According to Finkelhor (Finkelhor, 1984; Araji and Finkelhor, 1985) there are four components that contribute, in differing degrees and forms, to development of a child molester's behavior. To explain the diversity of behavior of sexual abusers, there are four factors in a complementary process. These four factors are sexual arousal, emotional congruence, blockage, and disinhibition: Sexual arousal: In order for an adult to be aroused by a child, there has frequently been cultural or familial conditioning to sexual activity with children or early fantasy reinforced by masturbation. In my 25 years of working in recovery with sexual abuse survivors and sex offenders, all sex offenders are either physical and/or sexual abuse survivors as well. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of sex offenders can be healed and live a normal life without offending. The key to successfully treating sex offenders is to address their physical and/or sexual abuse after affects. Once their emotional wounds are healed their attraction to pre-pubescent or pubescent children is non-existent. The reason for this is that sex offenders are acting out what was done to themi.e. the moth to the flame or they are attempting to soothe and/or numb the pain of their abuse. This, of course, is not an excuse for their behavior, however, it is an explanation and the key to successful recovery. Emotional congruence: There is comfort in relating to a child and satisfaction of emotional need through the abuse. This is apt to be due to arrested development through limited intelligence, immaturity or low self-esteem. Blockage: Age appropriate sexual opportunities may be blocked by bad experiences with age appropriate adults, sexual dysfunction, limited social skills, or marital disturbance. Disinhibition: The abuser may lose control through impulse control deficits, psychosis, alcohol, drugs, stress, or nonexistent family rules. Finkelhor suggests that examination of these factors can help explain why sexual abusers are predominately male. Rowan, Rowan, and Langelier (1981) studied 600 sex offender evaluations in New Hampshire and Vermont and found that in only nine cases (1.5 percent) was the perpetrator a woman. These nine incidents are reviewed in terms of Finkelhor's (1984) four-factor model. In five of the incidents studied, the abuse occurred in conjunction with a dominant male partner; in four, the woman acted independently. The histories of several of the women revealed a history of childhood abuse and all had serious psychological problems or limited intelligence. The victims of the four women who acted independently were male. Of the five women who acted in conjunction with a male, three victimized females, one victimized a male, and one victimized both a son and a daughter. The authors concluded that none of these incidents were true paraphilics according to the DSM-III-R but that the female molesters did fit the model proposed by Finkelhor. Understanding what motivates a person to abuse children sexually does NOT excuse him/her, or remove responsibility for the choices he/she has made. If abused as a child, the perpetrator is still responsible for his/her adult behavior and for the denial system that allows them to continue. The adult is responsible for protecting the welfare of children; therefore, the adult is responsible for protecting children even from him/herself if necessary. |
