Case 4 Flashcards
What defines rape from a legal perspective?
vaginal or anal penetration in the absence of consent. The source and gender, varies across the states.
What factors promote rape?
A common researched factor promoting rape is rape myth acceptance. In a review by Yapp and Quayle (2018) rape myth acceptance was predictive for male-on-female sexual violence in 8/9 studies.
Another well established promoting factor is psychopathy of the offender.
Offenders who report violent sexual fantasies are more likely to commit a violent index sexual offence (rape/attempted rape) than a child index sexual offence.
Further, sexual arousal in general can reduce other considerations like being ethically towards the other person and make activities previously perceived as non-arousing seem arousing. Therefore, sexual arousal of the offender could be a rape promoting factor as well.
foregone drug or alcohol consumption by offender and victim. Vulnerable or hostile situations (social environments) towards former victims of sexual assault increase the chances of revictimization. Other promoting factors could be childhood sexual abuse, increased nr. of sexual partners and decreased refusal assertiveness by the victim (or phrased differently: assertive resistance to sexual assult decreases the likelihood of completed rape)
What are rape myths ?
- implicit theories:
- believing in a combination of these myths facilitate people to transgress. These myths also make it more difficult for victims to share their concerns/pain, and make it more difficult for a victim is not victimized again (e.g., when family holds strong rape myth beliefs, hard for victim to talk about what happened to him/her, allowing the abuser to continue)
- Women encourage rape by their dress and actions
- Women mean yes when they say no
- The sexual contact did not do her any harm
- Rough treatment is a sexual turn-on for women
- Men who rape simply lose control over their sexual urges
- Men who rape are mentally ill
- Women secretly want to be raped (all women want to be raped)
- Any women can resist if she really wants to
- Women falsely accuse men of rape (women want sex but later falsely cry
rape) - Most rapes are committed by strangers
- All men are capable of rape
How would you explain that most perpetrators of sexual violence are men?
- pedophilic men report fewer adult sexual partners than nonpedophilic men, pursue fewer romantic relationships with age peers, and those relationships tend to be generally more lonely and isolative, less emotionally and sexually satisfying
- acceptance of rape myths –> men have a sex drive and have to have sex
- implicit teories
o Men more likely, in general, to commit se offenses- attributed to increased sex drive? Leading to lower levels of repulsion
o Gender differences could be due to it being more legally difficult to convict women of lesser sex offenses- go unnoticed and unreported also can be disguised due to the child care roles that the women be subsume as they are more likely to commit a sex offense within their own network
What could be the impact of rape on the victim?
o Consequences of abuse- contamination and [SM1] feelings of disgust
o Feeling contaminated is a symtoms of abuse- washing more and feeling permanently damaged
o PTSD, OCD and body dysmorphia
o Treatment: Cognitive restructuring- how often cells replace themselves and how many times your cells have regenerated since the abuse thus you aren’t physically contaminated anymore CRIM: Cognitive Restructuring and Image Modification
o Consequences of abuse are v individual- Images of abuse and sensing a feeling on theory skin and sensory feeling on skin could trigger a memory- midbrain
· Others have a more cognitive reaction to assault which is feeling contaminated- Cortex
Both types of reaction need different treatments
o Engage in avoidance and escape behaviours- distraction à self-destructive
· Discussed disgust a lot in the lecture- linked to topic
o Research on victims of sexual abuse- victims are 8x more likely to become an offender- childhood sexual assault when younger predicts increased chance of offending later on in life
· Abused-abuser cycle?
· Affective symptoms (low self-esteem) disorders (PTSD/MDD)
How could victims and society help to prevent sexual violence?
- Change rape-promoting beliefs by education. Lecturing about sexuality and relationships. Education about giving/asking for consent.
Create awareness about equality of men and women (to stop rape promoting beliefs).
Learn youth about (sexual) boundaries and why boundaries should not be crossed.
Victims could help by sharing their story -> create awareness, create a safe space for other victims to tell their story, give the feeling that other victims are not alone.
o Ppl have little insight into themselves- Those who are aroused may interpret the situation as consensual whereas the victim will interpret it as rape/ assault
Let them know what arousal can do to someone and be aware of positive sexual experiences
Reducing sexual images in fraternities might help to prevent objectification and eventual sexual offense
o Campaign to raise awareness of staying safe on social media- more public education
Hopefully would combat some of the rape myths (rape in the virtual world- child pornography as a form of sexual assault)
Interventions for offenders
Starting point:
1. Structural change preference impossible
2. Relapse prevention (control, no cure)
Means:
1. Avoidance goal:
Enhance internal/external options for control.
2. Approach goal (impulsive vs. planned pre-meditated):
No self-regulation problem, but non acceptable goal
CBT (schema focused therapy) limited parenting
What are paraphilic disorders?
o DSM-5: Paraphilic disorder is now considered a mental illness when people meet the criteria of feeling distressed about their sexual interest or have a sexual desire or behavior that involves another person’s psychological distress injury or death OR a desires for sexual behavior involving unwilling persons/ persons unable to give consent
o Big difference to DSM- 4: now called a disorder instead of just a paraphilia
The term paraphilia denotes any intense and persistent sexual interest other than sexual interest in genital stimulation or preparatory fondling with phenotypically normal, physically mature, consenting human partners
What is the developmental course of paraphilic disorders?
Learning-theory:
1. Classical conditioning (contingent orgasm/mast.)
2. Operant reinforcement (e.g., voyeurism)
3. No social sanctions
Embedding in identity
Puberty critical period:
›Learning to regulate sexual and aggressive impulses.
