Safeguarding: why policies,training,lessons learned reviews and even good intentions are not enough

Abstract

This article, written by a former diocesan safeguarding officer, argues that, despite two decades of talk about better safeguarding, the Church of England has failed to protect children and young people under its care, failed to respond appropriately to abuse allegations, and failed to provide adequate safeguarding policies and practices. It illustrates this failure from the author’s direct experience of senior clergy responses to the abuse of adolescents by David Smith and Bishop Peter Ball – responses identified as a spiritual sickness linked to institutional narcissism.