Banished

A Comprehensive Look into the Mind and Soul of the Sex Offender with Sex Offender Case Studies and the Recidivism Challenge

G. Cledwyn Jenkins, PhD, D.Min

• Publisher: BrownWalker Press
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781599426037
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Banished presents a detailed review of the sex offender; the pedophile and the child molester, and directly explores his thinking processes, reasoning and related issues that offer a clear and concise exposé in these most hated people. In addition

PART I

A Comprehensive Look into the Mind and Soul of the Sex Offender

Introduction: Into the Abyss

There was a time when learning one particular school of therapy was deemed sufficient empowerment to treat all manner of clients—or at least sufficient to make one feel obligated to treat all manner of clients. If psychoanalytically trained, one applied psychoanalytic theory with impunity to depression, schizophrenia, sociopathy, and to sexual abuse …

—Dr. Anna C. Salter, Ph.D., 1988

This statement made by Anna Salter, forensic psychologist, and consultant with the Wisconsin Department of Correction and author of such scholarly books as Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other Sex Offenders, and Treating Child Sex Offenders and Victims: A Practical Guide speaks volumes to anyone who has spent a modest amount of time working with the sex offender population. It tells us that from the start of one’s serious intent upon research into the issues of this population that many of the standard methods for dealing with the general patient populations may not apply to sex offender populations equally.

As therapy for the sex offender has only recently been devised into a separate category of treatment, if used at all beyond psychopharmaceutical treatments alone, it is evident that serious scholastic contributions are still greatly needed. Whether as a mental health or medical professional, or those in corrections, this particular population will prove to be one of the most controversial of all populations you will deal with. And, though the majority of this group tends to be imprisoned in separate lock-down facilities, some are afforded the chance to receive treatment at any number of mental health facilities both during and after incarceration, and typically as a contingency upon parole.

Since my initial commitment to work with this population beginning in the early 1990s, my understanding of these people, their offenses, and their victims were sparse at best. The majority of my education at the time was in psychology, addictions and the expressive arts in therapy, dealing with a broad range of clientele, such as those suffering from depressive issues, eating disorders and drug and alcohol-related abuse, as well as dissociative identity disorders, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia. It was during this time that I began working with the sex offender population both directly, and indirectly.

Whether in rehabilitative settings such as with the Retreat Psychiatric Hospital in Sunrise, Florida, which offered services for both adolescents and adults, or with the Counterpoint Center Hospital (C.P.C.) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, which offered defined psychiatric services for both high and low functioning clientele, I was able to work with patients who had been victims of sexual abuse, and a select few who had served prison time for sexually-related crimes. Later, I would focus on at-risk youth populations, and then with youthful sex offenders at the University Behavioral Center (UBC) in Orlando, Florida. It wasn’t until this time that I became aware of the larger picture regarding the sex offender mentality; quickly learning both sides of the spectrum—that of the offenders and that of the treatment facilitators. It was a learning experience that propelled my interest in this unique, but ever-increasing population, as well as my desire to research the subject further, and to hopefully help these folks in the process.

Regardless, I have found that this subject made me both profoundly sad, due to the intense pain and exploitation involved, while at the same time, optimistic that there was hope for these individuals, despite the harsh attitudes delivered by their peers and staff alike. Though this subject and its populations are in need of critical examination from the very synthesis of its reality, and which should culminate in the dialectic combination of thesis and antithesis into a higher stage of truth, it should be observed from many perspectives in order to be thoroughly understood and respected by the professional and layman alike.

During my initial research into the past and present behaviors of this population, specifically during my internship with the aforementioned hospitals, I had the chance to get an up-close and personal look into the mindset of these people; from the juvenile offender to the adult sexual predator, I was afforded rare opportunities to witness these enigmatic personalities in the lock-down setting. In so doing, I found remarkable connections between standard sexual offender redirection and relapse prevention techniques, and the programs used in substance abuse treatment programs.

Concepts like the disease model of addiction and the 12-Step Program can be considered kith and kin to sexual addiction recovery programs, and which shows a similar rate of success at its culmination. Other concepts like those utilized in time-honored programs like Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous (AA/NA); where maintaining personal accountability or finding a level-headed friend or therapist to act as a sponsor is certainly helpful in similar ways to assist in the redirection away from critical thinking errors; such as breaking away from old affiliations who shared in the addiction, or in returning to risky situations that may lead to past habits. Though seemingly interrelated on many levels, I found that there are specific aspects that need to be addressed in order for therapy to occur, which is certainly a large aspect of this work.

As my training continued, I was able to see various aspects of behavior that had me wondering if I was missing something. Indeed, I oftentimes experienced a harsh and highly un-professional behavior from those who were hired to help such people. Although for the most part, the worst offense was the simple burn-out syndrome so common to healthcare professionals from time-to-time; whereby this person might garnish an apathetic attitude, which may result with a cruel bearing upon the patient. Other, more detrimental behaviors were also observed, where severe apathy or transference had taken place, leaving a sense of mistrust and eventual shutdown from the patient. This would result in the absence of therapy, propelling that patient to nothing more than a warehoused-commodity, never to glean anything positive from the time spent at that treatment facility.

Browbeating or belittling the patient is another serious problem, a problem that breaks down patient-therapist communication, trust, and respect, and halts therapy from functioning properly. Here, a mental health technician or nurse, for example, might make brash or unethical comments to the patient or exemplify that patient by making fun of their past offenses in order to get a response from both the patient and his peers. This is, unfortunately, a common problem, yet such pales in comparison to the one occasion when a long-time male staff member was arrested for having sexual contact with one of the boys in the treatment program.

