The Take Down of Sandusky

The Investigation of Jerry Sandusky created uproar within the sporting world.  One may think how could this scandal be kept a secret for so long? This case is a seamless example of how power can influence and enable acts of criminal and unjust behaviors.

June 22, 2012, is the date that Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison on the conviction of 45 of 48 remaining counts of child abuse (ESPN, 2012).  Sandusky First began his coaching career at Penn State University in 1969 as a defensive line coach (ESPN, 2012). Sandusky’s passion to help those who are in need lead him to become the Founder of The Second Mile non-profit organization in 1977 (Chappell, 2012). Little did anyone know that The Second Mile would become Sandusky’s access to his adolescent victims. Using his high profile career to lure his victims it would have seemed as if Sandusky created the perfect cover up for his horrific obsessions. 

However, this double life that Sandusky thought was his little secret would soon unraveled after a period of time, marking him as a “failure of leadership”(Albino). 

It would be on November 26, 1994 when Sandusky ‘s would have to begin to pay more attention to his actions. Nov 26, Sandusky victim 7 admitted that he had been touched inappropriately as well as showered with Sandusky (Chappell, 2012).  And then a couple years later in May of 1998, Sandusky returned his 6^th victim to his mother with a wet head in which the victim told his mother that he had showered with Sandusky (Chappell, 2012).  The following year (1999) later decided to retire from his coaching career. However Sandusky was granted “emeritus” allowing him access to use Penn States Facilities at anytime (Sporkin, 2012, p.21).

Penn States Head Coach of 45 years Joe Patnero is a legendary football coach who was tied for the all-time winning record in Division 1 college football. (Albino, 2012 p. 137).  What was most remarkable about this coach, however was his reputation for doing things the “right way” and how his program usually was the model held up for others that had gone astray (Albino, 2012 p.137). However many would now disagree that “the right way” was the “wrong way” due to Sandusky outrageous behavior.  One would think why didn’t Paterno take more action in preventing reoccurrence of such unjust behavior.  The power balance relations in this case can be more thoroughly examined from a sociological lens of process sociology. Process sociology is the most appropriate sociological theory to examine this case in which it focuses on the power balances within figurations (Maguire, 1994). Elias defines Process Sociology with several key concepts, which include the following that human beings are interdependent, that their lives evolve in the figurations that they form with each other, that these figurations are continually in flux, and that the long-term developments taking place in figurations have been and continue to be largely unplanned and unforeseen (Maguire, 1994 p.130-131).  

When applying Elias first concept of human beings are interdependent, Sandusky had a web of people that were largely affected by his actions. The power position that Sandusky held affected many witnesses and their decisions made to turn him in. For example, the janitor James Calhoun witnessed Sandusky showering in the Lasch Football building with a young boy and immediately reported what he saw to his supervisor Jay Witherite and fellow physical plant employee Ronald Petrosky (ESPN, 2012). In the Calhoun’s situation he had no personal connections to Sandusky. However, Sandusky did have an interdependent relationship with Calhoun.

In the second concept that Elias focuses on that people lives evolve in the figurations that they form with each other (Maguire, 1994 p. 130).  In Sandusky’s case the figurations that he formed not only affected his family but also shook the entire sports world.

The third concept Elias uses to define the sociological process that these figurations are continually in flux (Maguire, 1994 p. 131).  Sandusky network of people and power consistently changed during time before conviction. Sandusky power was in flux throughout his entire career however, he still maintained to have more power over others as well as use his power as an intimidation factor.

The final aspect used to define the sociological process is that the long-term developments taking place in figurations have been and continue to be largely unplanned and unforeseen (Maguire, 1994 p.131).

We have discussed the power of Sandusky and his influence on others but the question remains of how much power did Coach Paterno have? Many would say that Coach Paterno did not do enough that he could have stopped the disgusting habit of Sandusky. Coach Paterno’s first engagement with Sandusky inappropriate actions was when graduate assistant Mike McQueary confronted him about what he had witness in the Penn State locker room in 2002. Coach Paterno proceeded to address the actions with the athletic director Tim Curley. In defense of Coach Paterno he followed the correct procedures when reporting the situation. According to the Penn State Student Affairs Policy for Reporting Incidents of Child Abuse and Sexual Assault:

Though the law requires incidents to be reported to the person ‘in charge of the institution,’ Student Affairs staff are expected to report all incidents of child abuse as soon as possible to their supervisor, to University or local police and to Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Child Line at (800) 932-0313. This phone line is staffed 24 hours daily.

In this case Coach Paterno did do what he was expected to be right following his motto of doing things the “right way”. But was his “right way” enough? Did he even use his power to his maximum potential to make an impact on the situation? That is a question that still remains. In Coach Paterno eye’s he felt that that is all he could do. At the point in time Sandusky was no longer on the coaching staff of the Penn State football team, which could be a plausible cause to why Coach Paterno, didn’t think he could do more.  The questions to if Coach Paterno could have done morewill remain unanswered. Coach Paterno was unable to provide his testimony due to his passing of cancer.

References:

Albino, J. (2013). Distinguished Psychologist In Management Award: Personal Leadership    Identity and Leadership Frames: Understanding What Happened at Penn State. American Psychological Association. Vol. 16: No.3, Pp 131-146

Chappell, B. (2012). Penn State Abuse Scandal: A Guide And Timeline. Available:      http://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/142111804/penn-state-abuse-scandal-a-guide-and-timeline Retrieved 29th January, 2014.

ESPN (2012). Topics: Penn State Scandal Overview & Timeline. Available:          http://espn.go.com/ncf/topics/_/page/penn-state-scandal.  Retrieved 31^st January, 2014.

Maguire, J. (1994). Figurations, power, civilizing processes. In Javrie, G &Maguire, J   (1994). Sport & Leisure in Social Thought. London: Routledge. Pp 130-137


Sporkin, F. & Sullivan, LLP (2012). Report of the Special Investigation Regarding the            Actions of The Pennsylvania State University Related to The Child Sexual Abuse Committed by Gerald A. Sandusky.