›Specific cognitions (implicit theories)…
How might relatively harmless expressions of paraphilic interest escalate to more violent offenses? What are contributing factors for such an escalation?
- sexual fantasies fostering sexual wishes
- pornography
- acceptance and living of rape myths
- social support –> same circles
- mixed offender –> implicit theory of ‘world as a dangerous place’; earlier start of offending, increasing the chance of more violent offending and engaging in child sexual offending
- might experienced something really frustrating right before the offense (losing job, relationship break-up)
- -> elicit into giving in the urge and impulsively acting out
- fixated molester –> fixated on a primitive stage bc he is a child himself
come from dysfunctional families, characterized by substance abuse, sexualized behavior in caregivers, emotionally distant or intrusive relationships with parents, and physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse
- Many abusers are psychosocially inept or uncomfortable with same-aged peers and gravitate toward younger children, first as playmates, but later crossing the line into sexual abuse as the boundaries between friendship and a sexualized relationship begin to blur
- Projective identification
involves taking one’s own repudiated thoughts, feelings, or impulses and mentally attaching them to someone else as if it were really that person’s idea all along
Then, the projector can tell himself that his own behavior is really just a response to that other person
What makes apparently consensual sex an illegal act?
Always when they are still a minor and have sex with an adult (18y)
If the perpetrator is also still a minor, the individual must be at least 16y of age or at least 5 years older than the other individual (child)
Even when the child might consented, since it is a child the consent cannot be valid
Female sexual offenders might argue with that they have a special, love-relationship, but as children cannot give consent, this makes it illegal as well
Child might see it as consensual, love power imbalance
What are the modus operandi (strategies) of adults heading for sex with children?
Preferential child molesters:
seductive molester
- courts and “grooms” his young victims with gifts and attention
- likely to rationalize that he and the child have a special relationship based on mutual affection
- least likely of the 3 subtypes to use violence
fixated molester
- his sexuality has been fixated at a primitive stage of psychosexual development where he finds children sexually attractive because he is, psychologically, essentially a child himself, often appearing emotionally immature and socially inept
- is not likely to physically harm his victims
- slowly wins them over by a gradual process of seduction; often, physical affection and intimacy with these children is as important to him as actual sex
- He also may be abusing a number of children at the same time, and often makes a project of this, moving around to obtain victims and utilizing the Internet to contact others
Sadistic molester
- much like the adult serial rapist or serial killer
- erotic gratification is based on the
- fusion of sexual arousal and sadistic aggression
- This offender’s crimes are premeditated and ritualized, and he may have a varied criminal record involving other types of violent crimes
- Typically preferring young boys, he will stalk and abduct them, then enjoy torturing, sexually assaulting, and mutilating the children, taking maximal pleasure from the fear, pain, and horror of his young victims
- To heighten the torment, he may tell the children that their parents hate them and ordered this punishment
- the child dies as a result of the abuse
- some cases may be left alive, often with some degree of disfigurement or permanent disability
What differential motivations/drives for sex with children (typology of abusers) can be distinguished?
Female child sex offender typologies
Predisposed (intergenerational) female child sex offender
- perpetuates the cycle of abuse from her own childhood by inflicting it upon other children, often members of her own family or even her own children
- Her personal history of abuse as a child seems to have reinforced an eroticized relationship between sex and adult–child affection or, alternatively, this offender may have at least partially inherited her pedophilic urges from the abusing parent
Teacher/lover female child sex offender
- initiates sexual conduct with an adolescent boy, often a student in her middle school or high school class
- rationalize that the boy enjoys the contact and that he in fact may have initiated it, and to regard it more along the lines of an adult “affair”
- the motivation appears to center around her desire to validate her own youthfulness, desirability, and power over male sexuality
Male-coerced female child sex offender
- commits her sexual abuse of a child under the influence, intimidation, or coercion of a male partner
- Her traits of passivity, dependence, low self-worth, and feelings of powerlessness make her especially susceptible to the influence of a dominant male
Psychologically disturbed female child sex offender
- some form of organic brain syndrome or severe mental disorder
- However, this says nothing about the specific motives that may drive the offending behavior in the direction of a sexual liaison with a minor, as opposed to, say, shoplifting or violent outbursts
Child care provider sex offenders
What are the consequences of child sexual abuse for the victims
-self disgust and feelings of being contaminated
Longterm Consequences:
Psychological Consequences: e.g -Diminished executive functioning and cognitive skills
- Poor mental and emotional health, - Attachment and social difficulties, - Posttraumatic stress
- PTSD consequences: can lead to depression, suicidal behavior, substance use, and oppositional or defiant behaviors well into adulthood, which can affect their ability to succeed in school, and create and nurture important relationships.
Behavioral Consequences: Unhealthy sexual practices, Juvenile delinquency leading to adult criminality, alcohol and other drug use, future perpetration of maltreatment “Cycle of violence”
Physical Health Consequences: several, e.g Diabetes, Lung disease, Malnutrition, Vision problems, Functional limitations,Heart attack, Arthritis, Back problems, High blood pressure, Brain damage, Migraine headaches
-correlated with reduced volume in overall brainsize and may affect the size and/or functioning of the
following brain regions (Bick & Nelson, 2016):Amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, cerebellum, corpus callosum
- lower IQ
- lower academic succes –> less chances in work
- -> negative self-fulfilling prophecies
- ADHD
- deteroriation of emotion regulation –> increased impusivity
- attachment disoders: reactive and disinhibited attachemnet disorder
- peer relations
- conduct disorders, aggression
- substance use and promiscious sexual behavior
