CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER

Sexual Offenders/Violence

6.1. Nature and Concept of Sexual Offender/Violence

Sexual violence means that someone forces or manipulates someone else into unwanted
sexual activity without their consent. Reasons someone might not consent include fear, age,
illness, disability, and/or influence of alcohol or other drugs. Anyone can experience sexual
violence including: children, teens, adults, and elders. Those who sexually abuse can be
acquaintances, family members, trusted individuals or strangers.

Sexual violence is defined as: any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual
comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality
using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting,
including but not limited to home and work. Coercion can cover a whole spectrum of degrees
of force. Apart from physical force, it may involve psychological intimidation, blackmail or
other threats for instance, the threat of physical harm, of being dismissed from a job or of not
obtaining a job that is sought. It may also occur when the person aggressed is unable to give
consent for instance, while drunk, drugged, asleep or mentally incapable of understanding the
situation.

Sexual violence includes rape, defined as physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration
even if slight of the vulva or anus, using a penis, other body parts or an object. The attempt to
do so is known as attempted rape. Rape of a person by two or more perpetrators is known as
gang rape. Sexual violence can include other forms of assault involving a sexual organ,
including coerced contact between the mouth and penis, vulva or anus.

Observations about Sexual Offenders

There is no “typical” sexual offender. Rapists and child molesters come from all backgrounds
and can often seem like ordinary law abiding people. Although most offenders are male,
females can also commit sexual offenses. Sexual offenders can range in age, from young
teenagers to senior citizens. More than half of adult sexual offenders begin offending in their
teens. Although young children can be sexually aggressive or inappropriate, they are not
offenders and are not prosecuted. Instead they are treated as children with serious behaviour
problems who should have treatment and be supervised.

Common Behaviours and Characteristics of Sexual Offenders

Most sexual offenders think about their crimes ahead of time.

Sexual assault is rarely an impulsive act although sometimes sex offenders take advantage of
opportunity to offend.

Offenders most often know their victims and use these relationships to set up situations in
which a chosen victim can be sexually assaulted.
Sexual assaults can involve physical violence, threats, or overpowering. In other cases
victims go along with the assaults because they are afraid to resist or to try to get away.
Planning and manipulating relationships over time to commit sexual offenses is called
grooming. In these situations victims may come to believe that they are responsible for what
happened even though this is never true.

After the assaults, offenders often threaten, pressure or use guilt to keep victims from telling
anyone.

