Understanding the Predictive Factors of Sexual Offenders

2483 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Personality theories of sexual offending

Within the last few decades, sexual violence has come “to light” as a crime that has destructive implications that drag on for years (Grotpeter, Menard, Gianola, &O’Neal, 2008). With the help of the media, law enforcement and new laws regarding sexual offenders, people are more aware of the crime. The awareness is of the risks that make people more likely to become a victim. However, awareness should also shed light on the predictive factors as to why people commit sexual assaults in the first place. The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) reported that there is no single type of person that is more likely to commit a sexual offense. Regardless of sex, gender, socioeconomic status, etc., there is no way to determine if any individual will become a sexual offender based on this information alone (NCJRS, n.d.). So, what makes someone more likely to commit a sexual offense on another human being? This question is quite difficult to really narrow down. However, there are certain factors that need to be explored that can provide a better idea of what really goes through the mind of a sexual offender before the crime even takes place. Once a better understanding of predictive factors of sexual offenders is offered, then preventative measures can begin. In order to fully examine potential factors that can lead to a sexual assault, scientific studies that have been conducted over the subject should be reviewed to understand the question being raised.
The first study that has been assessed was carried out by Chakhssi, Ruiter, and Bernstein. This study was to investigate if early maladaptive cognitive schemas (EMS) played a role in sexual offender’s behaviors. Moreover, which EMS led offenders to commit the sexual assault a...

... middle of paper ...

...t offenders: An exploratory study. J Sex Med 2013;10:2201–2210.
Grotpeter J., Menard S., Gianola D., &O’Neal M., (2008). Sexual Violence: Longitudinal, Multigenerational Evidence from the National Youth Survey. Final Report May 22, 2008, Document Number: 223284, Supported by U.S. Department of Justice
Lussier, P., Leclerc, B., Cale, J., & Proulx, J. (2008). Developmental pathways of deviance in sexual aggressors. Criminal Justice And Behavior, 34(11), 1441-1462.
Schroeder, M., Iffland, J., Hill, A., Berner, W., & Briken, P. (2013). PERSONALITY DISORDERS IN MEN WITH SEXUAL AND VIOLENT CRIMINAL OFFENSE HISTORIES. Journal Of Personality Disorders, 27(4), 519-530. doi:10.1521/pedi
Voller, E. K., & Long, P. J. (2010). Sexual Assault and Rape Perpetration by College Men: The Role of the Big Five ersonality Traits. Journal Of Interpersonal Violence, 25(3), 457-480.

Show More
Related

  • Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    In "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture" Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade analyze the social perspective of the gendered relations in male fraternities that add to the high rate of violence against women on many college campuses. They list a host of factors that distinguish higher-risk from lower-risk atmospheres discussing the rates of rape in colleges and state how "1 out of 4 college women say they were raped or experienced an attempted rape" (217). Additionally, "1 out of 12 college men say they forced a woman to have sexual intercourse against her will" (Boswell, Spade 217). In other words Boswell and Spade indicated that the rates were high when it came down to women getting raped in colleges by men who also attended those colleges. In addition, Boswell and Spade specify in how most people are aware of rape but know very little about rape culture (Boswell, Spade 217).

    Read More

  • Risk-Needs-Responsivitiy Model

    2728 Words  | 6 Pages

    Witt, P., Greenfield, D., & Hiscox, S. (2008). Cognitive/behavioural approaches to the treatment adult sex offenders. Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 36(2), 245-269, retrieved from EBSCOhost

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Senior Salute

    325 Words  | 1 Pages

    The trial of 19 year old Owen Laurie has brought into light the alarming rate in which Sexual assault is rising. The issue that rages on in Colleges is said to be making its way to high schools and primary school. In a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Division of Violence Prevention, 19% of Undergraduate women experienced

    Read More

  • Understanding College Life: A Bittersweet Transition

    1408 Words  | 3 Pages

    With one in five college students experiencing sexual assault during their college career who wouldn’t be afraid? This remains especially true for young women between the ages of 18-24 (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While a woman’s freshman and sophomore year of college are when she is at a most risk for assault, it can happen at any time. According to Robin Gray in the article on sexual assault statistics, “between 20% and 25% of women will experience a completed and/or attempted rape during their college career,” (Gray). At Northwest Missouri State University for the 2016-2017 academic year there are 5,618 undergraduate students enrolled. With the ratio of male to female students being 44% to 56%, there are about 3,147 female students. In terms of the statistics estimated by Gray, 630-787 of the female student population at Northwest Missouri State will experience rape during their college career (“Northwest Missouri State University”). This is a disturbingly large figure. Women are not the only ones susceptible to these acts, but men are too. It is said about “10%” of all sexual assault cases involve male victims (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While this number is slightly lower for men it is often believed that male victims of sexual assault do not often report their crime due to the social stigma surrounding their assault. Men may feel

