Organizational Betrayal: How Schools Enable Sexual Misconduct and How to Stop It

A path to safety for protecting students from educator sexual misconduct, based on lessons learned from decades of past cases

In Organizational Betrayal, educational researcher Charol Shakeshaft advocates a system-wide approach for safeguarding K-12 students against educator sexual misconduct. She shows that practical interventions such as simply asking questions can advance the safety of children.

Based on decades of inquiry into cases of student abuse in educational systems, the work reveals that sexual abuse of children in US K-12 schools is more prevalent than we’d like to believe. Examining the root causes and contexts, Shakeshaft concludes that school cultures and institutional structures are often complicit in cases of sexual misconduct. Disrupting a culture of enablement is an organizational responsibility, she contends.

The work presents an ecological model of prevention that can shield students by breaking the cycle of institutional betrayal through protections such as clear policies, widespread training, supervision, and reporting. Shakeshaft suggests straightforward actions that can interrupt patterns of abuse and trauma, including teaching both potential bystanders and potential victims of school employee sexual misconduct the policies regulating adult-student interactions in schools; training all members of a school community to recognize red flags and boundary crossing; and investigating the difference between good teaching and questionable tactics that should trigger suspicion.

The documentation provided in this book is persuasive, and it compels examination of school cultures, decisions, and practices, with a goal of preventing the abuse of students by school employees.

Charol Shakeshaft is a professor in the School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth University. She has been studying sexual misconduct by school employees for over three decades and has served as an expert witness in 250 lawsuits brought against K-12 schools and universities.