SPOILER ALERT!
Private School Abuse
Boarding School Abuse illustrates a range of illegal and improper activities often perpetrated against students by school faculty members, administrators or staff regarding sexual assault of varying degrees. abuse in boarding school can be a one-time, non-consensual abuse or it may involve many assaults within an continuing interaction. For example, an continuing intimate relationship with a student, created by the predatory behavior of a faculty member, school administrator or staff and whether heading to physical agreed sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.
Student-on-student sexual assault is an additional type of abuse, that can be compounded by the school’s failure to offer a safe environment that allowed the attack to occur. Inside the school population are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students may be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more experienced students. This behavior, coupled with peer-pressure applied to both the attacker and the targeted victim, can lead to varying forms of abuse including sexual assault of varying degrees.
In all alleged Boarding School Assault situations, a school administration’s failure to fully, adequately report the crime to law enforcement and other authorities, or its further failure to investigate, address and deal fully with the situation amplifies the effects on the victim, the school population and possibly others. Recent Boarding School Abuse issues reported in the media highlight these failures, including times where the attacker quietly departs the campus merely to assume employment somewhere else in a school environment.
Predatory Behavior
Most private schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside a well-defined and secure campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much closer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school situation. This could create both opportunity and cover to the possible abuser and for the predatory behavior.
In some matters, the attacker might be a likeable and popular individual, generally thought to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted victim may feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community is expressing special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration in the school community, attack allegations against these abusers are often met with doubt, non-belief, and resistance by the community. Often, abusers have boundary and morality problems which manifest themselves in unusually friendly relationships with students that are past what are normally expected. This creates a predatory path and opportunity for the attack.
All abusers, to varying amounts, employ predatory methods that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a potential abuse victim. Following is a compilation of grooming methods exhibited by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the student.
Grooming
Grooming is a significant part of a predator’s method. In a boarding school situation, a predator usually works closely with small numbers of students, understanding every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is located and selected, these vulnerabilities – like loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, could be systematically exploited in the following manners:
Trust
A predator could initially work to get the student’s trust. This step is most difficult to discern as boarding school communities are often tight-knit and personal engagement is commonplace. Here, the attacker is likely part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and achievement at the school.
Reliance
As a predator creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student will begin to rely more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The victim will spend more time with the predator, feeling more and more comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to attention and kindness, the potential victim may receive gifts from the predator, including valuable, gifts like the promise of higher marks, or a university recommendation letter. The reliance stage is usually when the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.
Isolation
As the grooming progresses, the predator will try to isolate the potential victim. At school, this may mean late meetings, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dorm , one-on-one athletic training sessions, or other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to desensitize the student from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other behaviors which lead to sexual interaction. This might begin with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or verbally, with suggestive language to gauge the victim’s response to the progression. This might increase until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
Once the sexual relationship is created, the predator will work to keep control over the student and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably seek to manipulate the student by introducing emotions of shame, or even threats, or employ the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. In any event, the predator will keep trying to exploit the victim by whatever means necessary to maintain the inappropriate physical relationship.
Impacts on Abuse Survivors
While the grooming increases as intended by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will probably respond affirmatively to the behaviors. The predator, through these well-thought-out and executed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-work and remove the moral confines of the targeted student. Because the victim participated in this re-calibration, he often experiences deep feelings of shame, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.
Furthermore, after the abuse has been revealed, survivors of boarding school abuse are often exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like being bullied, isolation from their peers, or retaliation from teachers. Especially at private schools, where academics are stringent, competition can be intense and social circles small, victims of abuse could be quickly isolated and socially abused. Exposed to those reactions, many boarding school abuse victims who have reported the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of such isolation and social abuse, report the abuse decades later. In either situation, the impact can be severe and lasting.
Some abuse survivors suffer from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, ptsd, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups might assist survivors overcome those effects.
Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse can receive financial compensation from the abuser and more frequently, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or deficiencies in its process of reviewing and responding to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially review your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are ready to speak with you. It is important for a survivor to remember that being a victim is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the abuse to justice.
Student-on-student sexual assault is an additional type of abuse, that can be compounded by the school’s failure to offer a safe environment that allowed the attack to occur. Inside the school population are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students may be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more experienced students. This behavior, coupled with peer-pressure applied to both the attacker and the targeted victim, can lead to varying forms of abuse including sexual assault of varying degrees.
In all alleged Boarding School Assault situations, a school administration’s failure to fully, adequately report the crime to law enforcement and other authorities, or its further failure to investigate, address and deal fully with the situation amplifies the effects on the victim, the school population and possibly others. Recent Boarding School Abuse issues reported in the media highlight these failures, including times where the attacker quietly departs the campus merely to assume employment somewhere else in a school environment.
