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Essay / Study of Adult Sex Offender Behavior
Table of ContentsIntroductionBodySociety and media presences influence sexually deviant behaviorLearned behavior ConclusionBibliographyIntroductionHumans are observant creatures who constantly absorb the information they see around them and decide whether to they must integrate or accept it into their values and beliefs or criticize and reject it. It is therefore not surprising that those who choose to engage in deviant behavior have learned, at least in part, that this behavior is acceptable. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay People are formed partly by their nature and partly by their upbringing or upbringing. (Fox, 2017) The main focus of this essay is education: what we observe as we grow and how it affects our actions, especially as it correlates with social learning theory. As well as how social learning can form negative associations towards sex and sexual relationships and, in turn, cause sexual offending. How the media reports a crime has a lasting impact on society's feelings toward a criminal. This may include providing us with biased information in order to shape socially acceptable behavior in society. Calling people deviant and shaming their actions. And only report rarer crimes, such as intensely violent sexual offenses, particularly against people perceived as more innocent or less able to protect themselves. (DiBennardo, 2018)But can sexual deviance be unlearned? Is there emotional treatment for offenders or is it too late after they have been exposed to it during childhood or adolescence and therefore learned that it is acceptable behavior. Research has shown that sexual offending progresses into much more intense or aggressive behavior as one reaches adulthood. (Aljazireh, 1993) BodyGenetic misfortune, abusive upbringing or a combination of the two? What does it take to train a sex offender? First, an adult sex offender can be defined as a person who physically assaults/abuses or exposes himself to a person 18 years of age or older and can be violent or non-violent in nature. (Zgoba & Simon, 2005) Although a genetic predisposition to certain antisocial mental health disorders may cause a person to commit crime, a person's childhood is extremely important in the formation of their beliefs and values. Being physically or sexually abused as a child has been associated with similar offending behavior as an adult. (Hayes, 2009) An example of social learning theory. Social learning theory was coined in 1966 by Burgess and Akers and states that "deviant and conforming behaviors" are cultivated by an individual who learns due to their association within groups (family or friends) and their actions or negative behaviors that are observed and perceived as socially acceptable. (Fox, 2017) Thus, behavior is learned by watching and copying others. (Bandura, 1971) And since the brain is at its most malleable during childhood, it makes sense that being exposed to this type of abuse would have a major and lasting influence on a person. An example Bandura set up to prove his theory of observational learning was his "Bobo doll experiment" in 1961. He tested 36 boys and 36 girls aged 3 to 6 years old. They were placed in one of three groups. 1, where the model was aggressive towards thebobo doll. 2, where the model was not aggressive and played calmly and 3, children were not exposed to any models. The results showed that children exposed to the aggressive model copied significantly more aggressive behaviors from the dolls compared to the other two groups. This determines that the behavior is easily picked up and reflects the environment in which you grew up. When it comes to the behavior of sex offenders, research has been undertaken into the theories behind their behavior and determines that they often create justification in their heads in order to make them accept the crimes they commit. (Ward, 2000) This is called “cognitive distortion” (Abel et al., 1989). Ward and Keenan, 1999 discussed that “implicit theories” or beliefs that help make something seem morally right in their minds, as for example all women are. evil, so inflicting pain or rape becomes morally acceptable or a friendly interaction from a man/woman means they are interested in sex. These types of thoughts are often created during childhood or upbringing when children attempt to justify or predict negative situations or events, thus parental abuse or neglect as a way of coping, then as they grow up, maintain these thoughts or values, and integrate them into adult sex lives. reports. (Ward, 2000; Ward and Keenan, 1999) A study was also carried out by Lindsay et al. (2001) clearly shows this link between childhood modeling and adult delinquency, where we find that a large number of sexual offenders were abused as children (38% in the study group, compared to 12.7% not sexually abused). (Hayes, 2009) Thus, a person's environment truly takes a toll on an individual and can alter thought processes and morals deemed socially acceptable, predisposing them to deviant sexual behavior. Society and media presence influence sexually deviant behavior. Society as a whole plays a huge role. in deterring and shaming individuals who commit sexual crimes, but can also lead to the inability of people to be helped and successfully reintegrated. Those responsible for such crimes are stigmatized. This stigma can push them out of social interactions, turning them into social outcasts and causing them to lash out in retaliation. (Karp 1998:283; Maxwell and Morris 1999) On top of this, they cannot receive help because they are labeled corrupt or deviant for life. They cannot be reintegrated into certain areas due to the real risk of being attacked or killed as a result of their self-defense behavior. The idea that sex offenders are at the bottom of the social hierarchy extends even to the prison environment. This treatment can also be presented as a disintegrating shame towards which the law tends to lean, the offender is isolated especially since he is only in the company of other offenders, which can strengthen his morality and his already unconventional beliefs and continue the cycle of criminal conduct. (Maxwell and Morris, 1999) When the law and correctional systems should do everything they can to prevent the offender from reoffending and therefore provide more reintegrative shame that helps the offender recognize that he or she has done something wrong , but also encourages them to seek help and so when they are reintroduced into society, they are much less likely to reoffend. Social learning theory can also be applied to the behavior of the media and society towards offenders. Once agroup of people shames someone, the rest of society tends to jump on the field. they jumped on the bandwagon and joined in because they saw that shame in this context is socially acceptable and shame is therefore copied to a larger group. Especially if a media outlet or authority figure begins the act and how they present that act. This can lead to dangerous situations in which mob mentality takes over and acts of self-defense are committed. For example, a survey was carried out in the United States, in Florida, where a third of sex offenders reported having been threatened or harassed, 21% having suffered material damage and 5% having been physically assaulted. (Levenson and Cotter, 2005) Although this is only a snapshot of the self-defense behaviors involved in societies, it is not difficult to hypothesize that it occurs in most societies that consider sexual delinquency a major crime. Since the media has the ability to disseminate large amounts of information that is shared with the public and decides how it is used to label a person as innocent or guilty. They have a lot of power over how an offender is treated by the public. Despite the protests against sex offenders, the media has often been accused of tending to sensationalize and using violent or intense sex crimes or homicides as entertainment in order to sell more stories. Also known as the deviance amplification spiral, which can lead to moral panic and the belief that crime is increasing when it is not. According to Pritchard and Hughes' findings, societal norms in 1997 were one of the most important factors in determining media coverage, such as children or women being more newsworthy as victims and the suspect or the victim being white being more important in the decision to publish the information. history. (Frei, 2007) Learned Behavior Is the treatment and social reintegration of sex offenders a realistic goal or is what we experience in terms of abuse or neglect when we are young destined to shape us for the rest of our life? It is difficult to group all sex offenders into the same category in terms of treatment due to the different backgrounds and mental health issues that come into play. However, offenders who sexually assault or abuse other adults are generally treated as those who commit offenses against children. (Beech, Ward, & Fisher, 2006) This can be detrimental to offenders who abuse adult victims because there is less information and effective treatments that are known to work for them. More specifically targeted treatments are needed if sex offenders are to have a decent chance of rehabilitation. In terms of the types of treatment used, they tend to focus on cognitive behavioral therapy, attempting to change the associations these offenders have that drive them to commit these crimes, for example negative feelings towards women or sexual desire for violent sexual acts (Wilcox, Garrett & Harkins, n.d.) which could have been modeled on early experiences such as seeing your father abuse your mother or a mother being neglectful or cruel to you, which as an early experience with a woman, created negative associations about them in general. Recurrence studies have been carried out to test the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Zgoba and Simon (2005) deciphered that there was a reduced rate of recidivism of rapists:: 10.1177/1043986204271676