Jerry Sandusky Case Study

Recently, The Mepham High School Football coach was exposed of having an affair with one of the students' mothers, but that is not even half of the story.

Joe Ehrmann describes how he has developed his philosophy of coaching by relating the story of his life in his youth, high school and in college describing two different types of coaches he had played for. The first are coaches who were impersonal, authoritarian, and sometimes abusive which he calls transactional coaches; this is in contrast to the humane coaches he calls transformative coaches. Coaches must face this responsibility because we all remember our coaches. “This is the awesome power and responsibility of coaching: You give your players memories, for better or for worse that stay with them until the day they die” (Ehrmann, 2011 p 46-47). Joe Erhmann goes on to ask, “What is the moral and ethical composition of their program?

Taking risks because of a higher amount of optimism, not taking warnings seriously, and being accustomed to not arguing against views within the college all contributed to the Penn State Cover up. When officials had doubts or differing ideals from those of others at Penn State, they simply kept them to themselves by self-censorship. In fact, head coach Joe Paterno knew as far back as 1972 about his assistant coach Jerry Sandusky being involved in molestation allegations and never brought allegations to light ("Penn State Scandal Fast Facts - CNN.com," 2016). The Clergy act requires college universities to report crimes on campus and the Department of Education fined Penn State several million dollars for not reporting misconduct on campus citing that they disregarded multiple reports of sexual abuse of a child and therefore helped a long time sexual predator. Unfortunately, the culture in the college football world puts the highest priority on the game. This lead to major collective rationalization,

Chappell, B. (2012). Penn State Abuse Scandal: A Guide And Timeline. NPR.org. Retrieved 5 February 2017, from http://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/142111804/penn-state-abuse-scandal-a-guide-and-timeline

In 1995, several years after he stepped down as the NCAA’s executive director of 36 years, Walter Byers published Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes. The title didn’t belie the book’s content. Among Byers’ confessions was the deception he sought in coining the well-worn phrase “student-athlete” to describe college athletes.

There is criminal liability for Jerry Sandusky because under Pennsylvania law, he lied about his relationships with the young victims of the case. "Under Pennsylvania law, as in other jurisdictions, perjury refers to knowingly lying while under oath. Obstruction of justice describes interference with the administration of justice, such as by concealing evidence or delaying or frustrating a criminal investigation" (McCann). Sandusky committed perjury and obstruction of justice because he abused his position as assistant coach, therefore he should have been charge of the crimes.

Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach for the Nittany Lions, was indicted on 40 counts of child molestation. As the investigation continued, it was determined that Sandusky had used his charity organization, the Second Mile, to track down and sexually abuse young boys interested in playing football. This horrendous abuse is thought to of started as early as the 1970’s, the time period Sandusky was only held responsible for acts that took place during 1994-2009. It is obvious that a very dangerous cultural element existed at Penn State. This culture of devotion, minimal blame and self-preservation. This is what seemed to drive the behavior at Penn State University, leaders, staff and the surrounding community. Good, healthy, productive behaviors cannot exist in a culture that doesn’t support them. Therefore, if you accept bad decisions, such as the ones made by the leaders at Penn State your promoting bad

The Sandusky scandal had a huge impact on Penn State, main reason Penn state officials covered it up for so long. Penn State officials didn’t want the disturbing news to damage Penn State impeccable reputation. Although they tried very hard to cover up this issue it was exposed.

