Why Individuals Carry Out Sexual Violations

This essay will examine the social and cultural conditions, within the macro-diachronic and micro-synchronic theoretical models , that intensify or perpetuate sexual assault. I have chosen only one concept from each model because these are the only concepts that I feel that I can use to most accurately and comprehensively depict causes and reasons for why sexual assault is deeply entrenched in our social structure. I will thus explore, from these ideological viewpoints, some of the motivations and circumstances which lead offenders to sexual assault. I will also fuse some of the historical attitudes from which today's concepts have evolved to our contemporary understanding of this social

(Ward and Siegert, 2002, pg.331) The model states that there are four pathways prevalent in sexual offenders that result in them committing an offense. These pathways are intimacy deficits, deviant sex scripts, emotional dysregulation, and cognitive distortions. The four pathways interact to cause the crime; however, they have their own primary causal mechanisms. (Ward and Siegert, 2002, pg.335) The first pathway, intimacy deficits, is formed by insecure attachment and an inability of the offenders to establish meaningful relationships with adults. The offenders who associate with this pathway offend at specific times and often substitute a child in place of an adult for their actions. Offenders make an inappropriate choice of a sexual partner because of their insecure attachment which prevents them from forming deeper relationships with adults. This inability enables the offenders to substitute an adult with a child and encourages them to develop adult like relationships with children. The second pathway that leads to a sexual offence is deviant sexual scripts. A sexual script is a “mental representation individuals acquire during the course of their development that facilitate the interpretation of intimate encounters and guide subsequent sexual behaviours.” (Ward and Siegert, 2002, pg.332) A

Freud primarily subscribed to the idea that there are two energies that drive human behavior. These two energies are sex – the pleasure principle and aggression. The human mind is comprised of the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. Within the realms of the mind, the human personality is controlled by the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is driven by the pleasure principle. The superego is the instinctual moral good, which aims to please the ego ideal, or the magnified moral values. The ego interacts with both the id and the superego and aims to please both components (Connors).

Genetics, abnormal hormonal levels and brain dysfunction have all been linked to sexual offending. To date, there is no evidence of a genetic in sex-offending (Langevin, 1993), although case reports of pedophilic fathers and sons have been reported (Gaffner, Lurie & Berlin, 1984). Some researchers have hypothesised this to be reflective of neuro-endocrine abnormalities, such that abnormal hormonal levels may disrupt the sexual arousability of an individual. This is based on the belief that the endocrine system drives sexual behaviour (Langevin, 1993). There is some evidence for this in the literature with peripheral blood samples of pedophiles indicating abnormal testosterone levels (Bain et al., 1988) and increased

Pedophilia is a severe personality disorder that effects a small portion of people. Low self esteem, social efficiency and an overall feeling of inadequacy are all strong traits an individual with pedophilia possesses. The effect of such traits will be analyzed in this paper as it is a primary incentive for their criminal offenses. Pedophiles are separated into different groupings that contain a variety of motives that explain how long they will offend for and the specific reasons for why. Evolution also plays a crucial role in their offenses as it involves the competitive nature of mating. Demonstrating a low antisocial, low self worth, and need for power allows for their negative behaviours to thrive.

According to the philosopher Thomas Nagel, the concept of “sexual perversion” falls under the rubric of psychological rather than biological, anatomical, or reproductive categories. Psychological rather than physiological since sexual perversion does not occur in lower life forms and it is the psychological aspect of it that makes the distinction. Not just for reproduction

There is a continuous debate regarding the etiology of pedophilia. Today many think of pedophilia as a mental issue of deviance, but many studies are showing a combination of factors. For example, early sexual conduct, history of sexual misuse and pre-birth or early adolescence neurodevelopmental issues are attributed to the etiology of pedophilia (Goode, 2011). Researchers and therapists feel that sexual attraction to children is more of a biological cause that is beyond the pedophiles ability to control the sexual desire (Kaplan, 2015). Studies have revealed a strong indication of a neuro biological problem in the structure and function of frontal, temporal, and limbic areas of the brain (Tenbergen, 2015). How abnormality is socially developed is integral to any comprehension of sexual conduct

However, the quantities of estrogen and testosterone may differ amongst the men and women. The two opposite sexes produce lessened amount of testosterone and estrogen as they get old. These hormones such as estrogen and testosterone appear to have considerable affect on the sexual arousal of men and women. They vary the amount of sexual arousal by altering the threshold for erotic stimulation. The hormones namely estrogen and testosterone act in two ways. The first of the ways of action is the central action. The second of the two ways is peripheral action.

