The Gender Distribution of Sex Offenders

Paper Summary:

In the last fifty years, there has been a strong shift in the attitudes and beliefs that deal with sexual abuse and sexual offenses. This is particularly true when it comes to female sexual offenders and the rates at which they abuse others. This paper shows that the rates are actually much higher than were first thought and, most alarmingly, the rates of child sexual abuse are also rising. This appears to be the case for female sexual offenders as well as male sexual offenders, but some of this could come from the fact that female sexual offenders are just now beginning to be recognized in larger numbers. In other words, the abuse may have been just as prevalent in the past, but the rates at which it was reported and believed were much lower. The paper shows that, due to this, it was assumed that females did not commit sexual crimes. When most people, even today, think of sexual offenders, they assume that the perpetrator is male and the victim is female. This paper shows that in reality, this is not always the case.

Paper Outline
Introduction
Prevalence
Judicial and Mental Health Decision Making
Formal Culture
Training Initiatives
Organizational Policies
Crime Reports
DSM-IV and Sex Offending
Informal Cultures
Culture of Denial
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Individuals that are female, or 'feminine,' are considered to be nurturing, caring, protecting, non-aggressive, and non-sexual (Denov, 2003). Because of this, the idea that they might harm someone, especially in a way related to sexuality, is almost impossible for some individuals to comprehend, even if their knowledge and training tells them a different story. The sexual scripts that most people live by are not only heterosexual, but gender-based as well. Asking people to suspend this type of 'normal' thinking to say that a women is completely capable of a sexual offense is something that even those that are educated about the issue struggle with frequently (Denov, 2003). This could be part of the reason why so many women that are suspected of sexual offenses or even charged with them escape with little to no punishment by the judicial system and often do not spend as much time in counseling for their 'problem' as their male counterparts."

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• Argumentative Essay # 17012 : "The Seclusion of Sex Offenders is Not an Isolated Issue"

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