The U.S. bishops' National Review Board selected the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York to conduct a major study of the causes and context of clergy child sex abuse.

The announcement was made Nov. 16 by Patricia O'Donnell Ewers, board chairwoman, during a meeting with the U.S. bishops in Washington for their annual fall meeting. The aim of the study is to better help church leaders understand the problem and improve prevention measures.

The $3 million study was called for in the 2002 "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" approved by the bishops. The charter contains church policies to stem child sex abuse.

The charter said the study was needed "to understand the problem more fully and to enhance the effectiveness of our future response."

The study plan calls for John Jay College to work with Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York and other experts across the country. Issues to be examined in the study include:

---Epidemic aspects of the sexual abuse incidents that surged in the 1970s and subsequently declined in the 1980s.

---Prominence of young adolescent males among the victims.

---Content and influence of seminary admission policies and priest formation programs before and after the 1980s.

---Differences between the lifestyle and formation of diocesan clergy and that of religious order priests that might explain any differences in cases of abuse perpetrated by members of the two groups.

---Ecclesiastical environment and the ways in which the church responded to reports of sexual abuse.

---Behavioral and psychological problems of abusers.

---Circumstances that enhanced the vulnerability of the victims.

---Cultural, social and psychological factors in U.S. society and the Catholic Church which contributed to sexual abuse of children, particularly during the 1970s' surge of incidents.

---Response of law enforcement to reports of clergy sexual abuse in the 1970s as compared with current responses.

---Common psychiatric treatment models of the 1970s as compared with current treatment models.

The study also plans to examine environmental aspects that influenced the risk factors for victims and predators.

This will be the second study conducted by John Jay College for the all-lay National Review Board appointed by the bishops to advise them on prevention policies and to monitor compliance with policies.

The first John Jay study, published in 2004, provided statistics collected from U.S. dioceses and Eastern-rite eparchies on the nature and scope of the problem covering the 1950-2002 period. It reported that about 4 percent of U.S. priests ministering from 1950 to 2002 were accused of sexually abusing a minor.

The 2004 study said that 4,392 clergymen --- almost all priests --- were accused of abusing 10,667 people, with 75 percent of the incidents taking place between 1960 and 1984. It was the first comprehensive, national statistical study of the problem.

After the new study was announced, Jeremy Travis, John Jay president, said that the college pledges to do the research "with scrupulous objectivity and scientific rigor to advance society's understanding of the causes and context of the problem within the church."

John Jay was chosen to conduct the study from among several research institutions which submitted proposals.

The bishops have pledged $1 million toward the cost of the new study with the remainder of the funding being sought from Catholic and other philanthropic organizations. The news release gave no time frame for the completion of the study.

The 13 members of the National Review Board include experts in the fields of education, law, psychology, psychiatry, church administration and medicine. Chairwoman Ewers is an educational consultant and former president of Pace University in New York.

Ewers told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview that work on the study would begin immediately and take three years to complete.

There are several organizations interested in providing the additional funding for the study, she said.

"The study is a unique opportunity to gain significant insights into the problem," said Ewers.

---CNS