Mr. Schorr's Protective Factors

Any victim of sexual abuse faces the chance of having their development impacted. This is especially true amongst children. Studies have proven that children who have been sexually abused by a female offender often have different developmental experiences (T.A. Gannon, 2008, p. 356). Mental illness is yet another impact that victims face. Many sexual abuse victims transpire into states of depression, rage, and suicide; they even have strained relationships with certain individuals (Denov, 2014, p.

The last of the characteristics of childhood trauma are changed attitudes about life, people, and future possibilities (Terr, 1999). The traumatized child may lose hope of a fruitful future, may despise a particular gender due to abuse, or may even desire close contact with the same gender of the perpetrator. A last example demonstrating a traumatic characteristic is through a 16-year-old female client. A male family member sexually and physically abused this client as a child. Although most sexual assault victims may avoid persons of the same gender of the perpetrator, as described above, there are also victims that try to gain the attention of persons with the same gender of the perpetrator. This client demonstrates just that. The client is exceedingly flirtatious with male peers and staff of her residential facility. She has been caught several times attempting to perform sexual acts with her male peers and at times becomes very angry when she is not given the attention she desires from a male peer.

Victims of sexual assault suffer from a wide variety of mental and emotional issues throughout their lives as a result of the experience. Results can range from depression, anger, feelings of loneliness, and difficulty when trying to formulate relationships of trust (Hyde 45). Victims experience a wide variety of psychological issues as a result of sexual crimes, which they will have to carry with them throughout their entire lives. Also, “Psychological problems can start later in life with changes in behavior- vague fears, feeling unprotected and helpless, nightmares, bedwetting, sleeping problems, fear to loss parents approval/love, need to please others, poor self esteem, anger, depression, withdrawal from activities, daydreaming, difficulty concentrating, behavior problems” (Hyde 47).

In comparison with other statutes, states such as Illinois, Kansas, New Jersey, Arizona and many others have statutes that authorize the confinement and treatment of sex offenders upon their release from prison (Lieb, 1996). For instance, Illinois Sexually Violent Predator Law defines a sexually dangerous person as “someome suffering from a mental disorder continually for at least one year, coupled with criminal propensities to the commisition of sex offenses, and who has demostrated propensities toward acts of sexual assault or acts of sexual molestation of children.” (Lieb, 1996, p. 16). Unlike Washington State, Illinois requires the individual to have at least one year of displaying a mental disorder. Illinois also has the option of either sentencing the individual for the crime committed, or offer treatment under the Civil Commitment Statute (Lieb, 1996). Unlike Illinois, Washington punishes the individual first and upon release he/she is evaluated to see if the individual fits under the category of a sexually violent predator. The state of Illinois appoints two qualified psychiatrists to determine whether the individual meets the criteria to be placed under civil commitment (Libel, 1996).

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia have higher rates of mental illness and sexual offending, for example, incest offenders had a much higher rate of psychosis when compared to homicidal sex offenders (Galloway & Houston, 2008). Personality disorders and sex offenders were characterized by pervasive affective instability, poor impulse control, impairment of self-identity and a tendency towards engaging in unstable relationships associated with emotional crises underpinned by a fear of abandonment (Galloway & Houston, 2008). Comorbid conditions seen in those with a diagnosis of voyeuristic disorder or exhibitionistic disorder in addition to the sex offense include hypersexuality, ADHD, conduct disorder, higher rates of depression and substance use disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). There are psychiatric comorbidity of pedophilic disorder they include substance use disorders, depression, bipolar, anxiety disorder, and

Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their

Ms. Wenger is certified in Wisconsin to practice social work. Her certificate number was first issued on June 13, 2012. Ms. Wenger was employed as a program director at a community based residential facility, located in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The respondent provided contracted services to Client A, who was a Department of Corrections client. Ms. Wegner and client A had sexual contact in her office, Client A’s bedroom in the facility, and in various locations in the community. This had been going on from May-September of 2015. In September, Ms. Wegner ended the sexual relationship which caused Client A to have serious emotional and negative effects on Client A’s mental health. In December of 2015, Client A was admitted to a behavioral health hospital for suicidal thoughts, and chemical dependency issues.

