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Article Excerpt
The authors explore the issue of consensual sexual relationships between counselor educators and students. The American Counseling Association's (2005) ACA Code of Ethics is consulted, and the complex issues associated with these relationships are discussed. A case example is provided that generates suggestions to guide counselor educators' decision making related to consensual sexual relationships with students.
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The American Counseling Association's (ACA; 2005) ACA Code of Ethics explicitly states that sexual relationships between clients and counselors, supervisors and supervisees, and counselor educators and current students are strictly prohibited (Standards A.5.a., F.3.b., F. 10.a.). Regarding supervisees, ACA specifically states: "Sexual or romantic interactions or relationships with current supervisees are prohibited" (Standard F.3.b., p. 14) and "Counseling supervisors do not condone or subject supervisees to sexual harassment" (Standard F.3.c., p. 14). Regarding students, ACA states: "Sexual or romantic interactions or relationships with current students are prohibited" (Standard F. 10.a., p. 16) and "Counselor educators do not condone or subject students to sexual harassment" (Standard F.10.b., p. 16). In addition, the American Mental Health Counselors Association's (2000) Code of Ethics states, "All forms of sexual behavior with supervisees, students and employees are unethical. Further, mental health counselors do not engage in sexual or other harassment of supervisees, students, employees or colleagues" (Principle 9). Finally, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision's (ACES; 1993) Ethical Guidelines for Counseling Supervisors also states, "Supervisors should not participate in any form of sexual contact with supervisees" (Standard 2.10).
The ACA Code of Ethics (ACA, 2005), defines a student in the glossary of terms as "an individual engaged in formal educational preparation as a counselor-in-training" (p. 20). It is possible, however, for faculty members' interpretations, judgments, and subsequent decision making to differ regarding the definition of a current student. This variability may contribute to some counselor educators engaging in relationships that may be perceived by others as unethical.
Despite the important ethical considerations associated with consensual faculty-student sexual relationships and the apparent occurrence of these relationships (Barnett-Queen, 2000), very little attention has been given to the matter in the scholarly literature (Congress, 2001; Fogg & Walsh, 2002; Kolbert, Morgan, & Brendel, 2002; Meara, Schmidt, & Day, 1996; Schwab & Neukrug, 1994). Specifically, no attention has been given to the topic of more ambiguous faculty-student sexual relationships (e.g., consensual faculty-student relationships after a student's graduation versus consensual faculty-student relationships while a student is still enrolled in the program). In this article, we attempt to address these ambiguities and use a case example to highlight them, and we provide recommendations for counselor educator ethical decision making and practices. We hope to generate discussion among counselor educators regarding their responsibility (collectively and individually) to students enrolled in their counselor preparation programs. This article is also intended to facilitate thoughtful, deliberate counselor educator decision-making practices related to the issue.
Prevalence and Consequences of Faculty-Student Sexual Relationships
It is difficult to assess the scope of consensual faculty-student sexual relationships as a separate issue from nonconsensual relationships, such as sexual harassment (i.e., forceful, unwanted sexual advances). One factor that contributes to this difficulty is that most researchers have collapsed categories and/or do not ask study participants about the details of their sexual relationship (e.g., when the relationship began in relation to the student's enrollment status, whether the relationship was consensual or unwanted).
Research has indicated that approximately 2% to 7% of counseling students have some sexual contact ,with a professor while in training (Barnett-Queen, 2000; Miller & Larrabee, 1995; Thoreson, Shaughnessy, & Frazier, 1995). Even higher rates of faculty-student sexual contact have been reported among psychology students, with studies indicating that 17% to 18% of female, graduate-level psychology students have had a sexual relationship with one of their professors while in training (Glaser & Thorpe, 1986; Pope, Levenson, & Schover, 1979; Robinson & Reid, 1985; Sullivan & Ogloff, 1998). The research is generally not specific regarding the definition of either student or faculty-student relationship (Kolbert et al., 2002; Lamb & Catanzaro, 1998). For example, there is ambiguity about true prevalence rates because the research does not address such questions as whether the student was in the professor's class when the relationship occurred or whether the student was in the program in which the professor worked. Despite the difficulties in categorizing the types and temporal nature of faculty-student sexual relationships, it appears that this is an issue that occurs with enough frequency to warrant further attention.
Thoreson, Shaughnessy, Heppner, and Cook (1993) investigated male counselor educators' sexual contacts with students. In Thoreson et al.'s sample, 1.7% of the participants admitted to sexual contact with students while actively engaged in a professional relationship with them, and 7.9% indicated sexual contact with students after termination of the professional relationship (professional relationship was not operationalized in this study). This finding implies that some counselor educators find it more acceptable to have a relationship with a student when the professional relationship has been terminated than when the student is actually enrolled in the educator's program.
Kolbert et al.'s (2002) research suggested that counselor educators do not have as many concerns about having relationships with former students as they do with current students. A number of counselor educators in their study reported no conflict in having sexual relationships with former students for the following reasons: the 1995 ACA Code of Ethics did not prohibit sexual relationships with former students; a belief that because faculty members do not maintain the romantic relationship and the professor role simultaneously, there is no conflict of interest; and the belief that an autonomous individual should...
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