When thinking of sexual predators preying on children the first impression that comes to mind is how a person could commit an act so despicable. This is the question that lingers in the back of every logical person mind. In theory there will always be an explanation that could better help people comprehend the reasons on why tragedies such as pedophilia occur. One could consider the breakdown of a person’s societal bond which is considered the social control theory and or the result of an individual having a totally different thinking process known as the psychological theory. Although both of these prove worthy theories, the psychological theory for pedophilia analysis is more sound in comparison to the social control theory.

Sexual deviance is a complex issue due to traditional values and deviance are relative terms; and to make matters worse the definition of the term sexual deviance has shifted over time. Sexual deviance refers to atypical sexual behaviors usually defined in moral and legal terms. Mistaken belief of our sexuality can lead to doubts, guilt, and shame. In addition, modern lifestyles and upscale urban living have led to a flaking of inhibitions and enhanced sexual freedom to discover different sexual behaviors is responsible for false observations of normal and abnormal sexual behavior in oneself and others. In today's world, opinions of sexual deviance include a range of sexual expression such as sexual sadomasochism, fetishism, cross dressing,

Human sexual behavior and how it arose is very puzzling to both scientist and the common people. Many human sexual behaviors have been observed to occur between generations of people, which may show an association with acquired behaviors by evolution. Scientist have tried to analyze the psychological components that constitute sexual human nature and how evolution has shaped them, therefore opening a new branch called Evolutionary Psychology (Sefcek et al., 2 ,2007). Evolutionary Psychology tries to explain how mate choice refers to both conscious and unconscious processes that can be both psychological and physiological (Miller, 88, 1998). An evolutionary approach to mate selection between males and females suggest that mate choice should

Ever since psychology and psychologists have existed, a lot of work has been done to devise the theoretical model of the sexual offenders. The main reason why psychologists have worked on these models is that it can help them understand how the minds of these people work. As a result, it can help these people predict the behavior of such offenders and work out ways to treat them. In this part of the paper, we shall briefly discuss some of the commonly known theories of sexual deviancy that causes these people to commit offence.

Another important concept is understanding what is normal. The “normal” leads to expectations that males and females have for one another. By not meeting these expectations thoughts of being different can be provoked. Improving education and public knowledge will decrease the suffering by such individuals (Baumeister, et al., 2001). Barr, Bryan, and Kenrick (2002) researched what is the expected sexual peak of men and women. The researchers did three different studies on what participants thought the age of sexual peak was. The first study consisted of 60 members from the Psychology Department at Arizona State, the second consisted of 73 undergraduates at Arizona State, and the third consisted 53 members recruited from the 73 undergraduates. Each group was given a questionnaire asking at what age do you think male/female sexual peak is, and at when do you think males/females experience the highest sexual frequency (Barr, et al., 2002).

Sexual deviance is any abnormal sexual act, behavior, or fantasy that falls outside of the social norm; however, who determines normal and for how long does that normal apply? Historically, intercourse described penile/vaginal penetration in the “missionary position” of a man and woman in marriage and was needed for procreation; incidentally, public discussion, display, or exposure met with disgust, disapproval, and rejection. The norm predominantly established through religion rallied against sexual deviance. Today, sex shows up on billboards, on television, on the movie screen, and in internet connection; consequently, the term intercourse does not have the same meaning in our current society. Our norms are decided via interest groups shunning religion and standing up for human rights. Yes, there was deviance in ancient days, thus unwanted pregnancies, incest, rape, but we it was not up for public detail, discussion, or review. Based on the deviance theories, the labeling theory describes how deviance definitions have changed throughout the years, but differential association explains individual sexual deviance.

It is largely accepted that a comprehensive theory of sexual offending is likely to be multifactorial in nature and not one single origin or cause. The theory should take into account how developmental experiences, social and cultural learning, and biological mechanisms combine to create offending vulnerabilities. Causal factors such as: deviant sexual preferences, empathy deficits, intimacy problems, emotional disregulation and distorted beliefs or values usually all contribute and should be taken into consideration when analysing the offender. This paper seeks to highlight two of the possible theories of crime relating to the aetiology in case of Alfred. The two theories of crime which this paper will critically analyse and