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The Ethics Of Intimate Student-Faculty Relationships, Brian Craig Steinberg

Graduate Research Papers

What are the ethics behind intimate student-faculty relationships in higher education? Should such relationships be allowed? Can they be legally controlled? Should there be a penalty for faculty and students who engage in these relationships? Consenting romantic and/or sexual relationships between faculty and student, or between student services professional and student, although usually not expressly forbidden, are generally deemed unwise (Cahn, 1986). According to Svinicki (1994), codes of ethics for most professional associations forbid "professional-client" sexual relationships. In an educational institution, the professor-student and student affairs professional-student relationships are thus such "professional-client" relationships. The respect and trust accorded a professor …