Common In Workplace Abuse – R. Kelly Was Aided By A Network Of Complicity – That Enabled Crimes To Go On For Decades
Peggy Cunningham, Dalhousie University and Minette Drumwright, University of Texas at Austin
R&B singer R. Kelly was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking charges on Sept 27, 2021, having been exposed as the ringleader of a decades-long scheme to recruit girls, boys and women to have sex with.
During the six-week long trial, jurors heard harrowing testimony from a succession of survivors of Kelly’s abuse. Witnesses also revealed how members of the 54-year-old’s entourage assisted, enabled and helped cover up the singer’s crimes.
As professors who have researched unethical behavior for many years, we found the patterns revealed in Kelly’s trial to be classic examples of how unethical, even criminal, conduct can persist in organizations for long periods of time, often as an...