It is estimated that one in six women and one in 33 men in the United States have experienced an attempted or completed rape sometime in their life. Approximately one in four girls and one in seven boys are sexually assaulted before the age of 18.
Media outlets are saturated with images of sex offenders, yet the public cannot realistically fathom how deep and complicated the origins of rapists can be.
“We want to be able to say ‘show me who’s the sex offender.’ We want to hold onto our stereotypes and misinformation because it makes us comfortable. It doesn’t stop sexual abuse,” said Karen A. Duncan, a therapist with the program The Right to be Safe. Through this program, Duncan promotes primary prevention of sexual abuse.
Duncan further states there are two types of sexual offenders, those who commit sexual crimes against minors and those who commit sexual crimes against adults. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault. Sexual offenders are motivated primarily by power.
Although females are at higher risks of being sexually assaulted, understanding sexual offenders makes it difficult to protect one’s self or family against them. Sexual offenders are heterogeneous, meaning there is no such thing as a “sex offender profile.” This makes it difficult to discern how they are different from other types of criminals or from the general public.
In his book titled The Sexual Offender: Monster, Victim, or Everyman? Dr. William Marshall states there is no usual age that represents the sex offender, nor can any generalizations be made about where they are most apt to fall along the socioeconomic spectrum or social achievement spectrum. Some sex offenders are exceptionally bright, others are “average,” and others may have intellectual limitations.
Additionally, most sex offenders are not psychotic or crazy in the truest sense of the word. Bottom line, none of these variables really shed any light on who is more likely to be a sex offender.
People should further understand that although the vast majority of sex offenders are male; females and juveniles do commit sexual offenses.
There may not be a blueprint on what a sex offender looks like but according to the Center for Sex Offender Management, A Project of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, typically sex offenders aren’t the “dirty old man” who hangs out at a park or playground waiting to lure a child away with candy. He’s also not the masked knife – wielding man lurking in a dark alley waiting to jump out and grab an unsuspecting woman.
Most victims of sexual abuse know the person who abuses them – only a relatively small percentage of perpetrators are strangers to their victims. In both rape and child sexual abuse cases, most of the offenders are either family members or acquaintances.
“While ‘stranger danger’ is something to be considered and highly promoted, it’s really about family danger,” said Duncan. “They depend on you not to tell – your shame, your ignorance, and on your discomfort. It’s considered rude to call someone a sex offender, suspect someone, or say ‘I’m not comfortable with the amount of time you spend with my child.’ They’re highly manipulative people.”
The No. 1 location for sexual assault to take place is in the home followed by schools and community places such as youth serving organizations, including faith-based programs.
The Center for Sex Offender Management researchers have examined multiple factors, traits, and characteristics of large samples of sex offenders, and have found several issues that seem to be common, at least to broad groups of these offenders.
People should keep in mind not all issues are present in every sex offender, nor does it mean that the presence of any of these variables makes an individual a sex offender. Subsequently, not all sex offenders actually have evidence of these deviant interests, arousal patterns, or preferences.
Sex offenders are loosely characterized in that some have interests in – or are aroused to – things that are considered to be outside the realm of healthy or appropriate sexual interests or behavior, such as engaging in sexual contact with young children or adolescents or secretly watching others who are undressing, unclothed, or engaging in sexual activities.
Sex offenders commonly have problems with social or interpersonal issues such as ineffective communication skills, social isolation, general social skills deficits or problems in intimate relationships. They tend not to have other adult friendships.
A specific interpersonal problem that is believed to be common to many sex offenders is that of empathy deficits. Among other characteristics, there’s also a lack of healthy or effective coping skills.
According to Anita Carpenter, CEO of the Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Inc. those who have been a victim of a sexual offender statistically do not become sexual offenders.
“It is a small percentage of those who become sexual predators,” said Carpenter.
Sex offenders are aware their acts, such as rape and child molestation, are not only illegal but also harmful to others, yet they engage in this behavior.
Carpenter said in the State of Indiana, all adult sex offender convictions are required to be listed on the sex offender registry and must identify where they live, work, and go to school.
Though there’s moderate information about the dynamics of a sex offender, people can begin protecting their families by scrutinizing close relationships between family members and friends, expose known sex offenders, change attitudes and beliefs and become educated as much as possible.
Duncan states 90 percent of all sexual crimes are underreported especially in minority communities. People should also expose individuals they know are sex offenders, encourage them to get help before they act on their thoughts and encourage schools to provide information to students.
