Citation

Robert CE, Thompson DP. J. Child Sex. Abus. 2019; 28(1): 7-25.

Affiliation

b Educational Leadership and Policy Studies , The University of Texas at San Antonio , San Antonio , TX , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10538712.2018.1476999

PMID

29792583

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to describe Texas educator sexual misconduct (ESM) by examining 8 years of sanctions issued to educators (N = 1415) for either sexual misconduct or inappropriate relationships with students or minors. We first examine Texas ESM from the perspective of quality database construction and then describe the demographic characteristics of educators sanctioned for ESM between 2008 and 2016. Differences in the demographic characteristics of educators sanctioned for ESM vary according to the definition of ESM employed by the state education agency. Younger and early career educators are more likely to engage in inappropriate relationships with students or minors, whereas older and later-career teachers are more likely to engage in sexual misconduct as that term is defined by the state education agency. Over one-third of educators sanctioned for ESM were either new to the profession or new to their school district when sanctioned. Recommendations are offered for database construction, policy, and practice.

Language: en

Keywords

child sexual abuse; educator sexual misconduct; educators; inappropriate relationships; schools