal abuse.

She cited the case of a battered wife who works as an office manager in a denominational headquarters. Her husband is viewed by clergy as “a fine Christian man” incapable of beating his wife’s head against a kitchen cabinet.

But the sociologist also cited the actions of some members of conservative churches who support transitional housing or provide shelter for abused women.

Still, said Nason-Clark, author of “The Battered Wife: How Christians Confront Family Violence” (Westminster/John Knox Press), “a pervasive holy hush occurs” around the issue of abuse.

Nason-Clark organized a session on abuse and religion at the recent meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Assn.

According to Nason-Clark’s studies of 250 women in conservative churches in eastern Canada, two of every three had sought the counsel of another woman in their church for a family problem, and the majority had helped abused women. One-fifth had offered a bed for the night to a woman who was afraid to return home.