What We Aren’t When We Are Penn State: Dissociation Strategies in the Penn State Sexual Abuse Scandal

Abstract

This article examines organizational rhetoric from Penn State University leadership in the immediate aftermath of the 2011 sexual abuse scandal. The article focuses on this rhetoric as apologia, emphasizing dissociation strategies used and functions those strategies served. The article analyzes statements from outgoing president Graham Spanier, incoming president Rodney Erickson, and the Penn State Board of Trustees that appeared on the Penn State newswire during the height of the scandal. Applying Giddens’ structuration theory, the study demonstrates how Penn State leaders’ dissociation strategies reinforced organizational structures that maintained football’s position of status within the university and how a Penn State mythology that places football in a position of status within the organization enabled those dissociation strategies.

当我们身在宾夕法尼亚州立大学时, 我们并非如此：处理宾夕法尼亚州立大学性虐待丑闻所采取的分离策略

本文探讨的是宾夕法尼亚州立大学于2011年发生性虐待丑闻之后, 其领导层迅速采取的组织修辞手段。本文聚焦的是用来辩解的修辞手段, 强调了分离策略的运用及其所体现的功能。本文还分析了离任校长Graham Spanier, 新任校长Rodney Erickson和宾夕法尼亚州立大学董事会的声明。在丑闻最严重的时候, 董事会还曾上过宾州州立大学的新闻专线。本研究运用了Giddens的结构主义理论, 论证了宾州州立大学领导人所采用的分离策略如何强化了组织结构, 而这些组织结构则保持了校内足球的身份定位, 以及为校内足球赋予身份定位, 且如神话一般的宾州州立大学如何能实施这些分离策略。

Keywords:

• Apologia
• dissociation
• structuration
• organizational rhetoric
• Penn State University scandal

关键词:

• 辩解；分离；结构主义；组织修辞；宾夕法尼亚州立大学丑闻

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Raymond I. Schuck

Raymond I. Schuck (Ph.D., Arizona State University, U.S) is an Associate Professor of Communication, Department of Humanities at Bowling Green State University Firelands. Dr. Schuck’s research interests focus on critical and rhetorical analysis of sport and popular culture. His work has appeared in Southern Communication Journal, Journal of Sports Media, Globalizations, Western Journal of Communication, American Behavioral Scientist, and Journal of Communication Studies.