| Ramifications of Educator Sexual Misconduct |
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To compound the right decision being made, teens embellish, look for support, acceptance, reinforcement, etc., leading to a compromise
being easily made as an adult attempts to deal with the young people, especially teens who are very emotional and can be very demanding,
especially in subtle ways. They have little/no experience base and they react accordingly. The offender’s influence over their victim is due
in large part to h/her lack of experience in dealing with adults that enable, and certainly h/her experience was limited in terms of being
manipulated by an adult with a sexual deviance.
The cycle - factors that contribute to offending
The factors that contribute to sexual offending are complex and as varied as are people. There are no portals into the sex offenders
head, nor are there any signs or flashing lights. Often the sex offender is in such dire straits as to the distorted thinking and deviancy that
aside from the obvious confrontation of right and wrong, there exists a feeling of helplessness in the face of the addiction. Offenders find an
easy escape from the reality by justifying their behavior, their attraction to a teen-ager, as normal. They know the difference between right
and wrong. They know that the relationship is certainly improper and inappropriate. They knew nothing of the ramifications of the behavior
in terms of their victim. They justify their behavior because h/she never resists, because the offender believes that h/she is acting of h/ her
own accord. The victim is acting under the offender’s influence, the manipulations, and the misplaced support that is offered. The victim
feels secure with the offender, h/ she trusts the offender and has confidence in what the offender is doing. What the offender is doing is
wrong and if the victim has any doubt about the appropriateness of the relationship, it is overshadowed by the assertion by the offender that
everything is fine. The victim is influenced to disregard what h/she knows is wrong, what h/she has been taught at home, and to follow the
lead, the lead of an influential adult. The offender’s behavior is a play onh/ her emotions, and the emotions of affection are powerful.
The combination of working hard at the job and working hard at influencing the victim into harmful activities is identified in sexual offender
counseling as the pretend-Normal phase, a dangerous combination of thoughts and feelings and especially behaviors that switch back and
forth between a normal life and the scenario when they pretended everything is normal. It should be obvious that the offender cannot lead a
dual life style without some effort at covering up the undesirable life. So the offender sandwiches the offenses against the victim with the
normal activities which people are accustomed to seeing. Amongst the thoughts are deviant fantasies where offenders envision the
behaviors that they wished to engage in with their young victim. The facts that victims are a minors and years younger should preclude any
thoughts of a sexual nature. The distortion of that thinking facilitates deviant fantasies that need to be addressed on a professional level.
However, offenders are too ill to recognize that they needed help. It is easier to find rationale and to ascribe their feelings to some form of
normalcy.
The sex offender can have other contributing factors that make up the entire “package.” Most of these factors are part of everyone’s life,
such as interpersonal relations, stress, which may be job related, problems in a marriage, or any of a whole bunch of contributing issues.
The sex offender, however, compounds normal everyday living by adding to the mixture deviant stimuli, such as porno, deviant sexual
outlets, addictive behaviors, substance abuse, and failure to meet responsibilities. Are you keeping track? How would you (attempt to)
monitor your staff if you suspected a sexual abuser? There is no check list, but there is a set of behaviors, which unfortunately, also fits the
non-sex offender, your other staff. You would do a disservice, a grave injustice, were you to start a witch hunt.... If Mr. X, the math teacher,
has been seen walking the malls or driving in the same area on different occasions, is he cruising? If Ms Y has a subscription to Playgirl, is
she using porno? Is this one of the attributes of a sex offender?
The sex offender “model” suggests a long history of offending or a history of deviant activities prior to offending. The offending cycle is
comprised of several phases and begins with the phase identified as the acting out pre-assault phase. This is the period of time when the
offender attempts to put his fantasies into action. The victim is [subjected] to a grooming process which includes, amongst other things,
flirtations with the intent of gaining trust and confidence. The flirtations may be overt or subtle. In the case of teachers, it more or less has
to be subtle, for to be a lewd in flirting would most certainly bring attention.
Sex offenders may also employ cruising, visiting arcades, malls, gathering spots for potential victims, though teachers have before and
around them a potential pool of victims. Cruising would be a difficult MO to monitor and might very well be relegated to the rumor control
center, and the rumbling of the rumor mill is a weak platform from which to work Pedophiles also resort to seeking victims through baby
sitting and cruising/hanging around playgrounds, schools. School personnel should be aware of unidentified persons lingering in the vicinity
of the schools and should notify the administration. And as always, the students should be reminded constantly about the “strangers among
us.”
The proximity to victims and the positions of authority that teachers, clergy, group leaders (scouts, little league coaches, etc.) have,
coupled with a high level of influence/ power inherent in this positions, is a dangerous combination. It is certainly speculated, and I have
reason to believe, that there are more offenses throughout our society that have gone, and are going on, unreported. If from this series of
presentations even one offense is prevented or uncovered, the gain will be substantial.
