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Lyan Padilla -Vlez

Ms. Coco
ENGL 1001
2 May 2016
My audience is the family of sexual offenders and of victims of sexual offense.
Preface: I still have information I have not added. The victims point of view will be the last part
I do so that I can connect it to the rest of the essay. I believe it will be the hardest paragraph to
work on since the other parts of the essay are mainly facts from the article sources. Also, I hope
to engage the audience with this part. The paper needs a lot of revision; I did it last minute
because final test and homework for this week caught up with me.

Connecting the different ideas and making good transitions is the main area I have to
work on.
I need to revise all my in-text citations because I know I have errors
I kind of have a lot going on in the rehabilitation topic. I know I need to divide that big
chunk of paragraph.

If I had two more weeks I would actually finish the inquiry project. The perspective from the
victims in relation to their abuser will definitely be included and I would have used my sixth
reference for it. Also I could have develop each subtopic even more and make a better use of the
in-text citations. From writing this inquiry paper I have learned to narrow a research question so
that the essay is more focused and not about a general topic. The inquiry project allowed me to
distinguish between appropriate and not appropriate sources for a research and that even a
newspaper article can be a good source.
Why me?
When we see news of sex offenders or read an article related to the topic of sexual
violence, immediately most of people think What a horrible person!, I know I did at the
beginning of doing research for this paper. After all, how can a family member or a person you
trust perpetrate such an act against you? Sexual abuse can be seen as an unforgivable crime and
rationally the most severe sentenced should be applied. But what most of us dont know is that
besides the disturbing fact of their actions, there may be biological and psychological
explanation, not justification, to their wrongdoing. These findings may exhort the general

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population to view this issue from a rehabilitation point of view, instead of only punishment
(Kaplan, 2016).
Sexual offenders can be characterized by their impulsivity, hostility and inability to care
about others. Since every person is different, they too are a heterogeneous population that leads
to the study of the incidents from also a diverse perspective (Morgan and Gilchrist, 2010). In the
psychology field, sexual violence offenders have been studied for decades from two theoretical
models. The first is the psychopathology model which takes into consideration emotional
disorders. The other model is the social control/social conflict model which can be summarized
in the social constructs and beliefs abusers have. It suggests that the offenders maintain rapesupportive beliefs. Both models try to understand and explain the nature behind offenders
actions (Koss, et al., pg. 982).
Social constructs
The roles of men and women in society are an ongoing debate. Thirty-years ago gender
roles were defined and not questioned. Certain attitudes and responsibilities, like women
working in the house and men doing hard work, were the norm and expected. Nowadays
gender roles have been challenged and women do not have to feel subjugated to meet societys
expectations of them, but not all gender constructs have been rejected. Koss and other
psychologist researchers (1985) agree that males with culturally acquired beliefs of gender roles,
predisposes a sexual aggression setting (pg. 982). These men may feel entitled to control
womens actions and according to Morgan and Gilchrist (2010) a perpetrators desire to have
control over his partner is at the heart of the abusive behaviors. They also suggest that the
abuser may even not feel in control of a situation, leading him to establish his authority. On the

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other hand, a victim may object there

is any sexual aggression going on
because of their own social beliefs,
instead of the abusers beliefs.

In their recompilation of
literature, the psychologists Morgan
and Gilchrist add the Power and
Control Wheel which they believe is
resourceful in identifying an abuser,
analogous to their behavior. The social
construct of male privilige, which the

Figure 1: Power and Control Wheel (Morgan & Gilchrist,

2010)

researchers mention as a characteristic of abusers, is within the wheel.

Psychopathology findings
Sexual violence literature again and again has identified a correlation between having
affective disorders, emotional maladjustment, as well as substance abuse, and being a sex
offender (Morgan and Gilchrist, 2010; Koss, 1985; Carvalho and Nobre, 2013). This is where the
second theoretical model, psychopathology comes in. One of the main behaviors the
psychopathology takes into consideration is affect and impulsiveness. Affect is classified in
positive and negative; negative is associated with distress, irritability and positive with
enthusiasm or a state of well-being. Impulsiveness is associated with cognitive and behavioral

