While many studies have examined child sexual abuse extensively over the years, few of them have explored sexual offending concerning teachers as perpetrators. Teachers can positively affect the mental wellbeing, future associations, and academic and occupational attainment of their students (Jaffe et al., 2013). If teachers, however, perpetrate sexual abuse they can adversely affect these domains (Jaffe et al., 2013). Sexual abuse entails both physical and non-physical sexual offending that exploits the trust in a professional position (Mathews, 2018). Most extensive studies on sexual offending against students focus on male teacher perpetrators while underreporting or under researching sexual misconduct concerning female teachers. The rising cases of sexual misconduct involving female teachers recently, however, have led to increasing investigations and reporting of cases. Reports about female teachers accused of sexual offending against students are common today. It is vital to examine the issue of female teacher sexual offending to understand the existing aspects regarding the topic and formulate ways of dealing with the issue.
To understand the issue of female teacher sexual offending, the current paper explores the prevalence of female teacher sexual offenses, the characteristics of female teacher sex offenders, and the suggested strategies to prevent female teachers from sexually abusing their students.
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Literature Review
Sexual offending among female teachers is quite prevalent. A study by Ratliff and Watson (2014) investigated sexual abuse involving teachers in South-Eastern parts of the United States from 2007 to 2011. The researchers found that 26 percent of the perpetrators involved female teachers in which the average age of the offenders was 34 years old. Another study by Darling (2018) found that most women including teachers perpetrated abuse of trust crimes (offenses involving adults in an official position of authority, such as teaching, abusing their trust to commit sexual misconduct against young people under 18 years of age) at a higher rate than men in which female perpetrated 13 percent of child sexual misconducts compared 1.6 percent of the cases perpetrated by males.
Regarding the characteristics of female teacher sex offenders, studies found that nearly two-thirds of the perpetrators were in their mid-twenties and mid-thirties, solo offenders, had worked for over three years, lacked a professional or criminal history of misconduct, and offended male students aged 15 to 16 years old (Darling, Hackett & Jamie, 2018). Studies have also found differences between co-offenders and solo offenders where solo offenders were found to be experiencing personal problems such as depression and dissatisfaction while co-offenders were found to be experiencing poor self-management and enhanced sexual self-regulation (Ten Bensel, Gibbs & Burkey, 2016). Female teachers in high school were also found to be regular perpetrators (Darling et al., 2018). Through an extensive case examination of the relevant website content, court reports, media reports, and professional regulatory decisions, Darling et al. (2018) found that female perpetrators were experienced, not naïve, and did not fit the stereotype of women who men coerce to influence them to sexually abuse children. Most of the perpetrators engage in sexual offending due to contextual and situational factors instead of existing sexual inclination for children or inclination to sexual misconduct. They are mostly motivated to offend to meet their emotional needs and to gain sexual gratification in cases where they did not meet these needs effectively in their adult relationships. These perpetrators share features with other female sexual offenders in other studies such as loneliness, isolation, low self-esteem, emotional self-management issues, relationship challenges, and unstable lifestyles. These women, nevertheless, depicted less past victimization, chaotic backgrounds, mental health issues, and substance abuse (Darling et al., 2018).
Other features that female teacher sex offenders depict concerns initiation of relations with the student, relationship maintenance, and relationship protection from identification. For instance, female teachers are the initiators of sexual relationships with students and sexual abuse against students (Flora et al., 2014). The role of the teacher in the life of the student and her age places her in a power position in which she acts in non-violent and peaceful ways against her victim (Flora et al., 2014). While studies have demonstrated that most perpetrators engage in sexual abuse based on contextual and situational factors without history of underlying mental issues (Darling, 2018), other scientific literatures show that perpetrators can also be victims of severe emotional and verbal abuse during their childhood period or victims of sexual abuse in their adult relationships (Flora et al., 2014). Compared to male perpetrators, female perpetrators were found to be less forceful, violent, and threatening and most of them had sexual fantasies with children, regular contact with their victims, and engaged in specific grooming patterns as a pretense to nurture their victims (Flora et al., 2014). Female sexual offenders also differ based on the level of school they are teaching. For example, primary school perpetrators were found to be high achievers with many awards for their efforts in teaching. They use these achievements to secure reputation and trust to hide their sexual offending. Female teacher perpetrators in secondary schools, nevertheless, may or may not be high achievers and only sexually abuse students because of misjudgment (Knoll, 2010). Both categories of teachers, however, engage in abusive behaviors following significant grooming through unique associations and electronic communication with students (Solis & Benedek, 2012). They use different grooming patterns with the main objective of initiating and maintaining sexual relationships with students. For instance, they use sexual and mental exploitation to select their victims by targeting students with emotional issues and those who have distant relationships with their parents or guardians. The techniques used include demonstrating special attention to victims, giving victims rewards or supporting them. Rewards in this context entail helping the student further, creating chances for overnight outings, advising students on projects, or mentoring a student while introducing and increasing sexually related topics slowly. The perpetrator then increases the level of physical contact and touching gradually to test the ability of the victim to maintain secrecy and desensitize the student through gradual sexual actions (Knoll, 2010). Offenders also provide the students with cherished experiences to sustain the relationship and sometimes involve the guardian or parent of the student to gain the student’s approval and trust in which most students respond positively (Knoll, 2010). In turn, this allows the perpetrator to isolate the victim during outings and regularly contact the victim. Most parents consider teachers to be positive authority figures and welcome this additional teacher attention (Knoll, 2010).