Acting upon the deviant fantasies and distorted thinking and working through the acting out/pre-assault phase, the sex offender moves
on to the Offending Phase where the fantasies are acted upon the victim. Again, the MO is generally the same with each offender following
their own personal quirks. One method of victimizing is to get the victim into isolation by having h/her visit the classroom when the offender
has an open period. Another method is to ask h/her to be an “assistant,” a student helper. This helps to isolate the student in a one-to-one
situation. .
The “HOW” of the victimization and “how” offenders live with themselves is tied together in the rationalization and transitory guilt that
they feel. The rationalization will lay in the distorted views of the victim. The offender may feel s/he is in love with the victim; the victim is in
love with the offender. That makes it all right to sexually abuse h/her. The “how” of the offending is further strengthened by the distorted
views of self.
The contributing factors of self include education, social skills, introversion, and a myriad of issues from the family life, both present and
those of the growing-up years.
The ramifications of inappropriate relationships are long lasting, profound, far reaching for the victim, to their families, the offender and
their families, and the community, and especially the work place of the offender, be it in the school, the little league, or the athletic team, and
the damage is irreversible. Time may be often referred to as the all time great healer, but there are always reminders of the past.
The impact upon the victim is much greater. There will be, first and foremost, a loss of trust, and confidence, in herself and especially in
adults. Feelings of betrayal in the face of the assault from a trusted adult and perhaps even about the system, school, scouts, little league,
youth group, etc. The victim’s physical health may be placed in jeopardy through a loss or interruption of sleep and the development of
eating disorders. There are far ranging and long lasting psychological trauma including loss of self-esteem, depression, and suicide
ideation.
The impact upon the victim’s family and social structure further [highlights] the damage caused by an inappropriate behavior upon
children and teens. The effects are domino-like, from the victim, through her family, and through the community. Victims may experience
loss of trust from family members. Their integrity may be questioned, especially if the offender was highly visible and respected in the
community. This unintentional victimization finds its roots in bias and lack of information. The victim needs to be treated as a victim.
Regardless of the dynamics of the abuse, teachers must maintain the boundaries and there can by no justification for crossing them. The
effects are domino-like, from the victim, through her family, and through the community.
Certainly to no minor consideration, the effect upon the offender, the offender’s family and social structure, and upon the
community/organization (scouts, schools, church, etc.) is no less tragic. The feelings of guilt, embarrassment, betrayal, and hurt are but a
few of the feelings, although some of the feelings are part of the deviant cycle and of the distorted thinking. It is a given that offender will
never teach in the public schools again and other doors are also closed due to the felony conviction
being easily made as an adult attempts to deal with the young people, especially teens who are very emotional and can be very demanding,
especially in subtle ways. They have little/no experience base and they react accordingly. The offender’s influence over their victim is due
in large part to h/her lack of experience in dealing with adults that enable, and certainly h/her experience was limited in terms of being
manipulated by an adult with a sexual deviance.
The cycle - factors that contribute to offending
The factors that contribute to sexual offending are complex and as varied as are people. There are no portals into the sex offenders
head, nor are there any signs or flashing lights. Often the sex offender is in such dire straits as to the distorted thinking and deviancy that
aside from the obvious confrontation of right and wrong, there exists a feeling of helplessness in the face of the addiction. Offenders find an
easy escape from the reality by justifying their behavior, their attraction to a teen-ager, as normal. They know the difference between right
and wrong. They know that the relationship is certainly improper and inappropriate. They knew nothing of the ramifications of the behavior
in terms of their victim. They justify their behavior because h/she never resists, because the offender believes that h/she is acting of h/ her
own accord. The victim is acting under the offender’s influence, the manipulations, and the misplaced support that is offered. The victim
feels secure with the offender, h/ she trusts the offender and has confidence in what the offender is doing. What the offender is doing is
wrong and if the victim has any doubt about the appropriateness of the relationship, it is overshadowed by the assertion by the offender that
everything is fine. The victim is influenced to disregard what h/she knows is wrong, what h/she has been taught at home, and to follow the
lead, the lead of an influential adult. The offender’s behavior is a play onh/ her emotions, and the emotions of affection are powerful.
The combination of working hard at the job and working hard at influencing the victim into harmful activities is identified in sexual offender
counseling as the pretend-Normal phase, a dangerous combination of thoughts and feelings and especially behaviors that switch back and
forth between a normal life and the scenario when they pretended everything is normal. It should be obvious that the offender cannot lead a
dual life style without some effort at covering up the undesirable life. So the offender sandwiches the offenses against the victim with the
normal activities which people are accustomed to seeing. Amongst the thoughts are deviant fantasies where offenders envision the
behaviors that they wished to engage in with their young victim. The facts that victims are a minors and years younger should preclude any
thoughts of a sexual nature. The distortion of that thinking facilitates deviant fantasies that need to be addressed on a professional level.
However, offenders are too ill to recognize that they needed help. It is easier to find rationale and to ascribe their feelings to some form of
normalcy.