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characteristics, for example, the person may be incapable of considering the consequences to
their actions (Carvalho and Nobre, pg. 378).
Carvalho and Nobre (2013) found in their study distinctive characteristics between men
convicted of rape, male college students who admitted to sexual violence conduct and child sex
offenders. The college students presented significantly more motor/planning and cognitive
impulsiveness, but showed no significant difference in affect from the control group. The men
convicted of rape also exhibited more motor/planning impulsiveness than the control, but unlike
the students, more negative affect was reported in the group. The group sample convicted of
child sexual abuse, on the contrary presented less positive affect and less impulsiveness.
What these results of the Carvalho and Nobre (2013) study tell in general is that college
students who have engaged in sexual violence acted on the spur of the moment and also have a
lack of control over their thoughts. The lack of positive affect and impulsiveness on child abusers
tells the researchers that they plan their crimes, which is believed to maximize their sexual
experience. The research also concluded that negative affect may increase sexual arousal. This
can be related to the fact that the offenders suffer from a lack of emotional regulation and sex is a
short-term desire that satisfies a momentary desire. I can agree with this from a personal
experience view. I was sexually assaulted when being mugged by a male. While looking at him I
could tell that he was on something. At first he just wanted my friends and I money and
cellphones, but then he started looking up and down on me. After getting our stuff he told me to
pull my pants down, I told him Please dont and he said he just wanted to see my butt. I did as
he said and he proceeded to grab my ass and left. I do believe that this was a momentary desire,
probably influenced by whichever substance he was on, not planned and also caused by

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impulsiveness on his part. In conclusion, the findings of their research support the
characterization of different sex crimes.
Koss argues in her article that sexual aggression towards a stranger makes it more likely
for the offender to show hostility or inability to care about others, which are considered
psychopathic characteristics. I think it is debatable the fact of the victim being a stranger, since as
mentioned, a person with negative affect has problems regulating their emotions discriminately
of who is the victim. Another factor that has to be taken into account in the psychopathy of the
offender is their family background. It is suggested by Carvalho and Nobre (2013) that growing
up in a dysfunctional family can have a negative impact on the offenders affective, social and
sexual development.
Medical and therapy treatments/Rehabilitation or punishment
Many professionals in the area of sexual abuse agree that sexual violence can be
characterized by the context. Because of this, all sex offenders can not be viewed and judged
under the same microscope since the reasoning behind their actions is different; they need to be
treated and understood from its point of view. That being said, the rehabilitation or therapy
directed to the person should be focused on their profile. The authors Carvalho and Nobre point
out that the rehabilitation can focus on the factors of the deviant nature of arousal of the offender
or the emotional management. From the findings of their study, they believe impulsiveness
management is of primary importance for rapist, since punishment strategies are not effective in
individuals with self-control deficits. For college students programs directed at promoting noncoerced sex, which may be influenced by social constructs, is recommended.

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In the article by Sarah Kaplan, she cites the psychiatrist Fred Berlin saying that sex
crimes should be viewed as a medical condition like alcoholism and drug addiction, one that
requires treatment besides prison time. The nature of the crime makes it easier to seek retribution
in prison time and use it as a pretext for prevention. Psychologists agree this type of punishment
instead of given emphasis to rehabilitation, wont protect victims. If the system and the general
population were really interested in preventing sexual violence, it would necessitate the
uncomfortable acknowledgement that some people are born as pedophiles, said the professor
Elizabeth Letourneau. In the case of pedophiles, support groups are recommended to help them
abstain from their attractions. The Washington Post article makes emphasis on understanding
sexual offenses from a biological view. Another issue presented in the article is the civil
commitment act. This act allows for inmates to be held in prison, even after their time is
completed. Its aim supposedly has the best interest of the population and of the offenders in
mind. I dont agree, as many psychologists, and believe the act should be reevaluated to see if it
really prevents more crimes or if it just makes it harder for offenders to be able to rehabilitate.
Works cited
Carvalho, Joana, and Pedro Nobre. "Dynamic Factors Of Sexual Aggression: The Role Of Affect
And Impulsiveness." Criminal Justice And Behavior 40.4 (2013): 376-387. PsycINFO.
Graham, Nicole., et al. "Associations among Childhood Abuse and Psychopathy Facets in Male
Sexual Offenders." Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment 3.1 (2012):
66-75.
Kaplan, Sarah. "The Jared Fogle Case: Why We Understand so Little about Child Sex
Abuse." The Washington Post., 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

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Koss, Mary P., et al. "Nonstranger Sexual Aggression: A Discriminant Analysis of the
Psychological characteristics of undetected offenders." Sex Roles 12.9-10 (1985): 981992.
Morgan, Wendy, and Elizabeth Gilchrist. "Risk Assessment With Intimate Partner Sex
Offenders." Journal Of Sexual Aggression 16.3 (2010): 361-372. Psychology and
Behavioral Sciences Collection.