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A Pastoral Theology of Confidentiality University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2010 Burdens of Disclosure: A Pastoral Theology of Confidentiality Virginia R. Morgan University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Practical Theology Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Morgan, Virginia R., "Burdens of Disclosure: A Pastoral Theology of Confidentiality" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 882. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/882 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. BURDENS OF DISCLOSURE: A PASTORAL THEOLOGY OF CONFIDENTIALITY __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Virginia R. Morgan June 2010 Advisor: Carrie Doehring, Ph.D. ©Copyright by Virginia R. Morgan June 2010 All Rights Reserved Author: Virginia R. Morgan Title: BURDENS OF DISCLOSURE: A PASTORAL THEOLOGY OF CONFIDENTIALITY Advisor: Carrie Doehring, Ph.D. Degree Date: June 2010 Abstract Receiving confidential disclosures can create burdens for pastoral care providers. This dissertation presents a study of pastoral confidentiality and the burdens associated with receiving confidential disclosures based on interviews with thirteen pastoral providers, a review of historical, legal and pastoral care literature. A thematic analysis of interviews identified three types of burdens associated with receiving confidential disclosures: 1) professional burdens associated with clarifying norms and standards for pastoral confidentiality in light of collegial, denominational and congregational norms; 2) ethical burdens created when the ethical value of pastoral confidentiality comes into conflict with another significant ethical value; and 3) structural burdens that result from serving in a designated confidential role, factors of the provider’s identity, or contextual considerations about one’s ministry setting. Interviews revealed that many pastoral providers are unaware of denominational statements and resources addressing normative standards for pastoral confidentiality. Additionally, serving in a designated confidential role can contribute to a heightened risk of what I term receptivity fatigue. This study suggests that failing to think theologically about confidentiality runs the risk of impoverishing pastoral practice. While legal considerations, professional codes of ethics, and social norms for confidentiality remain useful, losing a theological context for practices of confidentiality diminishes the resources available to pastoral caregivers to engage and manage the potential stress and burdens of receiving confidential disclosures. ii In this dissertation I argue that optimal relational trust characterizes divine engagement with creation, and therefore provides the most fruitful foundation for and expression of pastoral confidentiality. Drawing on resources in process theology, philosophy, and psychology I present a pastoral theology of confidentiality based on a model of optimal relational trust situated within an understanding of covenantal relationship. This model provides a resource for managing the burdens resulting from receiving confidential disclosures by balancing receptive and agential dimensions of power, situating the tasks of care within an understanding of relational covenant that prioritizes loving mercy and doing justice, and reclaiming theology as a resource for managing ethical dilemmas arising in the course of pastoral care. iii Acknowledgements I base this project on a premise that we all exist embedded in a set of relationships by which we offer influence and we are influenced. I owe a debt of gratitude to many, without whose assistance this dissertation would not have been completed. I am grateful to the faculty at Vanderbilt Divinity School, who restored my faith by demonstrating the value of vigorous critical and intellectual engagement with matters of faith and the women students at Vanderbilt who created and nurtured an authentic community of faith. Joretta Marshall and Riley Eubank encouraged me toward Ph.D. work and remain formative influences on my understanding of pastoral practice and theology. The project gained its legs thanks to the pastoral colleagues who participated in interviews, generously sharing from their struggles and wisdom. Carrie Doehring, Larry Graham and Shelly Smith-Acuna served as my dissertation committee and provided insightful feedback, room to make mistakes and an argument, and an unfailingly gracious and generous intellectual support. I received financial assistance and support for this dissertation from Colorado College, the Alexander Foundation, and the Paul M. Sheffer Memorial Fund. Mike Edmonds supported and encouraged this work, reminding me that my own education was important to my work as an educator. The women of Research First provided practical and persistent advice and encouragement in managing the details of doing research in the midst of other work. Debra Zarecky, Amanda Udis-Kessler, Margi Duncombe, and Gail Murphy-Geiss assisted with specific aspects of the project. Finally, Chris Frakes remained my intellectual companion for the ten years of this process, embodying for me the virtue of compassion in ways that sustained my life and interest as I did this work. iv Table of Contents Chapter 1: Burdens of Disclosure: An Introduction ........................................................... 1 Methodology for a Project in Pastoral Theology .................................................... 9 Why a Project on Pastoral Confidentiality? .......................................................... 15 Overview of the Dissertation ................................................................................ 20 Chapter 2: Where We Begin: Current Practices and Historical Precedents ..................... 29 Origins of Pastoral Confidentiality ....................................................................... 29 Seal of Confession .................................................................................... 30 Luther’s Challenges to the Catholic Penitential System ........................... 34 Confession in the Reformed Churches ..................................................... 39 The Seal Under Anglicanism .................................................................... 43 Developments in Methodism .................................................................... 46 Confessions and Confidentiality in the Anabaptist/Free Church Movements ................................................................................................ 47 Legal Considerations: Where Church and State Meet, or Collide ........................ 52 Pastoral Care Literature and Norms for the Practice of Confidentiality ............... 62 Summary ............................................................................................................... 68 Chapter 3: Complicating the Picture: Experiences of Pastoral Burdens........................... 71 Research Participants ............................................................................................ 72 Unique Aspects of Pastoral Ministry .................................................................... 74 Major Themes Emerging from the Interviews ...................................................... 76 Maintaining Confidentiality: Professional Burdens.............................................. 78 Weighing Confidentiality: Ethical Burdens .......................................................... 91 Being Confidential: Structural Burdens ................................................................ 98 Summary ............................................................................................................. 109 Chapter 4: Power and Covenant: Loving Mercy, Doing Justice, and Learning Trust .... 116 Where We Begin: Reality as Relational and Processive .................................... 119 Power .................................................................................................................. 127 Justice .................................................................................................................. 134 A Covenant of Love and Justice ......................................................................... 143 Trust .................................................................................................................... 147 Optimal Relational Trust..................................................................................... 153 Summary ............................................................................................................. 159 Chapter 5: Healing Disclosures: A Pastoral Theology of Confidentiality .................... 163 Becoming Trustworthy: Building an Understanding of the Virtue of Trust ....... 166 Becoming Trustworthy: Responding to Professional Burdens ............... 175 Optimizing Trust through Accountability and Care ........................................... 188 Equipping Our Response:
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