Predatory Behavior
Most private schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside a well-defined and secure campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much closer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school situation. This could create both opportunity and cover to the possible abuser and for the predatory behavior.
In some matters, the attacker might be a likeable and popular individual, generally thought to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted victim may feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community is expressing special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration in the school community, attack allegations against these abusers are often met with doubt, non-belief, and resistance by the community. Often, abusers have boundary and morality problems which manifest themselves in unusually friendly relationships with students that are past what are normally expected. This creates a predatory path and opportunity for the attack.
All abusers, to varying amounts, employ predatory methods that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a potential abuse victim. Following is a compilation of grooming methods exhibited by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the student.
Grooming
Grooming is a significant part of a predator’s method. In a boarding school situation, a predator usually works closely with small numbers of students, understanding every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is located and selected, these vulnerabilities – like loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, could be systematically exploited in the following manners:
Trust
A predator could initially work to get the student’s trust. This step is most difficult to discern as boarding school communities are often tight-knit and personal engagement is commonplace. Here, the attacker is likely part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and achievement at the school.
Reliance
As a predator creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student will begin to rely more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The victim will spend more time with the predator, feeling more and more comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to attention and kindness, the potential victim may receive gifts from the predator, including valuable, gifts like the promise of higher marks, or a university recommendation letter. The reliance stage is usually when the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.
Isolation
As the grooming progresses, the predator will try to isolate the potential victim. At school, this may mean late meetings, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dorm , one-on-one athletic training sessions, or other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to desensitize the student from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other behaviors which lead to sexual interaction. This might begin with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or verbally, with suggestive language to gauge the victim’s response to the progression. This might increase until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
Once the sexual relationship is created, the predator will work to keep control over the student and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably seek to manipulate the student by introducing emotions of shame, or even threats, or employ the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. In any event, the predator will keep trying to exploit the victim by whatever means necessary to maintain the inappropriate physical relationship.
Impacts on Abuse Survivors
While the grooming increases as intended by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will probably respond affirmatively to the behaviors. The predator, through these well-thought-out and executed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-work and remove the moral confines of the targeted student. Because the victim participated in this re-calibration, he often experiences deep feelings of shame, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.
Furthermore, after the abuse has been revealed, survivors of boarding school abuse are often exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like being bullied, isolation from their peers, or retaliation from teachers. Especially at private schools, where academics are stringent, competition can be intense and social circles small, victims of abuse could be quickly isolated and socially abused. Exposed to those reactions, many boarding school abuse victims who have reported the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of such isolation and social abuse, report the abuse decades later. In either situation, the impact can be severe and lasting.
Some abuse survivors suffer from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, ptsd, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups might assist survivors overcome those effects.
Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse can receive financial compensation from the abuser and more frequently, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or deficiencies in its process of reviewing and responding to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially review your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are ready to speak with you. It is important for a survivor to remember that being a victim is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the abuse to justice.
SPOILER ALERT!
Boarding School Abuse
Boarding School Abuse presents a wide-range of criminal and lurid actions frequently perpetrated against students by school faculty members, administrators or staff regarding sexual assault of varying degrees. The attack may be a one-time, non-consensual abuse or it might include several assaults during an continuing interaction. For example, an ongoing intimate encounter with a student, spawned by the predatory actions of a faculty member, school administrator or staff and whether heading to physical agreed sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.
Student on student sexual assault is another form of abuse, that might be made worse by the school’s failure to offer a safe environment that allowed the assault to occur. Within the school population are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Immature students may be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more experienced students. This intent, along with peer-pressure applied on both the predator and the targeted victim, might lead to different forms of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.
In all alleged Boarding School Abuse matters, a school administration’s megligence to fully, immediately report the assault to police and other authorities, or its additional failure to investigate, address and deal completely with the situation amplifies the effects on the abuse survivor, the school population and potentially others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media highlight these failures, including situations when the attacker quietly leaves the school merely to assume working somewhere else in a school environment.
Predatory Behavior
Many boarding schools pride themselves on their tiny, personal communities within a well-defined and secure campus. In this environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much nearer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school setting. This may create both opportunity and cover for the possible attacker and for the predatory behavior.
In some matters, the attacker could be a personable and popular person, generally considered to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted student may feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community is expressing special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration in the school community, attack accusations against these abusers are frequently met with distrust, disbelief, and resistance from the community. Frequesntly, abusers have distance and judgment problems which manifest themselves in oddly friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally expected. This creates a predatory pathway and opportunity for the attack.