The sex offender can have other contributing factors that make up the entire “package.” Most of these factors are part of everyone’s life,
such as interpersonal relations, stress, which may be job related, problems in a marriage, or any of a whole bunch of contributing issues.
The sex offender, however, compounds normal everyday living by adding to the mixture deviant stimuli, such as porno, deviant sexual
outlets, addictive behaviors, substance abuse, and failure to meet responsibilities. Are you keeping track? How would you (attempt to)
monitor your staff if you suspected a sexual abuser? There is no check list, but there is a set of behaviors, which unfortunately, also fits the
non-sex offender, your other staff. You would do a disservice, a grave injustice, were you to start a witch hunt.... If Mr. X, the math teacher,
has been seen walking the malls or driving in the same area on different occasions, is he cruising? If Ms Y has a subscription to Playgirl, is
she using porno? Is this one of the attributes of a sex offender?
The sex offender “model” suggests a long history of offending or a history of deviant activities prior to offending. The offending cycle is
comprised of several phases and begins with the phase identified as the acting out pre-assault phase. This is the period of time when the
offender attempts to put his fantasies into action. The victim is [subjected] to a grooming process which includes, amongst other things,
flirtations with the intent of gaining trust and confidence. The flirtations may be overt or subtle. In the case of teachers, it more or less has
to be subtle, for to be a lewd in flirting would most certainly bring attention.
Sex offenders may also employ cruising, visiting arcades, malls, gathering spots for potential victims, though teachers have before and
around them a potential pool of victims. Cruising would be a difficult MO to monitor and might very well be relegated to the rumor control
center, and the rumbling of the rumor mill is a weak platform from which to work Pedophiles also resort to seeking victims through baby
sitting and cruising/hanging around playgrounds, schools. School personnel should be aware of unidentified persons lingering in the vicinity
of the schools and should notify the administration. And as always, the students should be reminded constantly about the “strangers among
us.”
The proximity to victims and the positions of authority that teachers, clergy, group leaders (scouts, little league coaches, etc.) have,
coupled with a high level of influence/ power inherent in this positions, is a dangerous combination. It is certainly speculated, and I have
reason to believe, that there are more offenses throughout our society that have gone, and are going on, unreported. If from this series of
presentations even one offense is prevented or uncovered, the gain will be substantial.
Acting upon the deviant fantasies and distorted thinking and working through the acting out/pre-assault phase, the sex offender moves
on to the Offending Phase where the fantasies are acted upon the victim. Again, the MO is generally the same with each offender following
their own personal quirks. One method of victimizing is to get the victim into isolation by having h/her visit the classroom when the offender
has an open period. Another method is to ask h/her to be an “assistant,” a student helper. This helps to isolate the student in a one-to-one
situation. .
The “HOW” of the victimization and “how” offenders live with themselves is tied together in the rationalization and transitory guilt that
they feel. The rationalization will lay in the distorted views of the victim. The offender may feel s/he is in love with the victim; the victim is in
love with the offender. That makes it all right to sexually abuse h/her. The “how” of the offending is further strengthened by the distorted
views of self.
The contributing factors of self include education, social skills, introversion, and a myriad of issues from the family life, both present and
those of the growing-up years.
The ramifications of inappropriate relationships are long lasting, profound, far reaching for the victim, to their families, the offender and
their families, and the community, and especially the work place of the offender, be it in the school, the little league, or the athletic team, and
the damage is irreversible. Time may be often referred to as the all time great healer, but there are always reminders of the past.
The impact upon the victim is much greater. There will be, first and foremost, a loss of trust, and confidence, in herself and especially in
adults. Feelings of betrayal in the face of the assault from a trusted adult and perhaps even about the system, school, scouts, little league,
youth group, etc. The victim’s physical health may be placed in jeopardy through a loss or interruption of sleep and the development of
eating disorders. There are far ranging and long lasting psychological trauma including loss of self-esteem, depression, and suicide
ideation.
The impact upon the victim’s family and social structure further [highlights] the damage caused by an inappropriate behavior upon
children and teens. The effects are domino-like, from the victim, through her family, and through the community. Victims may experience
loss of trust from family members. Their integrity may be questioned, especially if the offender was highly visible and respected in the
community. This unintentional victimization finds its roots in bias and lack of information. The victim needs to be treated as a victim.
Regardless of the dynamics of the abuse, teachers must maintain the boundaries and there can by no justification for crossing them. The
effects are domino-like, from the victim, through her family, and through the community.
Certainly to no minor consideration, the effect upon the offender, the offender’s family and social structure, and upon the
community/organization (scouts, schools, church, etc.) is no less tragic. The feelings of guilt, embarrassment, betrayal, and hurt are but a
few of the feelings, although some of the feelings are part of the deviant cycle and of the distorted thinking. It is a given that offender will
never teach in the public schools again and other doors are also closed due to the felony conviction
| Presentation Text |