NCJ Number
164282
Date Published
1996
Length
25 pages
Annotation
All members of university communities need to face what is wrong with consensual sexual relationships between faculty members and students for whom faculty members have professional responsibilities.
Abstract
When faculty-student consensual sexual relationships are scrutinized in the context of ethics, questions arise about the ethical obligations of professors, conflicts of interest in dual role relationships, and the potential for a professor's abuse of power over his student lover. The university teaching profession, like any other profession, should have ethical standards that emphasize protection of the student over personal interests of the professor. The American Association of University Professors Statement on Professional Ethics is the most widely used ethical code for the university teaching profession. A key problem in faculty-student sexual relationships is that other students assume the professor unfairly favors his student lover. Other detrimental consequences of faculty-student sexual relationships concern damage to the university's reputation, the belief of female students that their academic progress is linked to the sexual relationship, and resentment and hostility when the sexual relationship is or becomes unwanted by the student. Moreover, distinctions between consensual sexual relationships and sexual harassment in faculty-student relationships can often be difficult to make. University communities need to deal with faculty breaches of ethical responsibilities, to provide equal educational opportunities for students, and to prevent consensual sexual relationships between faculty and students for whom faculty have professional responsibilities. 73 references