Everything was looking good for Joe Paterno and Penn State football as his football managing career rose with an overall record of 298-136-3 but in 2011, all that changed. Back in 2000 a janitor of Penn State witnessed Sandusky receiving oral sex from a young boy, the janitor reported what he saw to co-workers and his supervisor but none of these men reported these actions to authorities. It wasn’t until November 5, 2011 that Sandusky was arrested on a $100,000 bail and up to 40 criminal counts. ESPN were quickly in the scene to investigate and report the allegations on Sandusky. They quickly reported saying Sandusky was charged with more than 50 counts of child sex-abuse involving 10 boys he met through The Second

After retirement, Sandusky was still active in “The Second Mile” and used the school's facilities for meetings and activities. There, he was seen allegedly sexually assaulting two different boys in two separate incidents in 2000 and 2002. An investigation was initiated by the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office into sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky in 2008. The investigation reached a new level of urgency when it became apparent that the allegations were not an isolated set of incidents, but that Sandusky had a strategy to abuse vulnerable boys. In 2011, Sandusky became infamous for allegedly committing numerous sexual offenses involving young boys. In October 2012, he was found guilty of 40 counts of sex crimes and sentenced to serve 30 to 60 years in prison, at his age, effectively a life

underhanded activities that occur pervasively throughout the three collegiate divisions. Some such scandals have included the child sex charges brought against the Pennsylvania State University and overall academic misconduct amongst member colleges and universities. This is exactly where the current NCAA president, Mark Emmert is directing his focus: a return to a conservative adherence to the original mission statement, a strict disciplinary strategy against institutional scandals, and an overall modernization of the association. Emmett plans to emphasize leadership of the NCAA in order shift the association away from its capitalistic tendencies (bookshelf.vitalsource.com).

Jerry Sandusky is a retired American football coach. He was the assistant coach at Pennsylvania State University under the legendary Joe Paterno for 30 years. He was the defensive coordinator for the football team. He is also the founder of The Second Mile. The Second Mile is a non-profit organization that serves underprivileged youth. This is where Jerry Sandusky had met many of his victims. On November 5th, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was arrested and charged with 52 counts of sex crimes against young

However, I would have to agree with the first half and say that Joe Paterno’s actions were inadequate. Although Joe Paterno reported what he saw to the Penn State president his responsibility shouldn’t have ended there. Yes, he fulfilled his obligation to report any illegal actions on campus but when the Penn State President chose not to take legal action Paterno should have made the moral decision and had gone to the authorities. Legally, he fulfilled his obligation and therefore no longer holds any responsibility in the eyes of the legal system. In the eyes of morality though, his responsibility in the matter was not over just because he reported it to who he was supposed to. This major problem should have been dealt with a long time ago. It’s just a moral obligation that Joe Paterno should have acted upon. So yes I feel he deserved to be fired. Everyone who knew about it should have reported it to legal authorities. His great athletic achievements and mutual respect should have pushed towards the issue being resolved and not swept under the rug for it to come out years after and now resulting in him being fired. Every action has a reaction and in this case the reaction is due to Paternos lack of action.

In Case 7 “Perceptions of Leaders Following Public Failures: A Tale of Two Coaches”, two leaders both college football coaches of their respective teams were encountered with scrutiny, as they lacked a certain level sensitivity regarding serious incidents within their program. The case study talks about both Mike Leach and Gary Barnett’s background as coaches and progress to the events with their program that lead to them being involved in the public failure. This eventually led to people having various perceptions of both coaches based off of how they dealt with the incidents. As a result of both programs image being tarnished, Mike Leach was fired, however; Gary Barnett’s job was retained.

A few years ago, there was much discussion relating to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and those units responsible for instituting student-athlete and athletic department policy. This purpose of this paper is to discuss the ethical misconduct that occurred at Penn State, Ohio State and the University of Arkansas, and how the NCAA played a role in the wrongdoing. Coaches, players, and administrators face mounting pressures brought on by the need to sell seats and win games. In response, this type of pressure creates opportunities for offenses to take place. The first component of the paper will be to determine the fundamental ways in which the ethics programs of the NCAA failed to prevent the scandals at Penn State, Ohio State, and the University of Arkansas. Once those measures are identified and discussed, the ways the NCAA leadership contributed to the ethical violations of these schools will be discussed. The next element of the paper will predict the key differences in the scandals that occurred at each school if an effective ethics program was implemented. Next, the paper will suggest actions that the NCAA leadership should take to regain the trust and confidence of the students and stakeholders. The last section will identify measures that HR departments of