Personality Traits of Sexual Offenders - Research Paper Example

 Personality Traits of Sexual Offenders Introduction The term “sexual offender” has many synonyms ranging from rapist, child molester, and sexual abuser to sexual perpetrator and recidivist. A sexual offender is a legal term labeling a perpetrator of a crime that is sexual in nature. This includes sexual assault, rape, statutory rape bestiality, incest, child sexual abuse, and sexual imposition. However, other acts like a second conviction of prostitution, sending or receiving messages with obscene contents or the corruption of a minor may also label one as a sexual offender. A great amount of effort has been invested in the research and exploration of the issues and characteristics that define a sexual offender with the aim of understanding the reason for the engagement in sexual offenses. This will help in the making of judgments and decisions concerning the most effective ways of intervening in certain aspects of the population. The research seeking to understand the sexual offender focuses on the clinical, social, and legal aspects involving the sexual offenses. Social aspect of the offense Social aspects of a sexual offense, view the offenses on a multiplatform. First is the common linking points that cement the relationship between the victim and the culprit of the offense in terms of friendships, expectations between the affected parties, adaptations, mutual respect and the general ties between the two. This aspect of a sexual offense delves into crimes where the victims have close ties to the perpetrator. In many cases, the culprit tends to have close ties to the victim (McGuire, 2004). Culprits with close ties to their victims have an upper hand, as they are able to manipulate the victim. Mostly in the case of child abuse and molestation, the culprit uses their influence to manipulate the unsuspecting victim. This applies mostly to repeat offenders who assume they will get away with the act as the victim has a soft spot for them and is not likely to report the matter. Contrary to the stance taken by society, the pressures and demographics of specific societies are coercive towards the perpetration of sexually offensive acts (Csom.org, 2013). These influence the character definition of the culprits towards those that are known to exist for sexual perpetrators. The male-female relationship status is one such factor. Sexual aggression is hypothesized as being related to individuals with negative gender-based attitudes. In the Minangkabau society of western Sumatra, rape cases are almost completely absent owing to the society pattern in terms of male-female relationships (McGuire, 2004). The situation is the opposite of Bangladesh, where the socio-cultural contexts have a bias towards the male gender, with 26.8% of the females reported to be victims of sexual violence. This is the result of the males believing the females inferior. Sexual offenders are also associated with personality issues regarding the society. Studies have shown that most sexual offenders have social interaction difficulties that cause the individuals to use futile means to fulfill their intimacy needs (Meloy, 2006). These are thought to come from minimal social experiences that provide limited skills inhibiting secure attachment formation. Sexual offenders are said to lack feelings of empathy, which is removing the inhibitors of perpetration of violence (Csom.org, 2013). This fuels the acts of sexual aggression without remorse. Sexual offense perpetrators tend to posses cognitive distortions of legality of sexual offenses. For most, the act is permissible to distance themselves from their impact’s negative aspects (Ryan et al., 2010). This creates thoughts and opinions that the victims want to have the acts forced on them. The sexual preferences of most sexual offenders tend to deviate from the normative forms of sexual relations (Ryan et al., 2010). They achieve deviant arousal from the participation in the acts that are offenses of a sexual nature. This negation from the normal is thought to result from past-experiences that influence their sexual interests (Ward et al., 2006). Perpetrators of sexual crimes have been noted to exhibit low self-esteem characteristics with reduced anger management levels. Sexual offenses are usually ways of covering feelings of rejection. The rejections result in self-loath and reduced confidence that result in low self-esteem a quick to anger characteristic. These fuels the violent sexual offenses. Legal aspects Some sexual offenders tend to have criminogenic needs that require them to commit crimes to attain satisfaction. This personality trait drives the culprits of sexual offenses to perpetrate the acts due to its illegal nature (Parry, 2009). The idea of going against the law is a thrill for this kind of offender. The offender with this trait does not have self-esteem issues or problems in interacting with the society. This trait makes them repeat offenders with the need to get satisfied. Generally, sexual offenders lack boundaries and invade privacy of people. They violate people’s and victims’ privacy by going through their personal belongings, arguing so as to gain stability, intense teasing prior to the offense, verbal abuse, exposure of body parts in public and attempting to control situations (Parry, 2009). The abuse extends to physical abuse towards people that are at a lower level in the pecking order (Csom.org, 2013). All these are a direct violation of the rights that people are entitled to. Clinical aspect The clinical aspect of understanding personalities of sexual offenders focuses on the mental state of the offender. The mental state of a person indicates whether he or she is of sound mind. Most of the sex offenders apprehended in history have not had major mental illnesses (Clark et al, 2010). However, a number of them had mental illnesses presumed to impair their judgment. Diseases like schizophrenia and related psychoses may influence people to exhibit abnormal sexual behavior or commit sexual offenses. This may be indirectly related to the disease whereby it causes disinhibition or directly through causing direct deviant sexual fantasies. Mental disorders do not usually result in serious sexual offenses. However, patients with conditions like hypomania may have disinhibitions resulting in offenses that range from indecent exposure to the most serious indecent assault. Most sexual offenders are resistant to therapy. After apprehension, the mental state of the culprit needs to be determined by a psychologist. The rehabilitation of the culprits also requires therapy (Clark et al, 2010). However, most perpetrators of the crimes do not want to participate in therapy. To them the therapeutic process brings the feeling of being a witness in a case against one’s self. Conclusion Determination of the set of characteristics defining a typical sexual offender is a complex process. The characteristics are not restricted to one set. Different sexual predators have different features and characteristics that determine the nature of the crime. Many sex offenders share some characteristics. However, there exists variability in their characteristics, which may exceed the similarities. This makes the management of sexual offenders and offenses a hard task. This variability results in different subtypes of sexual offenses and offenders. This requires the tailor making of laws to suit the management of each of these subtypes. The understanding of the personalities helps in apprehension of the perpetrators through the establishment of profiles. References Clark, H., Quadara, A., & Australian Institute of Family Studies. (2010). Insights into sexual assault perpetration: Giving voice to victim/survivors' knowledge. Melbourne, Vic.: Australian Institute of Family Studies. Csom.org (2013). The Etiology of Sexual Offending Behavior and Sex Offender Typology: An Overview. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.csom.org/train/etiology/3/3_1.htm [Accessed: 16 Nov 2013]. McGuire, J. (2004). Understanding psychology and crime: Perspectives on theory and action. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Meloy, M. L. (2006). Sex offenses and the men who commit them: An assessment of sex offenders on probation. Hanover [u.a.: Univ. Press of New England [for] Northeastern Univ. Press, Boston. Parry, J., & American Bar Association. (2009). Criminal mental health and disability law, evidence and testimony: A comprehensive reference manual for lawyers, judges, and criminal justice professionals. Chicago, Ill: ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, Criminal Justice Section. Ryan, G., Lane, S. L., & Leversee, T. F. (2010). Juvenile sexual offending: Causes, consequences, and correction. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons. Ward, T., Polaschek, D. L. L., Busch, A. R., & Wiley InterScience (Online service). (2006). Theories of sexual offending. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Read More