6.2. Types of Sexual Offenders/Violence

Stranger Rape:It is rape or sexual assault perpetrated by someone unknown to the survivor.
Blitz Sexual Assault:The perpetrator rapidly and brutally assaults the victim with no prior
contact. Blitz assaults usually occur at night in a public place.
Contact Sexual Assault:The perpetrator works to gain trust and confidence before assaulting.
Home Invasion Sexual Assault:Perpetrator breaks into survivors home to commit the
assault.
Acquaintance Rape:Is an umbrella term used to describe sexual assaults in which the
survivor and the perpetrator are known to each other, whether by passing acquaintance or
someone the survivor knows intimately. This is the most common form of rape.
Child Sexual Abuse:Is a form of child abuse that includes sexual activity with a minor. A
child cannot consent to any form of sexual activity, period. When a perpetrator engages with
a child this way, they are committing a crime that can have lasting effects on the victim for
years. Child sexual abuse does not need to include physical contact between a perpetrator and
a child. Some forms of child sexual abuse include: Obscene phone calls, text messages, or
digital interaction; Fondling; Exhibitionism, or exposing oneself to a minor; Masturbation in
the presence of a minor or forcing the minor to masturbate; Intercourse; Sex of any kind with
a minor, including vaginal, oral, or anal; Producing, owning, or sharing pornographic images
or movies of children; Sex trafficking; Any other sexual conduct that is harmful to a child's
mental, emotional, or physical welfare.
Statutory Rape: It is defined as unlawful intercourse with a minor, some county’s law
mandates that an adult cannot have sex with a minor, and a minor cannot have sex with
another minor, even if the intercourse was consensual.
Spousal/Partner Rape:Is between two individuals who are in a relationship. Sexual violence
often works alongside among abusive behavior. Women who have been physically abused by
their partner have often experienced sexual abuse, and haven’t disclosed or did not realize
sexual violence does not always include physical violence, making it difficult to acknowledge
the abuse.
Incest:Is defined as sexual abuse by a relative, sexual contact/abuse between family
members.
Serial Rape:Is the most frequently sensationalized form of rape. Because of the frequently
gruesome nature of the assaults and because of the opportunity to prey on people’s fears,
serial rape is frequently covered extensively by the media. The term serial rape is used to
describe a series of rapes committed on different occasions by the same perpetrator. An
important distinction is that this term is rarely used to describe marital or date rape, even
though these types of rapes can happen repeatedly. Instead, the serial rapist has multiple
victims.
Substance Facilitated Rape: Occurs when alcohol or drugs are used to compromise an
individual's ability to consent to sexual activity. These substances make it easier for a
perpetrator to commit sexual assault because they inhibit a person’s ability to resist and can
prevent them from remembering the assault. Drugs and alcohol can cause diminished
capacity, a legal term that varies in definition
Multiple Perpetrator/Gang Rape: Occurs when two or more perpetrators act together to
sexually assault the same victim. Some common aspects of multiple-perpetrator assault
include: planning the assault in advance; using substance-facilitated sexual assault; using the
assault to introduce or reinforce membership in a group, such as a gang, sports team, or club;
targeting a victim that has an existing connection with one of the perpetrators, often sexual in
nature; beginning as a consensual activity and introducing others to participate against the
victim’s will or without consent
Sexual Harassment: Is unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior that interferes with your
life, work, or education. This behavior can include verbal or physical acts as well as acts that
affect you by creating an environment that is “hostile.” The harassment can take place in
many different contexts: on the streets, on public transportation, in public places, or in
schools, workplaces, institutions, and so on. Sexual harassment can include actions such as
sexual comments, physical contact such as someone brushing up against you, demands for
sexual behavior from someone who is in a position of authority or power over you (for
example, a boss or a teacher), and the creation of a hostile environment.
Date Rape: Is a specific kind of acquaintance rape referring to assault(s) experienced by the
victim from the person they are on the date with.
Systematic rape during armed conflict

Forced marriage or cohabitation, including the marriage of children;

Denial of the right to use contraception or to adopt other measures to protect against
sexually transmitted diseases;

Forced abortion; violent acts against the sexual integrity of women, including female genital
mutilation and obligatory inspections for virginity;

Forced prostitution and trafficking of people for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

6.3. Phallometry: Sexual Crime Analysis

The penile plethysmograph is a device which measures male sexual arousal by means of a
transducer around the subjects’ penis while various stimuli are presented.

It is a device used to measure sexual arousal to both appropriate (age appropriate and
consenting) and deviant sexual stimulus material. Stimuli can be audio, visual, or a
combination.

Originally developed by Kurt Freund to assess sexual orientation in men, the penile
plethysmograph (PPG) was later adapted to assess deviant sexual arousal in male offender
populations by Vernon Quinsey. The principle behind the instrument could not be much
simpler. One attaches a device to the penis of a subject, and measures what happens to it
when the person is exposed to a variety of possibly arousing stimuli, either visual or auditory.
In a typical phallometric assessment, the subject is seated privately in a comfortable chair
where they can attend to visual stimuli and auditory stimuli. Assuming that penile arousal
indicates sexual interest, a person’s arousal pattern in response to various stimuli can be
measured from the gauge around his penis. Often, nonintrusive physiological measures such
as galvanic skin response (GSR), respiration and pulse rate are monitored in an attempt to
detect suppression or deliberate increases of arousal.

6.4. Major Considerations in Phallometry

Responsibility for the supervision of the PPG assessment should rest with a psychologist who
is eligible to be registered as a Chartered Psychologist. The psychologist should have up-to-
date knowledge of relevant practice, legal issues and literature.

