Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Semester of Degree Completion
1994
Thesis Director
Melanie McKee (Mills)
Abstract
A history of sexual harassment traces the recognition and development of the issue as a social problem in the workplace and on college campuses. A review of research literature reveals both percentages of students involved and the effects on those students of academic or teacher/student sexual harassment. A brief overview of institutional policy statements shows that some colleges/universities have responded to the issue with a ban on all consensual amorous relationships between teachers and students; some ban such relationships only when a supervisory relationship also exists, and some do neither. Some policies include sanctions on those who violate bans; others do not. A rhetorical analysis of a statement made by a teacher who opposes all bans offers evidence of power abuse and serves as a paradigm of a rationalization of those teachers who do take advantage of their positions of power relative to their students. This paper does not advocate bans on teacher-student relationships; it does advocate sanctions on teachers who establish sexual relationships with students through the abuse of their power.
Recommended Citation
Wiman, Loretta Lovelace, "A Burkean Analysis of the Rhetoric of Sexual Harassment: An Examination of the Polarization of Attitudes Related to Consensual Relationships on Campus" (1994). Masters Theses. 2075.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/2075
Included in
Higher Education Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons
