OCTOBER D87 - Voice For The Defense Online

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However, if a crisis enters this offender's morally or legally wrong. "Cognitive dislifehe will focus his attention to underaged sonance'' is a process in which a personindividuals. The crisis may be social, sex- justifies his or her behavior by changingual, marital, etc., or a comhmation of such the meaning of it i.e., "I am just doing itfactors. The regressed offender commits for sex education etc." The scope of thistheoffense as an impulsive and desperate type of rationalization process isas broadact that is svmntomatic of ahilnre to cooe m as limited as the individual offenderswith specikc iife stresses.l*The regressed offender does not exhibitany predominant sexual attraction tosignificantly younger people during hissexual development, but instead focus primarilyor exclusively on peer-age or olderpeople.Is Typically this offender is marriedand if stresses threaten the relationshiphe becomes sexually active with achild. As a result of his behavior, theregressed offender may feel guilt, shame,or remorse, but these feelings occur afterthe fact.16 At the time of his sexual involvement,the regressed offender is usuallyin a state of depression audlor a stateof partial disassociation. He does not careabout what he is doing and who he is hurting.During this period of regressive sexualbehavior, the offenders sexual encounterswith adults usually coexist with his sexualencounters with children.There is no profile of how someone hecomesa sex offender, although two thingshave to occur for a man to commit a sexualoffense against a child. First, he mustbe sexually aroused by or attracted to achild. This attraction is abnormal for adultmales. The origin of this inappropriate attractionmay he accidental. An accidentalattraction may start by a man masturbatingand happens to think of a child or a childsitting on a father's lap and he gets an erection.I7Then through the process of conditioningthe sexual attraction to the child isability to make self serving excuses.The fixed and regressive pedophile havetwo general means of effectuating theirdesire to engage in sexual contact with achild. Those means are inducement andforce.ls Inducement occurs when the offenderapplies some type of psychologicalpressure on the child either through "enticement",in which he attempts to indoctrinatethe child into sexuality throughpersuasion, or "entrapment", in which hetakes advantage of having put the child in(I situation in which he or she feels indebtedor obligation.19 The inducement type pedophilewill not normally use physical forcebut instead resorts to efforts to persuadehis victim to cooperate, often times bybribing or rewarding the child with attention,affection, g,ifts and "special" fun.This always entads misrepresentation ofmoral standards, either verbally or implicitly.la The aim of the inducement-typepedophileis to gain sexual control of thechild by manipulation of the child and developinga willing or consensual relationship.The inducement method has a higherprobability of success in cases where thevictim and the offender know each otherprior to the sexual involvement than wherethe victim and offender are stranger^.^'When the offender knows the victim, (suchas a father and daughter), sexual involvementmay continue over a period of time.The more adept the offender is at "enticelearned.The offender then starts inten- ment" andlor "entrapment", the lesstionally thinking of or fantasizing aboutchildren or a particular child while masturbatingand ejaculating. His conditionedresponse may occur many times until itbecomes a pattern which he believes hecannot control. As a result, the offenderlikely he will resort to force to inducecompliance.The type of offender who normally usesforce as a means to achieve his desire tohave sexual contact with a child may becalled a force-type-pedophile." The methbecomescompulsive in his attraction for ods used by the force-type-pedophile area child."intimidation", in which he exploits theOnce the offender establishes this inap- child's relative helplessness, naivete, andpropriate arousal pattern then a second awe of adults through threats or harm, orcondition must occur for him to committhe sexual offense, namely, the offendermust act on his sexual desire. The offenderjustifies his acts through a psychologicalprocess known as "cognitive dissonance"even though he knows what he is doing is"physical aggression", in which he attacksand physically overpowers his victim. Theforce-type-pedophile will quite often applyboth intimidation and physical aggressionto satisfy his sexual desire.The force-type-pedophile may also hesubdivided into two groups dependingupon the nature of his assault, namely: (1)the "exploitive assault", in which threator force is used to overcome the child'sresistance, and (2) the "sadistic assault",in which the force becomes eroticized.The "exploitive pedophile" employsintimidation, manipulation, threats, andphysical force to overcome the resistanceon the part of the child. If physical forceis used, it is usually employed not with theintent to deliberately hurt the child butto overpower the child. The exploitiveoffender will normally use only force ifnecessary to gain submission by the child.He generally does not attempt to engagethe child in any emotional way but insteaduses the child as a sexual outlet. His orientationtowards the child appears to be basedon his need for power and control.Another subdivision of the force-typepedophile,is the "sadistic ped~phile".~~The sadistic pedophile derives pleasurefrom dominating, mistreating or hurtingthe child. The infliction of physical orpsychological pain upon thc victim servesthe sadistic oud~rnhilc's erotic nccds. Thevictim is g&erGly beaten, choked, tortored,and sexually assaulted. Unlike theexploitive pedophile, the sadistic pedophileuses more force in the assault than wouldbe necessary to overpower the victim. Hisintention is to completely dominate andlorhumiliate the child. In the extreme case hemay evenmurder thechild. The acts of thesadistic pedophile are not impulsive; typicallythe assault has been planned out andfantasizedabout for some time prior to itscommission. Sex for the purpose of sex isseldom the primary motivating force behindthe sadistic pedophile's act. Hisprimary motivating force is of some deepseeded form of anger and power that hemanifests through violence and sex.The classification and subclassificationof pedophiles has been based upon theirrelative attraction to children for sexualgratification, the manner used in seekingfulfillment, and the degree used to obtainfulfillment.Non-PedophilesAnother type of child sex offender isknown as "nonpedophile". Non-pedophilesform the residual category of sex offenderswho do not possess predominantpedophilic behavior patterns. The pre-16 VOICE for fhe Defense I October 1987
dominate behavior pattern may comeunder a variety of classifications. The nonpedophileoffender may be schizophrenic,or suicidal, or alcohol dependent, etc.Numerous factors may cause this type ofoffender to commit sexual acts with children.Unlike the pedophile, this offenderdoes not commit the act of or fantasy ofengaging in sexual activity with prepubertalchildren as an exclusive (fixation) orpreferred (regression) method of achievingsexual excitement. The act is an isolatedsexual act.z4 Isolated sexual acts involvedecreased impulse control precipitated bysome means which in rare instances leadto sexual acts with children. The preferencesfor sexual contact with a child is onlyfor the moment. There is no repeated fantasizingabout the act as a prelude for sexualcontact. The distinction between pedophilicbehavior and non-pedophilic behaviormay be clarified by comparing anon-pedophilic exhibitionist to a pedophile.An exhibitionist is a person who repetitivelyexposes his genitals to an unsuspectingstranger for the purpose ofachieving sexual excitement. It is the exposureand wish to shock the observer thatforms the basis of his sexual excitement.Sexual activity with the stranger is notneeded, nor is it sought. When exposureoccurs with a pedophile, it is a prelude tosexual activity with the child.Understanding the type of people whocommit sexual offenses against childrenplays an important function in our criminaljustice system. Those functions include,but are not limited to, the following:1. Providing the defendant's attorneywith a basis for determining whether ornot to go to trial, and if so, what strategiesshould be used.2. Providing the state with the meansfor evaluating its case and making recommendationsthereto.3. Providing the court with a basis fordeciding whether or not protectiveorders for the child are needed, or in thecase of a conviction, what type of punishmentit should assess.All of these functions involve, in oneway or another, balancing the rights ofsociety, the rights of the defendant, and therights of the victim. The proper balancingof these rights requires not only knowledgeabout the offender but also the victims andthe effects the offense has on them.The VictimsWho Are the VictimsThe victims of a sex offense againstchildren may be found in every stratum ofour society. The victim may be either maleor female (although typically, the victimis female). The age of the victim can rangefrom one day old to 17 years old. The victimcan come from a wealthy family orfrom a poor family. He or she can be ofany race, creed, or color. The victim canalso be one of highest moral standards orlowest moral standards. In short, the sexoffense victim can come from anywherein our society.How ney Are AffecfedIt is difficult to generalize about how asexual attack will affect a given child. Eachchild victim reacts to an offense and itsaftermath in his or her own individual waydepending upon the facts and circumstancesof each case. However, a numberof factors can be considered in determininghow a child will react to a given experience.These factors include the child'sage and developmental status, the relationshipof the abuser to the child, the amountof force or violence used by the abuser,the degree of shame or guilt evoked in thechild for his or her participation, the reactionsof the child's parents, and the sensitivityor lack thereof of the criminaljustice system.25 The behavioral consequencesof a sexual assault on a child canbe examined within the framework of normalchild development.Normal child development progresses insequential, overlapping phases of increasinglycomplex learning. The child mastersskills at one level and moves on to the nextstage. Physical, intellectual, and socialgrowth occur in this fashion. Althoughthere are many different theories of childdevelopnlent, the major theoretical studiesall recognize four basic developmentalstages starting at infancy and concludingwith adolescence. The four stages are: (1)the infancy stage, (2) the preschool stage,(3) the school age stage, and (4) the adolescentstage.26The infancy stage covers the child frombirth up to the typical preschool aged child,normally four years This stage doesnot function so much on the age of the in-fant but on the normal development skillsofthe infant. A new bornchild, for example,will not be able to communicate anythingabout the sexual assault. The childestablishes verbal language as the primarymode of communication normally betweenthe ages of two and four. At this point theinfant may utter afew words, however thechild has not developed adequate communicativesk~lls and reasoning abilities totell what has happened, when it happened,or where it happened. These shortcomingsare typical for the'child in the infancystage.Since a child in the infancy stage has fewverbal skills, if any, then the affects of asexual attack on the cbild must be measuredby observing the child's behavior.The child victim may cry more than normal,lose sleep, change feeding or bowelhabits, or go through periods of vomiting.In the severest case, the child may evenfail to thrive. Although the long-termpsychological effects of a sexual attack onan infant has not been determined, commonsense leads one to conclude that a sexualattack on an infant does not enhancethe physical or mental well being of thechild.The second developmental stage of achild is the pre-school stage.28 The preschoolchild ranges in age from four to sixyears old. The preschooler can tell, in alimited fashion, what has happened orshow what has happened by using dolls orplay material. The child can also describethe offender and state what the offendersaid. If the offender hurt the child, thechild can describe if helshe was hurt andshow the location of the injury.Although the preschool-child can recognizablycommunicate, the child does notunderstand concepts well and therefore thechild's verbal skills may imply a bettercomprehension than actually exists. Thepreschooler does not understand metaphors,analogies, or jokes. On the otherhand, the cbild can distinguish betweenfact and fantasy. While lying at this agemay occur, it is usually an attempt by thechild to escape from a problem or makesomething look better. The preschool childis unable to practice real deception becausehe or she still Invests adults with completeauthority and believe that adults wouldperceive any lie. At this age the child canmemorize but without comprehension. Thechild can understand simple instructionOctober 1987 / VOICE for the Defense 17
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OCTOBER D87 - Voice For The Defense Online

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