Staff participating in this work at any level should be adequately briefed and have the option
not to be involved should they find the procedure or material distressing.

The PPG test should be carried out only in the context of an appropriate range of other
assessment and treatment procedures or in the course of research that has been professionally
and ethically approved by the relevant body.

Selection of the stimuli should take into account ethical consideration of how the material
was produced or obtained, e.g. if it was under abusive circumstances.

Selection of PPG stimuli (content and mode of presentation) should take into account an
appropriate balance between obtaining the best possible assessment and risk of exposing the
subject to material which may be therapeutically counter-productive if it is outside their own
suspected or known experience.

The psychologist should brief the subject on the purpose and procedures involved in PPG
assessment including possible results and their interpretation. He or she should explain limits
of confidentiality and likely consequences of participation, non-participation and withdrawal
and check that the subject has understood.

Debriefing should be carried out at the end of each assessment. This should include
consideration of the impact of the assessment on the client and the need for support and
advice.

A record that the subject has been properly briefed and debriefed should be kept when
appropriate.

Stimuli material for PPG assessment should be kept secure and access limited to those using
it for professional purposes.

Assessment should only be carried out in appropriate physical conditions with due regards to
the standards of safety, privacy, comfort and hygiene.
There are several main ethical concerns with the procedure.

The first area of concern is the effect on the subject. Clinicians should respect the client’s
privacy and carefully assess how the subjects will react to the stimuli. This is particularly of
concern when standardized stimulus sets are used. While some elements of such sets may
reflect the clients offending history, others are likely to be irrelevant at best, or distressing at
worst, such as might occur when they resemble the subject’s own abuse.

The second main area of ethical concern is the stimulus material. Most governments do not
allow their clinicians to employ pornographic material depicting children, which makes
sense, but nevertheless reduces the discriminative power and ecological validity of the
assessment.

Overall, it remains questionable whether the use of a test is justified when that test is not
statistically validated and where the theoretical basis of the test is unclear. This is
especially true where a negative outcome on the assessment may have serious consequences
for the subject, as is the case with phallometry.

Phallometry is unethical where it is used for the determination of guilt or innocence and
where it is used as a sole assessment of risk and treatment needs.

Although the penile plethysmograph is highly regarded in clinical practice as a client-focused

6.5. Theories of Sexual Crime

The etiology of adult sexual offending refers to the origins or causes of sexually abusive
behavior, including the pathways that are associated with the behavior’s development, onset
and maintenance.
There is no simple answer to the question of why people engage in this behavior.
The problem of sexual offending is too complex to attribute solely to a single theory
(multifactor theories are stronger).
Biological Theories
Biological theories of sexual offending have centered on abnormalities in the structure of the
brain, hormone levels, genetic and chromosomal makeup and deficits in intellectual
functioning. Key research findings concerning the validity of various biological theories
follow:
A number of studies have found abnormalities in the brains of some sexual offenders;
however, the evidence is clear that such abnormalities do not exist in the majority of cases.
Evolutionary Theories
Evolutionary theories have been proposed to explain a variety of human behaviors, including
sexual aggression. Evolutionary theory views human behavior as the result of millions of
years of adaptive changes designed to meet ongoing challenges within the environment.
It is very difficult to empirically test the validity of evolutionary theories. They present a
unique perspective in that they view sex offending behavior as an adaptation to
environmental or interpersonal events. While this is a new direction that may deserve further
consideration, researchers in the field have largely disregarded these hypotheses as the cause
of sexual offending because of their limitations.
Personality Theories
Personality theories are among the earliest sources of explanation for sexual offending
behavior. They emerged based on the work of Sigmund Freud, who believed that sexual
deviance is an expression of the unresolved problems experienced during the early stages of
an individual’s development. Due to a lack of empirical evidence, Freud’s personality
theories have fallen out of favor with etiological researchers in deference to other theories.
Later personality theorists, however, suggested that early childhood relationships involving
trauma or mistreatment could lead a child to internalize negative attitudes and beliefs about
both the self and relationships with others, thus altering how the child perceives sex and his
or her role in sexual relationships.
One of these later personality theories Attachment Theory was first introduced by Bowlby
(1988) to explain the relationship between a child and his or her primary caretaker, and how
this early relationship affects later adjustment. According to attachment theory, humans have
a propensity to establish strong emotional bonds with others, and when individuals have some
loss or emotional distress, they act out as a result of their loneliness and isolation.
Cognitive Theories
Cognitive theories address the way in which offenders' thoughts affect their behavior. It is
well documented that when individuals commit deviant sexual acts, they often try to diminish
their feelings of guilt and shame by making excuses or justifications for their behavior and
rationalizing their actions.
Behavioral Theories
Behavioral theories explain sexually abusive behaviors as a learned condition. Behavioral
theories are based on the assumption that sexually deviant arousal plays a pivotal role in the
commission of sex crimes and that people who engage in sex with, or have sexual feelings
toward, inappropriate stimuli are more like likely to commit sexual violence than those with
appropriate sexual desires.
6.6. Pedophilia and Child Molestation
Pedophilia is defined as a sexual interest in prepubescent children. It is empirically linked
with sexual offending against children: Child pornography offenders and sex offenders with
child victims are more likely to be pedophiles based on self-report or objective measures of
sexual interests. Pedophilia is defined as a persistent sexual interest in prepubescent children,
as reflected by one’s sexual fantasies, urges, thoughts, arousal, or behavior. In its clearest
expression, the individual sexually prefers children and has no sexual interest in adults. In
other cases, the individual is sexually attracted to children but also has sexual fantasies,
urges, etcetera, regarding adults.

