why prevention of sexual offences and the rehabilitation of sex offenders’ victims is so important...

Why Prevention of Sexual Why Prevention of Sexual Offences and the Offences and the Rehabilitation of Sex Rehabilitation of Sex Offenders’ Victims is so Offenders’ Victims is so Important Important

Dr Dawn FisherSt Andrew’s Healthcare & the University of Birmingham, UK

Latvia March 2011

How many sex offenders are How many sex offenders are there?there?As of September 2010 87,628

individuals in prisonWith around 8000+ sexual offenders

in prison (9%)Similar number of rapists and child

abusers in prisonUnderestimate of real level of sexual

offending

UG sex offender theories 2010 2

PrevalencePrevalenceThere are problems in ascertaining the

actual level of sexual offendingThe primary difficulty being that only a small

fraction of sexual offences are ever reported. Generally speaking, the more serious the type of offence and the more distant the relationship between victim and offender, the more likely the offence is to be reported (Myhill & Allen, 2002)


BiasBias

Hence, there is a bias towards the reporting of what might be considered the fixated paedophilic, offences compared to, incestuous sexual offences or stranger rapes compared to date rape

Prentky and Burgess (2000) also note that underreporting tends to be greater when offences are carried out against males rather than against females, whether the victims are children, teenagers or adults

In addition to under-reporting of sexual offences, there is also the problem of sexual offences being difficult to prosecute satisfactorily and result in a conviction


Difficulty in obtaining Difficulty in obtaining convictionsconvictions

◦ The nature of sexual offending often means that it is typically the victim’s word against the perpetrators with no corroborating evidence

◦ Here, there are often problems in using children as witnesses and adult victims may retract their statements due to fear or pressure from others

◦ Thus, relying on conviction figures and the number of men in prison or on probation for sexual offences at a given time, is likely to result in a gross underestimation of the true level of sexual offending against children and adults


Prevalence of sexual Prevalence of sexual abuseabuseMethods of detection- Prevalence surveys - based on

self-report Allegations and Convictions Information from sexual offenders – Abel

et al. survey

Number of psychiatric patients with sexual abuse histories

Prevalence of child Prevalence of child abuseabuse

Victim survey data suggests that the prevalence of sexual offences against children is alarming

Probably the latest study in the U.K. (Cawson, Wattam, Brooker, & Kelly, 2000) found that 16% of girls and 7% of boys have been sexually assaulted before the age of 13

More than twice the number reported that they had been abused by somebody they knew (parents or carers, other relatives, or by other known people) than had been abused by a stranger or by someone that they had just met

These results indicate that it is much more likely that a child will be abused by somebody they know


Gender of perpetrator of Gender of perpetrator of CSACSA

Most known child abuse offences would appear to be committed by males

However, the reported rate of female offending may be a severe underestimation of the number of offences actually committed by women/ adolescent females

Current criminal statistics in the U.K. indicate that around 99% of convicted sexual offenders are male and 1% offenders are female

However, the l figures from Childline (A telephone helpline in the U.K. for those who are being abused or know about individuals who are being abused) for April 2002 – March 2003, suggest that the female perpetrator figures are actually far higher than the official conviction figures reveal


Level of female Level of female perpetrators of CSAperpetrators of CSA

According to ChildLine, the overall percentage of those calling about being abused by a female perpetrator has risen by 132% in the last five years

As for actual rates in 2008 ChildLine counsellors heard from 8765 children◦ 2142 children who had been abused by a female

(about 25%)◦ 6623 reported they had abused by a female


Prevalence of rapePrevalence of rape

Myhill and Allen in 2002 reported a study of the level of adult sexual victimization in a sample of nearly 7000 women aged 16 to 59 in the U.K

They found that nearly 10% reported some form of sexual victimization, since the age of 16, with half of the assaults being rape

The level of physical injury in these attacks was found to be extremely high with 74% of women who had been raped reported the use of physical force or violence◦ 37% of these attacks resulting in physical injury◦ 10% causing ‘severe’ injury, such as broken bones


Effects of child abuseEffects of child abuseAs for its effect upon victims, sexual abuse

has been related to a number of negative behavioral outcomes in children, such as fear, nightmares, regressive/withdrawn behavior, cruelty, delinquency, , running away, poor self-esteem, general behavior problems, and sexually inappropriate behavior ((Beitchman, et al., 1991; Kendall-Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993)

Children reporting sexual abuse involving intercourse, compared with non-abused children, had an increased incidence of major depression and suicide attempts (Fergusson, Horwood, & Lynskey, 1996; Fergusson, Lynskey, & Horwood, 1996)

Effects of child abuse 2Effects of child abuse 2A variety of adult psychiatric conditions

arising from child sexual abuse have also been reported including anxiety and acute stress disorders, bulimia nervosa, depression, dissociative identity disorder, personality disorders (such Borderline Personality Disorder), Post Traumatic Disorder, and substance abuse (Fergusson, Horwood, et al., 1996; Putnam, 2003; Spataro et al., 2004).

While, the lifetime prevalence for major depression in those who have been sexually abused, is three to five times more common in women than the non-abused population (Putnam, 2003).

Neurobiology of TraumaNeurobiology of TraumaImpact of high stress hormone

levels (Cortisol) on the developing brain

Neural growth impairedCritical periods‘Time-bomb’Emotional responding

Effects of rapeEffects of rapeHowever, as for the impact upon victims of

being, these can include physical injuries, secondary victimization, and psychological trauma. Physical injuries can include non-genital physical injuries, vaginal and/or anal lacerations, bleeding, and pain (Hampton, 1995)

While, secondary victimization can occur through post-assault medical investigations, such as injury detection, forensic medical examination, evidence collection, and screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy, can also be extremely difficult for victims (Campbell, 2008).

Effects of rape 2Effects of rape 2 As for psychological trauma symptoms, these

can include increased risk of PTSD (Kilpatrick & Acierno, 2003), depression, substance abuse, suicidality, and panic attacks (Kilpatrick & Acierno, 2003)

Male victims of may rape experience many of the same symptoms that are observed in women, although heterosexual men also experience additional problems with reconciling their heterosexual masculine identity with their victim experience (Rentoul, & Appleboom, 1997)

Indeed, it has been noted that there are differences observed in how men and women react to being raps victims according to different forms of social conditioning they experience (Crome & McCabe, 2001).

TreatmentTreatmentNeed for alternative approachesNon-talking therapiesEMDRArts therapiesSomatic therapies

Victim to offender levelsVictim to offender levelsRossegger et al. (in press)Rossegger et al. (in press) Child sexual abuse was documented for 13% of the

sex offenders and 5.8% of the violent offenders Child molesters displayed the highest prevalence

rate with 18.9% Multivariable analyses identified having stayed in a

foster home and violence in the nuclear family as the strongest risk factors for child sexual abuse

In a second model, only offender characteristics from adulthood were taken into account as predictors: child molesters, offenders who prostituted themselves, and repeat violent and sex offenders had a significantly higher risk of belonging to the group of offenders who had experienced CSA in childhood

The results suggest that the experience of CSA leads to an elevated and chronic risk for committing child abuse

Why work with sexual Why work with sexual offenders?offenders?Prevention/reduction of offendingOne offender may have many

victimsHarm reductionRisk management through

learning about offendersMessage to victims – offender

responsibility

why prevention of sexual offences and the rehabilitation of sex offenders’ victims is so important...

Documents