Clinton-Lewinsky scandal raises ethical issues

Allegations of sexual misconduct by President Clinton have raised questions about the nature of sexual addiction, workplace ethics and the country's response to the crisis.

Two diocesan therapists explored the issue for The Evangelist: Rev. John Malecki, staff psychologist for the Consultation Center; and Sister Anne Bryan Smollin, CSJ, executive director of the Counseling for Laity office.

Since the charges that the President had a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky are still being investigated, both therapists cautioned against the assumption sometimes heard in the media that the President has a sexual addiction.

Avoiding labels

"I'm not sure how much is really true of what we're hearing," said Sister Anne. "It's unfair to put a label on him. It's pretty dangerous when we all start playing psychologist."

Many Americans already seem to have made their decisions on the President's situation. Because he did not clearly state at the beginning of the scandal that he had not had a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, Sister Anne said, the public began to analyze the wording of his sentences and his body language as indicators of his guilt or innocence.

"When something like this happens to a person in any position -- Father, President, Sister, CEO -- we make a judgment on it and don't look at the whole picture," she said. "Whenever any accusations come out at anybody, we only look at the one behavior."

Behavior

Without actually meeting President Clinton personally, Father Malecki would not make a diagnosis of sexual addiction. "It's unethical," he said. "I don't make any analysis unless I can meet with the individual. Many things can change in the interview."

Mere repetition of sexual liaisons does not necessarily mean that someone is a sex addict, the pair agreed. Sister Anne listed symptoms of sexual addiction as inability to control patterns of behavior, inappropriate behavior toward members of the opposite sex and having almost no conscience attached to these behaviors.

Father Malecki enthusiastically endorsed a statement issued by the National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity (NCSAC), of which he is a member. The statement (see sidebar in center section) lists behaviors common to those with sexual addictions and suggests 12-step programs and therapy as keys to recovery.

Sex addiction

Like alcoholics, the priest said, sex addicts have a "pathological relationship with the events that are happening." Family, friends and work become less important than getting a sexual "fix," even to the point of jeopardizing the addict's career or marriage.

Father Malecki said that some of his sexually addicted clients have used their children's college tuition money or drained their life savings to fund their addiction.

Sex addicts usually have "secret lives," he said; the addict's affairs or use of pornography or prostitutes may be unknown even to family members and close friends.

Causes

One thing that the President has admitted which may affect his behavior is that he is an adult child of an alcoholic (ACOA), Father Malecki pointed out.

"There is a profile on those people," he said, citing symptoms: ACOAs try to control themselves and others, assume responsibility for meeting other people's needs to the exclusion of their own, and may suffer from anxiety and boundary disorders around intimacy and separation.

Adult children of alcoholics also tend to become enmeshed in unhealthy relationships, he said, and often rely on denial and hyper-vigilance in stressful situations.

"If the allegations [of sexual misconduct] are true, they may fit an ACOA," Father Malecki stated.

(The diocesan Counseling for Laity office can be reached at 453-6625. Call the diocesan Consultation Center at 489-4431.)

(02-05-98) [[In-content Ad]]