NCJ Number
55029
Date Published
1978
Length
16 pages
Annotation
AN OVERVIEW OF SEXUAL OFFENDERS AND SEXUAL OFFENSES POINTS UP QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AGGRESSIVE OFFENSES AND OTHER SEXUAL CRIMES.
Abstract
VOYEURISM, EXHIBITIONISM, CHILD MOLESTATION, SODOMY, AND RAPE ALL INVOLVE AGGRESSIVE AND SEXUAL IMPULSES TO SOME DEGREE. HOWEVER, VOYEURISM, EXHIBITIONISM, AND IN MOST CASES CHILD MOLESTATION ARE ESSENTIALLY SEXUAL CRIMES, WHEREAS RAPE AND SODOMY ARE AGGRESSIVE CRIMES WITH A SEXUAL THEME. SODOMY IS DEFINED SO BROADLY AND VARIOUSLY THAT THE TERM HAS LITTLE MEANING. THUS RAPE IS THE ONLY WELL DEFINED SEXUAL OFFENSE THAT CONSISTENTLY INVOLVES VIOLENCE. A REVIEW OF RESEARCH ON RAPE AND RAPE OFFENDERS NOTES THAT SUCH OFFENDERS TYPICALLY HAVE MORE IN COMMON WITH OTHER FELONS THAN WITH OTHER SEX OFFENDERS; I.E., THEY TEND TO BE YOUNG, POOR, MINORITY MALES WHO HAVE USED ALCOHOL OR DRUGS JUST PRIOR TO COMMITTING THEIR OFFENSE, WHO HAVE CRIMINAL RECORDS, AND WHO HAVE ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITIES BUT NO PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS. WHILE SOME RAPISTS MAY BE TRUE SEX OFFENDERS ACTING IN AN EXPLOSIVE RELEASE OF SEXUAL FRUSTRATION, OR SADISTIC OFFENDERS SEEKING TO DOMINATE AND INJURE THEIR VICTIMS, IT SEEMS THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF RAPISTS ARE AGGRESSIVE CRIMINALS FOR WHOM RAPE IS A BYPRODUCT OF OTHER CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. LOOKING AT RAPE AS A CRIME INVOLVING ASSAULT AS WELL AS SEX HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR TREATMENT AND FOR UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL AND OTHER FORCES THAT MAY INFLUENCE THE INCIDENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF RAPE. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IS NEEDED ON THE DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASES IN THE INCIDENCE OF RAPE AND ON THE VICTIM-OFFENDER RELATIONSHIP IN RAPE. (LKM)