Sexual Offending

Question 1

What is Burt’s Rape-myth Acceptance scale?

Answer 1

Women deserved to be raped if she dresses more provocatively
This could encourage men to rape or provide them with an excuse for their sexually aggressive acts against women
Also women who are drunk and engage with men, only has herself to blame if things get out of hand

Question 2

What is Malamuth’s Self reported Likelihood to rape scale?

Answer 2

Single item measure: How likely do you think you would be to commit rape if you can be assured of not being caught?
Men who score higher on this scale tend to see rape as an enjoyable seduction for the victim and put the blame on the victim
Men who score lower on the scale see rape as a serious crime and don’t believe in the stereotype for their sex roles.

Question 3

What are women’s attitudes towards the rape myth?

Answer 3

Women who don’t report their rape, tend to have higher levels of myth rape acceptance
and higher internal locus of control, meaning they saw themselves to blame for the rape.

Question 4

What is the general deviancy model?

Answer 4

Sex offenders offend sexually as a part of their general tendency to engage in all sorts of deviancy behaviour

Question 5

What is the specialist model?

Answer 5

Assumes sex offenders aren’t likely to commit other types of crimes
Exclusive to sex crimes

Question 6

What is a variant of the specialist model?

Answer 6

Sex offending is a broad category and involves a variety of offending behaviour
Offenders limit their range e.g. some sex offenders may offend against children and never adults

Question 7

What is the feminist theory on rape?

Answer 7

Motivation comes from the power to dominant rather than the desire for sex
Controlling women encourages male power
Focus on pro-rape attitudes towards women than focusing on equality

Question 8

What is the social learning theory on rape?

Answer 8

Learn to be rapists through pro rape beliefs
Exposure to violent pornography increases rapists to behave violently towards women

Question 9

What is the evolutionary theory on rape?

Answer 9

Function of rape is to pass on genetic material for the next generation
Tendency to rape is due to genetic influence
Rapists are less likely than other men to attract voluntary sex partners
Victims are primarily of reproductive age
Aim is to impregnate victims

Question 10

What is the preconditions model for paedophilia?

Answer 10

Preconditions: emotional congruence with children, blockages with adult relationships, sexual arousal with children.
Oldest theory
Establishes that there are many causes
Not all preconditions are involved in all cases

Question 11

What is the psychotherapeutic model for paedophilia?

Answer 11

Cognitive distortions captured by the Abel Rape Index scale
Includes the beliefs of a sexual nature towards children
Grooming: methods of how offenders contact children to gain their trust, violent threats, may be bribes of sweets
Offenders plans in fantasy the likely scenarios with the victim e.g. when finally seducing the child, the offender plans out what they will say or do.
Denial: blame someone else for their actions, deny the consequences

Question 12

What is the sexualisation model of paedophilia?

Answer 12

Sexual abuse in childhood
Particuarly penetrative sex, abuse by women and unusual abusive acts.
Also acts where the perpetrator is an older child as well
Sex offenders may view adult-child sexual contact as normal because of their person expeirences

Question 13

What is the Sexual Offences Act 2003?

Answer 13

Penetration without consent of the vagina/mouth/anus by a penis
Consent is a person agreeing to sexual activity and has the freedom/capacity to make that choice

Question 14

What is the age of consent in the UK?

Answer 14

in the UK is 16
If the victim is under 13, it’s illegal to incite children to engage in sexual activity, penetration and sexual contact. This is again illegal if the victim is 16 and the perpetrator is 18.

Question 15

What are some sexual offences towards children?

Answer 15

Sexual contact with someone who is 16/17 and it may be illegal if there is an abuse of trust
Familial child offences
Grooming
Indecent images of children
Victim who has a mental disorder which impedes their choice

Question 16

What is the age of consent in Europe?

Answer 16

14: Germany, Portugal, Italy
18: Malta, Turkey

Question 17

What is the age of consent in America?

Answer 17

Varies across states, between 16 and 18

Question 18

What is an implication of research into paedophiles?

Answer 18

studies may treat people as criminals when in their jurisdictions it is acting lawfully

Question 19

What are the global rates of sexual violence?

Answer 19

Lifetime prevalence of sexual partner violence reported by women ages between 15 to 49 years ranged from 5%-59%
0.3% to 12% of women reported sexual violence by non partner since age 15
More difficult to look into the global rates of victimization for men but a meta analysis study shows global rates of sexual abuse, 4-19% for boys, 11-22% for girls

Question 20

What are some common misconceptions about sex offending?