Sex offenders tend to blend in to society virtually unnoticed until they offend or reoffend (Polizzi, MacKenzie, & Hickman, 1999). Currently, there is a large group of mental health professionals representing a variety of disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry clinical social work, counseling, and medicine, that continue to believe in the potential efficacy of treating sex offenders. Over the past decade, the sex offender treatment field has grown rapidly and the treatment of juvenile sex offenders is on the rise (Parks & Bard, 2006). The rationale for treating juvenile offenders is based on research which indicates that inappropriate sexual behavior patterns develop early and a failure to intervene and change behavior early often means that the offender will continue to escalate his/her inappropriate behavior, which could present an even greater danger to society (Ayland & West, 2006). Vivian-Bryne, (2004) suggests that professionals who treat adult sex offenders report that offenders who are incarcerated will eventually return to the community and therefore, therapeutic measures should be taken to reduce the likelihood that they will reoffend even if those measures have not conclusively been identified as effective. Sexual offenders may find therapy valuable because it can allow them to retrace their upbringing to help them identify and understand the roots of their

Stories of sex offenders have been increasingly a focus of attention by the criminal justice system over the past years. By legal definition, a sex offender “is a person who is convicted of a sexual offense (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition),” an act which is prohibited by the jurisdiction. What constitutes as a sex offense or normal/abnormal sexual behavior varies over time and place, meaning that it also varies by legal jurisdiction and culture. In the United States of America, for example, a person can be convicted of wide range of sexual behavior that includes prostitution, incest, sex with a minor, rape, and other sex offenses (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition). As the nature of sex crimes have long held the

Sexual assault is one of the fastest growing violent crimes in America. Approximately 20% of all people charged with a sexual offense are juveniles. Among adult sex offenders, almost 50% report that their first offense occurred during their adolescence. (FBI, 1993) There are many different opinions, treatment options and legislation to manage the growing numbers of juvenile sex offenders. In today’s society the psychological and behavioral modification treatments used to manage juvenile sex offenders is also a growing concern. To understand and determine the proposed treatment methods, several related issues will need to be reviewed such as traditional sex offender therapy methods like cognitive therapy and alternative therapies like

When working with this specific population mental health professionals are often called on to evaluate and manage sex offender’s behavior. There are also times when individuals may be asked to give an opinion as to if the offender will repeat the behavior. Often times people that work with this population are referred to as (SOSs) Sex Offender Specialists. They have a specific group of diverse training and background. Some of these trainings incIude but are not limited to cognitive-behavioral, psychopharmacological, and therapeutic orientations.

The treatment for sexual offenders is done in a three principal approach which is cognitive behavioral approach, psycho-educational approach, and pharmacological approach. The cognitive behavioral approach gives emphasis on altering the habits of the offended relating toward sexual offending and “deviant patterns of arousal”. (CSOM) This means altering the daily habits of the offender which may be everything they had known previously to incarceration. The second principal of psycho-educational focuses on altering the offender’s state of mind toward their victims and attempts to instill the understanding of how they inflicted harm with their actions. With psychology there is never a set time on how long a set goal will be reached. Times vary between individuals and can sometime never reach their desired outcome. In conjunction with those previous principals the offenders are also treated under the pharmacological

Most psychological research on the personalities of pedophiles consists of only clinical descriptions and case presentations. Bell and Hall represented the clinical approaches to the study of the personalities of pedophiles. They analyzed the dreams of a pedophiles and made suggestions about their characteristics. “ The inference from their case report was that pedophiles have a basic character disorder shown by schizoid and passive traits as well as a severe dread of adult sexuality.”(Bell & Hall 1971).

Since grown-up and adolescent sex guilty parties are assorted populaces with fluctuated levels of danger and needs, locales ought to have a continuum of treatment administrations accessible, running from a variety of choices in the group, to benefits in gathering homes and direct care offices, and at last incorporating treatment in secure restorative or private offices (see, e.g., Bengis, 1997; Berenson and Underwood, 2000; Hunter, Gilbertson, Vedros, and Morton, 2004; Marshall et al., 2006a; Schwartz, 2003). Remembering that mediations will probably diminish recidivism when coordinated to the level of danger postured by people, community–based sex wrongdoer treatment will probably be powerful for generally safe guilty parties; more serious

It is said in an article that this procedure has only been affective with only one type of sex offender, the paraphiliac, the one who