Crisis Communication in Sports

An article published September 2016 on CNN by Emanuella Grinberg describes the case that drew national attention to the way that sexual assault survivors are treated. More than 16 months after the incident happened, Stanford student athlete Brock Turner was finally sentenced to six months in county jail after sexually assaulting an unconscious women behind a dumpster on Stanford's campus. Prosecutors were hoping that he would get 6 years in jail, but his sentence was reduced to just three months in county jail instead of six months. The judge who gave Turner his sentence was also a Stanford graduate. 

Judge Persky found that his case was "unusual" and justified sentencing Turner to probation instead of prison based on the fact that alcohol was involved and that he was an All American Swimmer for the university. This judge had to make a special exception to hand out such a light punishment when the typical sentence for such a crime is a minimum sentence of 2 years in jail with a max sentence of 14 years. If it was someone who wasn't an All American Swimmer, or even a Stanford student, or who was a white male, they probably wouldn't be given the same sentence time for the exact same crime. Just because you were drunk at the time of the crime should not allow for you to be held less accountable, in fact I think you should be held more accountable on the fact that you were being more irresponsible. 

The biggest problem here is the punishment does not fit the crime. During all of this, Brock Turner failed to take responsibility, failed to show remorse, and failed to tell the truth. At the time of Turner's conviction, he told everyone that she had consented to it, and more importantly, that it was HER idea. He did not even apologize to her for what he had done. The victim stated later on, "Had Brock admitted guilt and remorse and offered to settle early on, I would have considered a lighter sentence, respecting his honesty, grateful to be able to move our lives forward". 

Lets go back to the example of the Tiger Woods who had multiple affairs, cheated on his wife and disappointed his kids. He publicly apologized and felt sorrow for his wrong doings. This does not by any means justify what he did, but it does allow for people to acknowledge that he understands he was in the wrong and allow people to soon forgive him. His speech allowed for image repair. It has allowed for him to be able to one day build back his reputation. What Turner did was disgusting, disrespectful, and how he handled the situation was disgraceful. I have no respect for any person, athlete or not, who behaves in such a manner where he tries to put blame on someone else or denies he was in the wrong. This is a crisis in communication, his reputation is ruined. It will be hard for people to look passed the "sex offender" label he will have. His image is damaged and I do not think it can be repaired. Unless Turner were to publicly apologize to the victim, and make it the best apology he has ever given, there is no hope in his image ever being repaired. The way that Turner handled this situation is the typical denial and transcendence resolution type. First off, he denied that he was in the wrong, and the transcendence of this situation is the judge essentially blaming his actions on pure alcohol involvement.  

It is disappointing to me that our judicial system even let this sentence pass. I am aware the the judge is currently under recall, but that should not have even had to be put in place. Athlete or not, Stanford student or not, drunk or not, he committed a crime. He should be punished and he should take responsibility for his actions and at least apologize to the poor victim who will unfortunately be scarred by this for the rest of her life.