6.7. Causes of Pedophilia:

Experts claim that pedophilia is a sexual orientation, rather than a desire to be socially
deviant.
Freud claimed that pedophiles are weak people who cannot control their sexual urges
enough to wait until another adult was available to occupy their attention and instead make
use of such a substitute.

Abuse of substances

A distinction of people with organic brain conditions who had compulsions towards children.

Sexual urges were deeply rooted in the person’s and therefore unchangeable.

Pedophilia is a biological condition rooting in neurological functioning.

Theoretical Perspective

Emotional Congruence

Some of the most widely cited theories about pedophilia indicate that pedophiles choose
children for sexual partners because children have some especially compelling emotional
meaning for them. We have called this "emotional congruence" because it conveys the idea of
a "fit" between the adult's emotional needs and the characteristics of children, a fit which the
theories are trying to account for. One such theory holds that pedophiles have "arrested
psychosexual development" and are emotionally immature. They choose to relate to children
because they are at the pedophile's emotional level and they can respond to the pedophile's
child-like preoccupations.

Sexual Arousal

Another group of theories about pedophilia are essentially explanations of how a person
comes to find children sexually arousing. Early sexual experiences during childhood may
condition such arousal patterns. The conditioning might occur through a process proposed by
in which early experiences of arousal become incorporated into a fantasy that is repeated and
becomes increasingly arousing through masturbatory repetitions. Such a fantasy might be
instigated either through traumatic childhood encounters or perhaps through pleasurable ones
as well.

Blockage

Some of the most popular theories about pedophilia focus on the proposition that individuals
are blocked in their ability to get their sexual and emotional needs met in adult heterosexual
relationships, and thus tum to children. The more psychoanalytically oriented see this
blockage as Stemming from oedipal dynamics or "castration anxiety. Others describe the
blockage as stemming from timidity, unassertiveness, moralism, or lack of social skills.

Dis-inhibition

A final set of theories about pedophilia are essentially accounts of why conventional
inhibitions against having sex with children are overcome or absent. According to these
theories, some mechanism, process, or condition works to disinhibit pedophiles so that they
are able to sexually interact with children. Sometimes this dis-inhibition is seen as the result
of a personality disturbance. Pedophiles are described as having psychopathic tendencies,
being senile, and brain damaged, retarded, or psychotic. Pedophiles are also regularly
described as persons with alcohol abuse problems.