Ratliff and Watson (2014) also found female teachers to have a high likelihood of committing crimes against students aged 13 years or over compared to male teachers who had a higher likelihood of abusing students aged 12 years or below. They did not find any notable difference regarding the grade level that teachers focused on during the abuse period. Other studies comparing male and female teachers have found various unique differences between the two groups. Specifically, the study by Mototsune (2015) found that male teachers (37 years) were older than their female counterparts (32 years) and had offended for long periods (27 months) than female teachers (20 months). Female teachers, nevertheless, regularly committed all types of sexual abuse offenses such as oral, vaginal, and anal sexual misconduct. Female teachers were also found to use their home mostly followed by the community to commit their crimes.
Given the increasing cases of female teacher sexual offenses against students, research recommends different prevention strategies both by parents and at school levels. For instance, the scientific literature suggests that school districts can tackle sexual misconduct by creating and implementing effective prevention approaches such as through publishing policies about appropriate grievance procedures and sexual discrimination (Knoll, 2010). In turn, this can help victims or parents report any abuse involving teachers easily. The published policies should be clear regarding their definition and banning of sexual abuse against students (Knoll, 2010). Another prevention measure identified entails launching regular in-service and training programs targeting teachers, parents, and students to educate them about unacceptable behaviors against students and potential sexual abuse signs depicted by students or teachers. Studies also highlight the importance of clarifying the mandatory reporting of any sexual abuse involving teachers to allow victims and their parents to report any suspecting behavior (Knoll, 2010). It is also advisable to conduct frequent awareness campaigns for the school personnel regarding sexual abuse and harassment to allow them to clearly understand inappropriate behavior, activities to avoid, and the consequences of making wrong decisions concerning their relationships with students (Ratliff & Watson, 2014). Schools are also advised to establish complaint procedures that emphasize who is responsible for reporting inappropriate behaviors, identify the role of different people including parents and the school personnel, and encourage school personnel, parents, and students to report sexual abuse cases anonymously (Ratliff & Watson, 2014).
Conclusion
The reviewed studies demonstrate possible prevention measures concerning procedures and policies in schools and the education sector as a whole. Guardians and parents must be alert concerning potential abuse signs in relationships between female teachers and students in both the school settings and in the wider society. It is also vital to monitor ongoing associations involving female teachers and students when concerns about the conduct of the teacher emerge to address further breaches (Darling, 2018). Studies have also found that most sexual offending behaviors occur during the mid-career phase and that teachers lacked past sexual misconduct history. The finding is vital as it suggests the absence of predisposition to engage in sexual abuse or any specific motivation to engage in sexual misconduct that can compel people to choose careers that involve children. In turn, this indicates the limited nature of pre-employment evaluations because of their failure to identify potential sexual abuse perpetrators. Existing supervision and monitoring of teachers should be emphasized and improved to enable early identification of perpetrators.
Contextual and situational factors and external stressors are also vital given the absence of predisposition among female teachers who commit sexual abuse. The educational environment and the relationship context between teachers and students may initiate sexually abusive acts without the presence of previous motivation (Smallbone, Marshall & Wortley, 2013). In turn, this emphasizes the importance of situational strategies for preventing crimes in dealing with factors involved in female teacher sexual offending. Specific contexts, locations, and situations in the educational environment may present risks for abusive behaviors. The majority of the abuse cases also occur outside the school settings, which necessitates the need for clear procedures and policies regarding contact between teachers and students away from the school including both through electronic ways and in person. Technology is important among young people today, which further offers increased opportunities for the creation of inappropriate associations between teachers and students in unregulated and unmonitored settings. Schools should focus on this area when formulating procedures and policies to prevent female sexual offenses against children. The presence of mental health issues and stressors that teachers experience contribute to sexual offending, which highlights the necessity for effective monitoring and supervision of school personnel across their careers and the importance of providing sufficient support system for teachers who are facing professional or personal challenges. Given that perpetrators use specific grooming techniques to initiate and maintain relationships with students, it is vital for both school administrators and other staff, and parents to understand grooming patterns to ensure early detection and prevention of female teacher sexual misconduct
The present paper has identified the importance of situational factors in perpetrating sexual misconduct among female teachers. Future studies can expand this domain by examining the contexts, locations, and situations in schools that increase the risk of sexual offending. Identifying risk areas will allow schools to implement appropriate prevention measures. The current review is, however, limited by the nature and quality of the used studies. The paper has attempted to examine the studies even though some studies focus on specific information only such as grooming patterns or characteristics of offenders without explicitly identifying other information such as underlying motivations. These studies, nevertheless, offered adequate data regarding the topic.
The present study examined the prevalence of female teacher sex offenders, the features of the offenders, the potential prevention measures in which it was found that the rate of female sexual abuse against students is on the rise. Female sex offenders were found to be less aggressive, forceful, and threatening and used a planned strategy through various grooming patterns to initiate and maintain sexual relationships with students. Different prevention strategies were also highlighted.
References
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