Answer 20

Usually conjure a mental image of a typical sex offender
for example, parents are concerned at the risk of assault/abduction by a stranger e.g. stranger danger

Public are concerned with paedophile rings or grooming gangs being responsible for a large amount of sexual offences: 4% of members who sexually offended were a part of these rings

LQBTQ+ members ‘pose’ are greater threat to children: belief has declined overtime, usually men are the perpetrators and women are the victims

Question 21

What does Wortley’s 2009 study show about CSA?

Answer 21

Misconceptions of sexual child abuse
56.5% of CSA perpetrators lived with victim
36.9% knew the child
6.5% were strangers
69% of cases happened in the home

Question 22

What is paedophilia?

Answer 22

It’s not the same as child molestation
A sexual preference for children, boys or girls or both, usually of prepubertal or early pubertal age.

Question 23

What is hebophilia?

Answer 23

Around the age of puberty

Question 24

What is ephebophilia?

Answer 24

Around the age of adolescence

Question 25

What is child molestation?

Answer 25

Anyone who commits a contact sexual offences against a child, whether they have paedophilic interest or not

Divided into 2 types:
- Incest/Intrafamilial: lower reoffending rates, less evidence of paedophilia
- Unrelated/Extra familial: greater risk

Question 26

What factors motivates perpetrators to commit sexual aggression towards adults?

Answer 26

Anger is common
Driven by sadistic fantasies
Hostile masculinity
Endorsement of rape myths
Alcohol abuse
Antisociality

Question 27

How can we measure sexual interest in children?

Answer 27

Not everyone that commits contact offences are paedophilic, sexual interest is only one reason for sexual offending
Measure arousal
Look at reaction times to stimuli

Question 28

Do offenders who look at indecent images of children have paedophilic arousal and have contact offences with their victims? Would they reoffend?

Answer 28

These offenders show greater paedophilic arousal than contact offenders
Those who are non-contact offenders are less likely to reoffend than contact offenders
1 in 8 have an officially reported contact offence, but 50% self report contact offence

Question 29

What about sexual offending perpetrated by women?

Answer 29

Many co-offend with male co-perpetrators
Victims overwhelmingly male
Lower rates of paedophilia
Under reporting: due to social and cultural constructs that perceive women abusers as less harmful

Question 30

What are the different types of rape?

Answer 30

Marital rape
Prison rape
In war
Date rape
Multiple perpetrators
Acquaintance rape

Question 31

What is the integrated theory of sexual offending? (Ward and Beech)

Answer 31

Early brain development (genetic or happens in womb)
Ecological Niche (socio-cultural environment, personal experiences, physical environment e.g. 35% of male abusers have been victims themselves, rape myth acceptance, group processes like rape in war or multiple perpetrators)
Both of these causes their neuropsychological functioning to be damaged which affects their desire, belief and actions

Next clinical symptoms surface e.g. deviant arousal, social difficulties- need for intimacy, emotional problems- struggle to regulate behaviour. these symptoms lead to sexual offending

Question 32

What happens in a rapists childhood that could cause them to act sexually aggressive towards adults?

Answer 32

Experiencing sexual abuse in their own childhood
Family were negative or hostile towards them

Question 33

What is some neuropsychological evidence for paedophilia?

Answer 33

Dr Cantor
Paedophiles have larger amounts of white matter
Cross wiring
Sexual arousal is triggered rather than a nurturing trigger

Question 34

What are offence supportive cognitions?

Answer 34

Beliefs about themselves
Beliefs about their victims
Beliefs about their world
However, these beliefs may just be excuses that sexual offenders use

Question 35

What does the term ‘throwing away the keys’ mean?

Answer 35

Public believe sexual offenders are going to reoffend
But reoffending is low, especially when they’re treated

Question 36

What are the theories of desistance?

Answer 36

desistance: slowing reoffending behaviour

Natural desistance: crime is a young man’s game
Cognitive transformation: recreating new identities for themselves through gradual or sudden change
Informal social control: stability, marriage, employment

Question 37

Does treatment work?

Answer 37

Treatment reduces sexual reoffending by about 27% to 43%

Particularly effective when:
- we prioritise high risk individuals
- target criminogenetic needs
- responsive e.g. can’t use the same treatments for offenders that have learning difficulties
- strengths based e.g. some offenders seek intimacy, so we figure out how this person can meet this goal without engaging in offending behaviour