    Read More

  • A Child Molester's Mind: How They Choose Their Victims

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Recidivism Rate of Juvenile Sex Offenders between Uses of Legal Sentencing as Adults or Utilizing Psychological Treatment

    2292 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lawing, K., Frick, P. J., & Cruise, K. R. (2010). Differences in offending patterns between adolescent sex offenders high or low in callous—unemotional traits. Psychological Assessment, 22(2), 298-305.

    Read More

  • Sexual Assault in Australia

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    The vast amount of research has provided several explanations to account for the behavior of the offenders and the low rate in which sexual assault cases initiate criminal proceedings through a variety of theoretical perspectives. These include the classical approaches that focus on the individual who has committed sexual assault and the positivist approaches that aim to explain the social factors that influence the prosecution rates th...

    Read More

  • Female Sex Offenders: Perception is Not Reality

    1632 Words  | 4 Pages

    Generally, the public views women as nurturers, motherly and incapable of harming a child. Research indicates that female sex offenders capable of committing such acts have serious psychiatric and psychological problems. In comparison, research indicates male sex offenders are more callous, more antisocial, and promiscuous, involved in the criminal justice system, and have more victims (Miccio-Fenseca, 2012, slide 7). The consensus is that men commit their acts for sexual pleasure while women commit their acts due to psychiatric and psychological problems. Law enforcement, juries, and judges tend to empathize more when there are additional mitigating factors, such as emotional or psychological problems.

    Read More

  • Addressing Sexual Assault Prevalence on College Campuses

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    When it comes to sexual assault on college campuses there is also the question of what can colleges do to decrease the amount of sexual assaults. Bradford Richardson and Jon A Shields wondered the same thing, so they conducted an ...

    Read More

  • Rehabilitation of Sex Offenders

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Rational Choice Theory: Sexual Assault And Crime

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are various theories that can best explain certain crimes, however there is one that is best applied to the topic of sexual assault and/or crime. The rational choice theory, I believe is a theory that can best explain why a perpetrator decides to commit a sexual assault crime and/or rape. The reason why is because the rational choice theory is defined as how offenders seek to benefit themselves by their criminal behavior; that this involves the making of decisions and of choices, however rudimentary on occasion these processes might be; and that these processes exhibit a measure of rationality, albeit constrained by limits of time and ability and the availability of relevant information (Cornish & Clarke, 2014). These decisions are based on individual choices and it is not based

    Read More

  • Recidivism of Sex Offenders

    2497 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their crimes(Oakes 99). This presents a

    Read More

  • Sexual Victimization of Women

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to a statement addressing the sexual victimization of college women The Crime and Victimization in America states that, “ One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.” This disturbing fact has not minimized throughout the years, instead it is continuing to worsen throughout college campuses. Sexual assault is not an act to be taken lightly. Society must stop pinpointing the individuals who commit these crimes one by one, but rather look at the problem as a whole and begin to understand the main cause of sexual assault and possible methods to reduce these acts of sexual coercion.

    Read More

  • Psychological Factors On Criminal Behavior

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    deviant behavior early in life and is associated with self centeredness, a lack of empathy, and a

    Read More

  • Types Of Criminology

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...al abnormality is another contributor of rape, in which a mental disease or personality disorder is to blame. It is said that most serial rapists are those who have some type of illness. Social learning, says that the people and the environment you are in causes violent behavior such as rape. The more you are around people who are aggressive and forcible to women the more likely you are to repeat that behavior. Or someone who you may have seen or been a victim yourself of sexual assault. Sexual motivation is the last cause that can contribute to rape in which a young offender and older offender have different sexual motivation. It is said the intent of the younger offender is that pure sexual gratification and some sort of "feeling" for their victim, verses an older offender in which he chooses young victims for "power and control" so the threat of harm is greater.

    Read More

More about Understanding the Predictive Factors of Sexual Offenders

Open Document