All abusers, to varying degrees, use predatory tactics that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a potential abuse victim. Below is a list of grooming methods exhibited by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the student.
Grooming
Grooming is a major part of a predator’s ploy. In a boarding school situation, a predator often works closely with small numbers of students, understanding each student’s needs and vulnerabilities. Once a target is located and chosen, these vulnerabilities – like being lonely, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, can be systematically leveraged in the following manners:
Trust
A predator might first work to gain the student’s trust. This step is most difficult to discern as boarding school communities are often tight-knit and personal interaction is commonplace. Here, the predator is usually part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellbeing and success at the school.
Reliance
As a predator creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student may begin to count on more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is exploiting and fulfilling. The victim may spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. In addition to attention and affection, the potential victim may receive gifts from the predator, including valuable, presents such as the guarantee of high marks, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance stage is usually where the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.
Isolation
As the grooming continues, the predator will work to isolate the student. At school, this could mean after-hour get togethers, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dormitory , one-on-one sports practice sessions, or other such circumstances.
choate school abuse will start to desensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and other actions which lead to sexual interaction. This could begin with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or verbally, with suggestive language to gauge the victim’s reaction to the advancement. This could increase until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is established, the predator will work to keep control of the student and the continuing interaction. The predator will likely try to manipulate the student by inducing feelings of shame, or possibly threats, or employ the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator might keep trying to exploit the victim with means available to keep the inappropriate physical relationship.
Legacy on Abuse Survivors
While the grooming escalates as planned by the predator, the victim, being made to feel special, will probably respond positively to the actions. The predator, from these well planned and executed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-work and remove the moral boundaries of the victim. Because the victim participated in the re-calibration, he frequently experiences deep feelings of shame, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.
Additionally, beyond the abuse has been revealed, victims of private school abuse are often subjected to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like bullying, isolation from their peers, or retaliation from teachers. Particularly at private schools, where academics are stringent, competition can be fierce and social circles small, survivors of abuse may be readily isolated and socially persecuted. Exposed to such reactions, many boarding school abuse victims that have revealed the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of such isolation and social persecution, report the abuse years later. In either case, the legacy can be severe and life-altering.
Some abuse survivors bear from long-term effects of the abuse including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal feelings, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups could assist victims overcome these effects.
Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse could recover financial compensation from the abuser and more commonly, from the school for its failure to protect the student from the abuse, as well as failures or negligence in its process of reviewing and replying to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially discuss your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are ready to talk with you. It’s important for a victim to realize that being a victim is not your fault. The attorneys at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those responsible for the assault to justice.
Student on student sexual assault is another form of abuse, that might be made worse by the school’s failure to offer a safe environment that allowed the assault to occur. Within the school population are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Immature students may be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more experienced students. This intent, along with peer-pressure applied on both the predator and the targeted victim, might lead to different forms of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.
In all alleged Boarding School Abuse matters, a school administration’s megligence to fully, immediately report the assault to police and other authorities, or its additional failure to investigate, address and deal completely with the situation amplifies the effects on the abuse survivor, the school population and potentially others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media highlight these failures, including situations when the attacker quietly leaves the school merely to assume working somewhere else in a school environment.
Predatory Behavior
Many boarding schools pride themselves on their tiny, personal communities within a well-defined and secure campus. In this environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much nearer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school setting. This may create both opportunity and cover for the possible attacker and for the predatory behavior.
In some matters, the attacker could be a personable and popular person, generally considered to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted student may feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community is expressing special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration in the school community, attack accusations against these abusers are frequently met with distrust, disbelief, and resistance from the community. Frequesntly, abusers have distance and judgment problems which manifest themselves in oddly friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally expected. This creates a predatory pathway and opportunity for the attack.
All abusers, to varying degrees, use predatory tactics that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a potential abuse victim. Below is a list of grooming methods exhibited by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the student.
Grooming
Grooming is a major part of a predator’s ploy. In a boarding school situation, a predator often works closely with small numbers of students, understanding each student’s needs and vulnerabilities. Once a target is located and chosen, these vulnerabilities – like being lonely, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, can be systematically leveraged in the following manners:
Trust
A predator might first work to gain the student’s trust. This step is most difficult to discern as boarding school communities are often tight-knit and personal interaction is commonplace. Here, the predator is usually part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellbeing and success at the school.
Reliance
As a predator creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student may begin to count on more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is exploiting and fulfilling. The victim may spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. In addition to attention and affection, the potential victim may receive gifts from the predator, including valuable, presents such as the guarantee of high marks, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance stage is usually where the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.
