Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

Tweeden's report of her long felt anger in the face of a revealing photo of sexual harassment by Al Franken makes big news for several reasons. We know sexual harassment knows no political boundaries. It's not just a problem for conservatives who have been under fire. But now there is evidence of a Democrat's sexual assault-- plus a photo and an apology. Leeann Tweeden says she accepted Franken's apology, which adds to the complexity of how to handle sexual harassment in society. Sexual harassment is wrong. No one of a sound mind denies the obvious. Different groups concerned about people who are accused of sexual harassment handle reports differently. This difference raises the issue of what consequences should apply to Franken and others when there is evidence of harassment. Voters will judge when they have an opportunity regardless of what any official administrative group (ethics panels etc.) decides. So, politicians have consequences of a different sort t...

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife /Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Called Guercino, 1649 National Gallery of Art In an experimental study, people reading accounts of sexual assault performed worse than chance (45.3%) when judging whether a report was true or false. The more confident the judgment, the lower the rate of accuracy (Peace et al., 2012). Charges of sexual assault are clearly a serious matter. Many people are sexually assaulted each year. Most of the victims are women. Yet many innocent people have been imprisoned on false charges and lost years of their lives, which cannot be recovered. The story of Picking Cotton is a powerful reminder of a bright woman who appeared quite credible but was sadly mistaken. Jennifer Thompson was convinced it was Ronald Cotton who raped her. But it turned out she was wrong. Her story was presented in a 60-minutes special in 2011. The point is, when an accused person claims innocence, the person may be telling the truth. In ...

wikimedia commons Not long ago, I was shocked when a friend told me of personal sexual abuse in a scout-like program in his church. I learned of his long-term suffering--years of depression. Those of us in clinical work are sadly used to learning of people who have been sexually abused as children and adults. But abuse happens to our friends as well. Recently, the Boy Scouts announced that girls will be welcomed into their program. It didn't take long for the Girl Scouts to respond with "Why admitting girls is a 'terrible idea.'" ( Garcia, 2017 ) It doesn't help that a Boy Scout Leader made news earlier this year for the sexual abuse of five boys ( USNews, 2017, March 4) . The problem of child sexual abuse is not new. And the sexual abuse is not limited to scouts (e.g., CNN ). The history of problems of child sexual abuse and the recent reports of sexual harassment by aspiring female actors, make it clear. Vulnerable people are at risk for sexua...

CHRISTIAN FAITH, CAMPUS SEX, AND CONSENT Christian colleges and universities will face additional tests of faith this fall as matters of sex are sure to attract more attention than usual. The first and only two “Council News” stories on today’s (August 15, 2015) CCCU (Council for Christian Colleges and Universities) web page were recent and sex-related issues (contraceptive mandate, same-sex marriage). In the last few years, laws, policies, and campaigns have focused on the problems of sex or sex-linked behavior in new and nuanced ways. After focusing attention on the problems of sexual assault in the military, President Obama highlighted the problem of sexual assault on college campuses . A few days ago, NPR reported on the big business of programs designed to address the issue of sexual assault on campus. As I read the story, I couldn’t help but wonder how any short educational program could possibly produce change in human sexual behavior. Fortunately, others are...