Sexual Deviance

Question 1

Hocken and Thorne (2012)

Answer 1

Categorised sexual crimes into non-contact (voyeurism, exhibitionism, owning child porn) and contact (rape, sexual assault, paedophilia)

Question 2

Victims of sexual crimes

Answer 2

Mostly female - 80% of all sexual offences, 90% of rapes.
Average age 10-24 for all assaults, 16-34 for rape
Males most likely assaulted between 5-19

Question 3

Victim’s relationship to offenders

Answer 3

Mostly a partner/ex partner (45%), or someone known to the victim (38%).
Strangers are rarer (13%) as are family members (5%)

Question 4

How many sexual crimes aren’t reported?

Answer 4

Around 80% of crimes are not reported (Crime survey for England and Wales, 2017)

Question 5

How much sexual crime isn’t recorded?

Answer 5

26% of reported crime isn’t recorded (HMICFRS, 2014)

Question 6

Crime survey for England and Wales (2017)

Answer 6

20% of women and 4% of men over 16 victims in their lifetime

3.1% of women and 0.8% of men aged 16-59 within 12 month period

Question 7

Main reasons for lack of reporting

Answer 7

1. Embarrassment
2. Didn’t think they could help
3. Thought it would be humiliating
4. Didn’t think they’d be believed
5. Didn’t want to go to court

Question 8

Generalist crime theory definition (Howitt, 2018)

Answer 8

Sex crimes are a part of a wider pattern of criminal and deviant behaviour

Question 9

Specialist theory of crime definition (Howitt, 2018)

Answer 9

Sex offenders are predominately likely to only engage in sexual crimes

Question 10

General theory of crime (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990)

Answer 10

Sexual offending is caused by low self control. This leads to alcohol/drug abuse, unstable employment, absenteeism from work, and other crime and deviancy.

Question 11

Evidence for general theory of crime

Answer 11

Sex offenders do tend to be involved in these other behaviours (Cleary, 2004)
Risk factors for sex offenders tend to be the same as non-sex offenders

Question 12

Limitations for generalist theory of crime

Answer 12

Not all sex offenders are the same (Harris et al, 2009)
88% are involved in other crimes
Child sex offenders more specialist (only 40% involved in other crimes)

Question 13

Evolutionary theory of rape (Thornhill and Palmer, 2000)

Answer 13

Rape is a behaviour that has been evolved. It isn’t about power, rather sex, and a by-product of other adaptions. This means all men would rape under the right circumstances

Question 14

Evidence for evolutionary theory of rape

Answer 14

+ Majority of rape victims are fertile aged women, but not all.

• Pregnancy rate after rape is only 3% so is it evolved?
• The more fertile the woman is, the more resistant they are. But trauma is only lower for children

Question 15

Rape myths (Burt, 1980)

Answer 15

Sociological and feminist perspective.
A cognitive model that diverts blame so sex offending is more likely.
Myths include ‘victim was sexually active’, ‘if they’re in a dangerous situation they get what they deserve’, ‘if they go home with a man they should be willing to have sex’

Question 16

Scapegoat Theory (Glick, 2002)

Answer 16

The tendency to blame someone else for one’s own problems, a process that often results in feelings of prejudice toward the person or group that one is blaming. Example could be incels.

Question 17

Evidence for rape myths

Answer 17

A possible relationship between likelihood to rape and rape myths (Tieger, 1981)
Rape myths are not unique to rapists (Overholser and Beck, 1989)
Rape myth beliefs of police offenders influence credibility assessments (Goodman-Delahunty and Graham, 2011)

Question 18

Winder and Thorne (2012) - categories of paedophilia

Answer 18

Infantophiles - those who sexually offend under 5s
Paedophiles - those who offend against prepubescent children
Hebephiles - those who offend post-pubescent but still underage children

Question 19

Paedophilia DSM5 conditions

Answer 19

The person must be over the age of 16 and be at least 5 years older than the child.
Not all child sex offenders have the disorder ad not all paedophiles offend

Question 20

Illegal activity of paedophiles

Answer 20

1. Use and/or production of child porn
2. Exposing self to a child
3. Fondling the child
4. Encouraging the child to touch them
5. Forcing the child to engage in or observe a sexual act

Question 21

Finkelhor Precondition Model (1984)

Answer 21

A good theory should explain why the offence was sexual (Ward et al, 2006)

The 4 preconditions are

1. Motivation to sexually abuse
2. Overcoming internal inhibitors
3. Overcoming external inhibitors
4. Overcoming child’s resistance

Question 22

Motives of Finkelhor’s Precondition model

Answer 22

1. Emotional congruence - children might meet a specific emotional need and/or they’re easier to overpower
2. Sexual arousal to children
3. Blockage - unable to have an adult partner

Question 23

Internal inhibitors in Finkelhor’s Precondition Model

Answer 23

Factors which lead to overcome guilt like entrenched attitudes. alcohol/drugs, mental disorder like psychosis or dementia and stress

Question 24

External inhibitors in Finkelhor Precondition Model

Answer 24

The process of planning - either long term or in the moment

Offender gains access to the child through grooming, building a trusting relationship with the parents, and being consistently present

Question 25

Overcoming resistance of the child in Finkelhor Precondition Model

Answer 25

Resistance could be physical or verbal

Strategies include:

1. Giving gifts
2. Densensitising the child to sex
3. Threats of violence
4. Telling them it is a secret
5. Being in a position of authority

Question 26

Evaluation of Finkelhor Precondition Model

Answer 26

A comprehensive theory that explains a wide range of offences
Can be used therapeutically
Lacks a reason how motives develop and lead to offending
Many offenders have no internal inhibitors (eg they have psychopathy)

Question 27

Case Study of Precondition Model - Ian Watkins

Answer 27

Welsh rock band member found guilty for infantophilia and hebephilia.
Motivation - Unsure exactly but possibly mixture of fame and pornographic habits.
Internal inhibitors - Started taking drugs a few years before the crimes, and band members say his personality changed from then.
External inhibitors - Grooming young teen fans and their children to engage in sexual acts with him due to his fame.
Overcoming resistance - Victims were often already vulnerable and he was idolised, some that helped infantophilia were possibly motivated by him cheating.