Isolation
As the grooming continues, the predator will work to isolate the student. At school, this could mean after-hour get togethers, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dormitory , one-on-one sports practice sessions, or other such circumstances.
choate school abuse will start to desensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and other actions which lead to sexual interaction. This could begin with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or verbally, with suggestive language to gauge the victim’s reaction to the advancement. This could increase until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is established, the predator will work to keep control of the student and the continuing interaction. The predator will likely try to manipulate the student by inducing feelings of shame, or possibly threats, or employ the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator might keep trying to exploit the victim with means available to keep the inappropriate physical relationship.
Legacy on Abuse Survivors
While the grooming escalates as planned by the predator, the victim, being made to feel special, will probably respond positively to the actions. The predator, from these well planned and executed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-work and remove the moral boundaries of the victim. Because the victim participated in the re-calibration, he frequently experiences deep feelings of shame, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.
Additionally, beyond the abuse has been revealed, victims of private school abuse are often subjected to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like bullying, isolation from their peers, or retaliation from teachers. Particularly at private schools, where academics are stringent, competition can be fierce and social circles small, survivors of abuse may be readily isolated and socially persecuted. Exposed to such reactions, many boarding school abuse victims that have revealed the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of such isolation and social persecution, report the abuse years later. In either case, the legacy can be severe and life-altering.
Some abuse survivors bear from long-term effects of the abuse including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal feelings, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups could assist victims overcome these effects.
Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse could recover financial compensation from the abuser and more commonly, from the school for its failure to protect the student from the abuse, as well as failures or negligence in its process of reviewing and replying to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially discuss your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are ready to talk with you. It’s important for a victim to realize that being a victim is not your fault. The attorneys at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those responsible for the assault to justice.
Boarding School Abuse
Boarding School Abuse illustrates a range of criminal and improper acts commonly committed against students by school faculty members, administrators or employees regarding sexual assault of varying degrees. The assault might be a one-time, non-consensual attack or it might include numerous assaults within an ongoing interaction. For example, an continuing intimate relationship with a student, formed by the predatory behavior of a faculty member, school administrator or employee and whether leading to physical consensual sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.
Student-on-student sexual assault is another form of abuse, which might be compounded by the school’s failure to provide a safe environment that enabled the attack to happen. Inside the school population are students of different ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students might be exposed to the predatory behavior of older, more mature students. This intent, along with peer-pressure applied on both the attacker and the targeted victim, could lead to different forms of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.
In all alleged Boarding School Abuse matters, a school administration’s failure to fully, adequately report the crime to police and other authorities, or its further negligence to investigate, address and deal completely with the situation increases the effects on the victim, the school population and possibly others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media highlight these failures, including times when the attacker quietly departs the school merely to assume employment elsewhere in a school environment.
Predatory Behavior
Most boarding schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside a well-defined and safe campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much closer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school setting. This could create both opportunity and cover to the possible attacker and for the predatory behavior.
In some matters, the attacker may be a personable and popular individual, generally considered to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted victim might feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community has expressed special attention in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration into the school community, abuse allegations against these attackers are frequently met with distrust, non-belief, and resistance from the community. Often, abusers have distance and judgment problems which turn into unusually friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally anticipated. This provides a predatory pathway and opportunity for the abuse.
All abusers, to differing degrees, use predatory actions that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a potential abuse victim. Below is a list of grooming behaviors used by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the subordinate student.
Grooming
Grooming is a major part of a predator’s ploy. In a boarding school setting, a predator usually works closely with small numbers of students, understanding every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is located and selected, these vulnerabilities – such as loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, could be systematically exploited in the following ways:
Trust
A predator will initially work to gain the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to discern as private school communities are often tight-knit and personal engagement is commonplace. Here, the predator is usually part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and achievement at the school.
Reliance
As a predator establishes a trusting relationship with the potential student-victim, the student will start to count on more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the predator is exploiting and fulfilling. The student may spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. In addition to attention and kindness, the possible victim may receive gifts from the predator, including valuable, gifts like the guarantee of high marks, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance step is mainly when the predatory behavior is distinguishable from well-meaning collegial behavior.
Isolation
As the grooming continues, the predator might try to isolate the student. At school, this may mean late meetings, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dormitory , one-on-one athletic training sessions, or various other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to desensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other actions which lead to sexual interaction. This might start with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive messages to gauge the victim’s reaction to the advancement. This could escalate until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
Once the sexual relationship is established, the predator may try to keep control of the student and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably seek to manipulate the victim by inducing emotions of shame, or even threats, or employ the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator may keep trying to exploit the victim with means necessary to keep the inappropriate physical relationship.
