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Comparing The Rational Choice Theory And The Labeling Theory

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The concern at hand is why teachers have sex with students; however, it goes much deeper than this. It is not just simply teacher on student through temptation or desire. There is a true criminal event happening with educator sexual misconduct, sexual abuse, and harassment. Teachers are taking advantage of students and even sometimes vice versa. Teacher student relationships may develop inappropriately through not only temptation or desire, but also specific mental concerns, sexual preferences, force, bonding, and many other reasons. Research shows different criminological theories that can be associated with this criminal event. Noted in this writing is the labeling theory and the rational choice theory. With the labeling theory, it is broken …show more content…

(Lilly, et. al., 2015); and the Rational Choice Theory discusses an individual’s specific consideration of the consequences per action, yet decides to follow through with the criminal action regardless. A study shows “As a group, these studies present a wide range of estimates of the percentage of U.S. students subject to sexual misconduct by school staff and vary from 3.7 to 50.3 percent (Table 5). Because of its carefully drawn sample and survey methodology, the AAUW report that nearly 9.6 percent of students are targets of educator sexual misconduct sometime during their school career presents the most accurate data available at this time.” (Shakeshaft, 2015) With this statistic present, although seemingly low, any number in this context is a concern. It is important to identify why this is happening. Understanding different criminological theories can aide in turning the concern into a past issue. Prediction and prevention are especially important in these cases with the positive of having many other educators and families involved. Recognizing repetition and acknowledging teacher student relations are important for all parties involved; both of which can reduce the likelihood and number of

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