ABSTRACT
Public inquiry situates survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) by clergy outside of criminal and civil justice processes and recognises a different politicised relationship between survivors as citizens, the state, and Christian institutions. Feminist critiques have long drawn attention to the absence of criminological focus on victims of CSA. Michel. Foucault's works are utilised specifically to explore discourses of power/knowledge and the construction of subjects through discourse, including the significance of a normalising gaze. The significance of understanding truth as having a history, and being socially constructed, is that power can be understood as exercised through discourse to construct subjects and produce subjectivity. Scotland's Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse (IHCA) was established in October 2015 with a remit to examine the extent of historical child abuse in care and the effectiveness of management of abuse. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