Legacy on Abuse Victims
When the grooming escalates as planned by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will likely respond positively to the behaviors. The predator, through these well-thought-out and executed grooming behaviors and activities, seeks to re-work and reduce the moral confines of the victim. Because the abuse survivor participated in the re-calibration, he frequently has deep feelings of guilt, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.
Additionally, beyond the abuse has been revealed, survivors of boarding school abuse are frequently exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like being bullied, alienation from their peers, or revenge from teachers. Particularly at private schools, where academics are rigorous, competition can be intense and social circles small, survivors of abuse may be readily isolated and socially persecuted. Subjected to such reactions, many boarding school abuse survivors that have reported the abuse leave school. Others, faced with the prospect of such isolation and social persecution, report the abuse a while later. In either case, the impact can be severe and life-altering.
Some abuse victims suffer from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, disturbed sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups could help victims overcome those effects.
Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse could receive financial compensation from the predator and more frequently, from the school for its failure to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or negligence in its process of reviewing and replying to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially share your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are prepared to talk with you. It is important for a survivor to realize that being a victim is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the assault to justice.
Student-on-student sexual assault is another form of abuse, which might be compounded by the school’s failure to provide a safe environment that enabled the attack to happen. Inside the school population are students of different ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students might be exposed to the predatory behavior of older, more mature students. This intent, along with peer-pressure applied on both the attacker and the targeted victim, could lead to different forms of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.
In all alleged Boarding School Abuse matters, a school administration’s failure to fully, adequately report the crime to police and other authorities, or its further negligence to investigate, address and deal completely with the situation increases the effects on the victim, the school population and possibly others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media highlight these failures, including times when the attacker quietly departs the school merely to assume employment elsewhere in a school environment.
Predatory Behavior
Most boarding schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside a well-defined and safe campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much closer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school setting. This could create both opportunity and cover to the possible attacker and for the predatory behavior.
In some matters, the attacker may be a personable and popular individual, generally considered to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted victim might feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community has expressed special attention in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration into the school community, abuse allegations against these attackers are frequently met with distrust, non-belief, and resistance from the community. Often, abusers have distance and judgment problems which turn into unusually friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally anticipated. This provides a predatory pathway and opportunity for the abuse.
All abusers, to differing degrees, use predatory actions that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a potential abuse victim. Below is a list of grooming behaviors used by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the subordinate student.
Grooming
Grooming is a major part of a predator’s ploy. In a boarding school setting, a predator usually works closely with small numbers of students, understanding every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is located and selected, these vulnerabilities – such as loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, could be systematically exploited in the following ways:
Trust
A predator will initially work to gain the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to discern as private school communities are often tight-knit and personal engagement is commonplace. Here, the predator is usually part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and achievement at the school.
Reliance
As a predator establishes a trusting relationship with the potential student-victim, the student will start to count on more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the predator is exploiting and fulfilling. The student may spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. In addition to attention and kindness, the possible victim may receive gifts from the predator, including valuable, gifts like the guarantee of high marks, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance step is mainly when the predatory behavior is distinguishable from well-meaning collegial behavior.
Isolation
As the grooming continues, the predator might try to isolate the student. At school, this may mean late meetings, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dormitory , one-on-one athletic training sessions, or various other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to desensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other actions which lead to sexual interaction. This might start with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive messages to gauge the victim’s reaction to the advancement. This could escalate until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
Once the sexual relationship is established, the predator may try to keep control of the student and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably seek to manipulate the victim by inducing emotions of shame, or even threats, or employ the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator may keep trying to exploit the victim with means necessary to keep the inappropriate physical relationship.
Legacy on Abuse Victims
When the grooming escalates as planned by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will likely respond positively to the behaviors. The predator, through these well-thought-out and executed grooming behaviors and activities, seeks to re-work and reduce the moral confines of the victim. Because the abuse survivor participated in the re-calibration, he frequently has deep feelings of guilt, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.
Additionally, beyond the abuse has been revealed, survivors of boarding school abuse are frequently exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like being bullied, alienation from their peers, or revenge from teachers. Particularly at private schools, where academics are rigorous, competition can be intense and social circles small, survivors of abuse may be readily isolated and socially persecuted. Subjected to such reactions, many boarding school abuse survivors that have reported the abuse leave school. Others, faced with the prospect of such isolation and social persecution, report the abuse a while later. In either case, the impact can be severe and life-altering.
Some abuse victims suffer from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, disturbed sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups could help victims overcome those effects.
Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse could receive financial compensation from the predator and more frequently, from the school for its failure to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or negligence in its process of reviewing and replying to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially share your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are prepared to talk with you. It is important for a survivor to realize that being a victim is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the assault to justice.
