After reading about sex offenders, there are some similarities that can be linked to individuals that are drug addicts. There are similarities, but substance abuse or being around substances can cause individuals to have the desire of sexually offending. The task of evaluating the sex offender can bring challenges due to the fact that the majority of individuals as soon as they hear the topic can become bias. What is a child sexual victimization? “It is any behavior on the part of an individual that exposes a child to the risk of psychological interference in his or her sexual development” (Handout). There can be a variation of the level in which this crime is committed. It can range from the offender exposing themselves or photographing the child. In a severe case, it could be …show more content…
“Some offenders pin sexual access to the child through a combination of enticement and deception” (Handout). However, there are many factors that induce these criminals that create such a harsh type of crime. One of them being, some of these offenders grow up with parents who struggle with substance abuse and in an abusive home. Scott from the reading is an example of a child molester and realized they are not attracted to adults, but rather “turned on” to boys of 10 to 12 years old. Child molesters are sexually attracted to non sexual people, which are young children. The offenders are attracted to children due to them being “innocence, loving, open, warm, trusting, and clean”. The offender is attracted to the individual characteristics that differentiate an adult from the child. The sexual activity becomes a habitat that the offender wants more gain from. However, since the offender cannot resolve the issues or meet the unfulfilled needs, it becomes a repetitive action. “It becomes repetitive or compulsive in nature- both self-perpetuating and self- defeating at the same time-
Offenders are able to identify weaknesses in a child’s personality or life circumstances and then exploit them. There can be many different characteristics a Child Molester or Pedophile uses for their selection process. The characteristics are the foll...
Our text describes pedophilia as a person who “gains sexual gratification by watching, touching, or engaging in sexual acts with prepubescent children, usually 13 years old or younger” (Comer, 2013, p. 411). The movie, The Woodsman describes the story of a convicted sex offender recently released from prison. Walter, depicted by Kevin Bacon shed some insight into the motivations and thought processes that a sex offender, specifically a pedophile might have.
Understanding the drive for molestation of an individual is hard to grasp. “Sick” is the word that parents and other individuals would describe it as. An article written to provide information on victims of sexual assault stated, “Approximately 1.8 million adolescents in the United States have been the victims of sexual assault” (NSOPW). The take on the issue is a very touchy subject to talk about. According to Murray, “Most victims happen to be women or young girls and their rapists are usually close family, friends, or distant acquaintances” (211). Most cases go unknown for various reasons. Predominantly, the victims are too afraid to speak up in fear of the molester finding out or they feel a sense of embarrassment by their families reaction
Vandiver, D. M., & Teske, R. (2006). Juvenile female and male sex offenders a comparison of offender, victim, and judicial processing characteristics. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 50(2), 148-165.
It is a common stereotype that all sex offenders have some form of psychopathy, and therefore they cannot be treated, however most sexual offenders do not have major mental illness or psychological maladjustment (Ward, Polaschek and Busch, 2006), therefore it is not impossible to treat them. Finkelhor’s (1984) precondition model was made with the assumption that the psychopathology of an individual will only take us so far in explaining sexually abusive behaviour, Finkelhor states that 4 stages of preconditions must exist before sexual abuse can take place, these are; Primary motivation to abuse a child sexually, overcoming of internal and external inhibitions and dealing with a child’s resistance to sexual abuse, for each subsequent precondition to occur the previous one must be achieved. Finkelhor argues th...
When one hears the label “sex offender” it is associated with a negative stigma. Society has reinforced the label while encouraging individuals to associate a profile to the offender. Typical words that are connected to a sex offender may include monster, horrific, heinous, and sickening. When conceptualizing the victim, some associations made could include words such as rape, molestation, women, or even juvenile. Typically, when society hears the word juvenile being associated to a sex offense, it is assumed that the juvenile is the victim. Though this is true in some cases, there is an increasing number of sex offenses being committed by juvenile offenders. According to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), “juvenile sex offenders comprise more than one-quarter (25.8%) of all sex offenders and more than one-third (35.6%) of sex offenders against juvenile victims” (Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., & Chaffin, M., 2009, p. 1). The following report will examine sex offenses committed by male juveniles. The report will include characteristics of the type of crime, crime factors, an application of the biosocial theory, and the strengths and limits presented by the theory.
It is also noteworthy that this is not limited to child sex offenders. Many adults that are arrested as sex offenders were involved with people they knew or had seduced; instead of the stereotypical brute that forces his or herself on their victim. No matter the methods employed in committing the crimes that they do, there is still the question, what drives a sex
Although they may be out of jail, they cannot be considered free. They are unable to make their own decisions: where they can work, where they can live, and how they can live their lives are all under control of the government. These people look the same as everyone else, but underneath the mask, lay a title they cannot shake. These people are sex offenders. A sex offender is defined as anyone who has committed a sexual crime. These crimes range from serious crimes, like rape, to minor offenses, such as urinating in public, or under age consensual sex. All sex offenders are placed on the registry and are required to follow a careful protocol. Registered sex offenders are paired with a Community Corrections Officer (CCO) who oversees and supervises the offender's actions. Many restrictions are placed on the offender, and although the laws can vary from state to state, there are some basic restrictions that apply to every offender. Some of these restrictions include: a sex offender cannot move without the permission and approval of their CCO, they can only live and work in certain areas, they cannot own any firearms, their personal computers are monitored and controlled by their CCO (many websites are blocked, including pornographic content), they are not allowed to take or consume any mind altering substances such as drugs or even alcohol, and they are required to get regular counseling (“Rules”). Currently there are 747,408 registered sex offenders in the United States. Some states such as Delaware and Oregon have a higher concentration of sex offenders (500 per 100,000) where as Pennsylvania has the lowest concentration of sex offenders (94 per 100,000) (“Sex Offender Statistics”). Due to the inefficiencies ...
