“The Al Capone theory of sexual harassment”
“The U.S. government recognized a pattern in the Al Capone case: smuggling goods was a crime often paired with failing to pay taxes on the proceeds of the smuggling. We noticed a similar pattern in reports of sexual harassment and assault: often people who engage in sexually predatory behavior also faked expense reports, plagiarized writing, or stole credit for other people’s work…
Then we realized what the connection was: all of these behaviors are the actions of someone who feels entitled to other people’s property — regardless of whether it’s someone else’s ideas, work, money, or body. Another common factor was the desire to dominate and control other people…
Organizations that understand the Al Capone theory of sexual harassment have an advantage: they know that reports or rumors of sexual misconduct are a sign they need to investigate for other incidents of misconduct, sexual or otherwise. Sometimes sexual misconduct is hard to verify because a careful perpetrator will make sure there aren’t any additional witnesses or records beyond the target and the target’s memory (although with the increase in use of text messaging in the United States over the past decade, we are seeing more and more cases where victims have substantial written evidence). But one of the implications of the Al Capone theory is that even if an organization can’t prove allegations of sexual misconduct, the allegations themselves are sign to also urgently investigate a wide range of aspects of an employee’s conduct.”
Related: “Why It’s So Hard for Men to See Misogyny”; “Standing Up To Sexual Harassment And Assault In L.A.’s Comedy Scene”; “Is This the End of the Era of the Important, Inappropriate Literary Man?” ← this one is great; “He Thinks He’s Untouchable” (in Academia); “Shedding Light on the “Black Box of Inappropriateness”” ← reaction to sexism in silicon valley, proposes na interesting framework for harassment policy