Treatment approaches consist of cognitive behavioral and multisystemic therapies (Fanniff & Becker, 2006). Juveniles that are convicted of sex offenses may be placed on sex offender registry, occasionally a permanent status (Salerno, Stevenson, el al., 2010). It is unlike a sex offender to adhere to the appropriate sexual and social behaviors; thus the goal for adolescents is to understand the complex world to overcome the typical characteristics of a sex offender. This paper will consist the common characteristics of juvenile sex offenders and the treatment that are considered to be effective. Additionally, academic research is acquired that focus on offender registration and recidivism
Cashwell, C. S. and Caruso, M. 2014. Adolescent Sex Offenders: Identification and Intervention Strategies. [e-book] Sage Publications. 1. http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/C_Cashwell_Adolescent_1997.pdf [Accessed: 14 Mar 2014].
Sex offenders come across every race, age, gender, socio-economic status, and mental health status (CSG, n.d.). According to CSOM (n.d.) many scholars do not take into consideration the age, gender and socio-economic status as far as the criminal behavior itself, however many scholars look at factors that may have caused these sexual deviant behaviors. These theories or factors are attachment, sociocultural, intimacy, behavioral, and biological (CSOM, n.d.). It is also worthy to note, that the difference between juveniles and adult are there recidivism rate. According to CSOM (n.d.), juveniles are more likely to reoffend than adult sex
Thousands of sex abuse cases with children are disclosed in the U.S. every year. The actual amount of young people that are raped and molested is even higher. But as laws change frequently, it’s still a mystery on how to treat sex offenders to prevent such crimes. “Sex offender programs/strategies represent various approaches used to prevent convicted sex offenders from committing future sex offenses. These approaches include different types of therapy, community notification, and standardized assessments (CSOM).” Most programs are held in prison and/or in the community to manage sex offenders (Olver). Approaches that can help prevent these crimes are, the cognitive-behavioral approach, which focuses on changing the thinking patterns related to sexual assaulting and also altering evil ways of sexual behavior. The psycho-educational approach is another approach, which focuses on increasing offenders' empathy for the victim while also teaching them to take responsibility for their sexual offenses. Standardized assessment tools are also highly effective, ultimately used to increase the likelihood of treatment efficacy and/or to identify individuals at high risk of reoffending. With these approaches, “it is important to include all partners who may be involved in the management of sex offenders such as law enforcement, corrections, victims’ organizations, treatment programs, courts, prosecutors and other stakeholders. These partners can provide valuable information in assessing the effectiveness and efficacy of sex offender programs and strategies (O’Donnell).”
There are several identifiable psychological factors that increase the likelihood an individual will demonstrate deviant sexual behavior. One of the most important contributing factors is physical or sexual abuse endured as a child. According to Becerra-García, García-León and Egan (2012), sex offenders are twice as likely to report being sexually, emotionally, or physically abused as a child in comparison to other offenders. There are also other factors besides abuse that must be taken into consideration. A recent study on female sex offenders by Roe-Sepowitz and Krysik (2008) states, “the data reveal that many of the 118 female juvenile sex offenders came from chaotic and disorganized families and had poor parental supervision and serious school and mental health problems”. As Becerra-García, García-León and Egan (2012) discuss further, there are also personality traits that sex offenders are likely to possess, which makes it possible for psychologists to distinguish general characteristics of sex offenders. These personality traits can be identified using the Five Factor Model, which scales an individual’s level of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.
Juvenile sex offenders often vary in age, gender and social class; which require a variety of different therapy and rehabilitation methods. Adolescent sex offenders commit a wide range of illegal sexual behaviors, ranging from exploratory behaviors committed largely out of curiosity to repeated aggressive assaults. Adolescents are respo...
There is no “standard” sexual offender. Child molesters and rapists come from a multitude of backgrounds and are most often seen as law abiding individuals. In most cases, offenders are male; however, there have been cases of females committing sexual offences reported in the past (Schaffer, Jeglic, Moster & Wnuk, 2010). This treatment manual will focus on the male sexual offender population; they may vary in age, from youth to senior citizens. In fact, more than half of the adult male sexual offender population began offending in their teens (Terry, 2004). This program will feature a ‘rolling group’, this allows individuals to be at different stages in the program which will allow for patients to ease into the program at their own pace.