In spite of the aforesaid sex crime, the hospital continues to offer its unique program for boys as early as eight to 18-years of age, and without such incidents. And, I can say that during the time that I served there, I was able to understand this population by taking the time to investigate their issues and reasoning behind their offenses; by working with their therapists and assigned physicians, but most of all, by listening to this population, and then differentiating between what was said in the group setting, and what was said during the one-on-one therapeutic sessions. Although we’ll explore the many individual reasons why these offenders have acted on their fantasies, and the impetus for their impulses, as well as the thinking errors that propelled them to act-out on such thought processes, we will also explore the various concepts for the treatment of these individuals.

Traditional institutions like Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12-Step Program in their relation to sex offender research will be scrutinized, as well as a brief exposé on therapeutic programs designed to re-educate the sex offender in order to cope with prolonged incarceration or how to deal with such thinking errors when released back into society. From these perspectives, we’ll also examine the nature and philosophies of this population as viewed from the aforementioned treatment options, as well as differentiating the thinking processes and grooming techniques used by the sex offender upon their victims. In addition to this, I will discuss the consequential behaviors associated with such processes, as well as its relation to various psychological effects.

Thanks to such agencies as the United States Bureau of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and various state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as various universities worldwide, the statistics they provide, are calculated to help represent a sampling of recent and current findings regarding sex offenses and related crimes against children, and the number of offenders incarcerated at various dates. Though the actual listings; standard and legislative statistics are far too lengthy to add here, the following brief annotated example (1997 to 2012) illustrates just how prevalent and severe the sex offender problem is:

According to a U. S. Bureau of Justice:

Close to 234,000 convicted/registered sex offenders were under the custody or control of various corrections agencies on an average day, and more than 60% of this number was under criminal justice supervision directly. By 2003, there were approximately 455,000 registered sex offenders in the United States, with that number doubling by 2006. By 2010 the number of registered sex offenders steadied off at around 716,750 and as of 2012, that number has reached 747,408 nationwide, with the majority of these people offending those they knew directly, which is estimated at 80 to 95-percent out of all offenses.1

—Bureau of Justice Statistics report 1997 to 2012

When we examine the results of recent statistics, however, evidence of state-to-state growth in arrests regarding sex offenses without direct victims has increased, such as arrests for urinating in a public place; having sexual relations in a public place, including exhibitionism has risen exponentially. From a public perspective, these and similar arrests are being clustered together with far more hardened cases of sexual abuse against children, making the already growing numbers more hazy in relation to actual crimes upon a victim. Moreover, because at least fourteen states do not remove the names of these offenders from their registries, for reasons that include incarceration, deportation, relocating out of state or death, the raw number count may not be an accurate reflection of the true population.

What is certain, however, is that there are currently eleven states that have greater than 300 registered sex offenders per 100,000 people. For example; the state of Pennsylvania has 82 per 100,000; Georgia has 190 per 100,000; Mississippi has 204 per 100,000; Delaware has 477 per 100,000; Minnesota has 306 per 100,000, and in such a manner continues in each state.1

Though the above represents a small sampling of crime statistics nationwide, it is important to remember that though these numbers might appear high, they are likely to under-reflect the actual count of offenders nationwide. In fact, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that the actual incidents of sexual abuse against children were dramatically underreported; and that there is no way to reliably estimate what the actual numbers are. What we do know had been gleaned through direct interview of these individuals during their incarceration, and when undergoing court-ordered therapy at specialized rehabilitation centers.

According to The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (2010), more than eighty-percent of convicted adult rapists reported that they had sexually molested children too and that approximately one-third of these offenders reported assaulting both males and females as opportunity allowed.2 Moreover, offender testimonies show that the majority have committed many sexual assaults before being caught, and have committed multiple types of offenses, such as exhibitionism, voyeurism, fondling, incest, oral, vaginal and anal copulation, penetration or attempted penetration. Without a doubt, these revelations only add to the circumference of what we do not know as compared to what we do understand about this population.

As we research areas of abuse in order to find a reasonable link between the questions of nature versus nurture regarding this seemingly indelible question, we will have to review the most scholarly findings, despite of the typically marred statistics. To exemplify this, the Justice Department’s National Crime Victimization Survey (2008–2012), shows that sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes, with a whopping sixty-percent left unreported nationwide.3 This means that such offenders will most likely not be brought to justice, estimating that only about four-percent of sexual offenders will serve time in prison. As a result, these statistics show that out of forty offenders that are reported, only ten will result in an arrest, while only eight of those will lead to prosecution, and only four of those will sustain a felony conviction. Out of these, roughly three of them will spend a day incarcerated.

Although this estimation is dated by a few years from this publication, it nonetheless leaves a staggering estimated number of 97 offenders that will escape justice, leaving the victim to their own accord and undefended. When we add up the sum total average of rape and other sexual assaults per year on victims ages twelve to 17, the number ranges around 238,000, averaging in about an assault every two minutes according to the Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey (2003).4

Without a doubt, these numbers are outrageous, though these averages have declined to almost fifty-percent from the early 1990s, meaning that some advances have occurred within law enforcement and legal prosecution. Yet, one out of every six women over the age of 12-years has been a victim of sexual assault in the United States, averaging about 15-percent of completed rapes and roughly three-percent of attempted rapes; resulting in close to 18 million women being a victim of some form of sexual assault or an assault attempted upon them according to the aforementioned survey.

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (1997), states that approximately 15-percent of children under the age of 12 were victims of sexual assault, while 29-percent of girls and boys ages 12 to 17 were either victims of rape or other related sexual assaults, while 44-percent of girls under the age of 18 were victimized, and 80-percent under the age of 30. This rounded out the averages for sexual assaults.5 All in all, it was estimated that girls ages 16 to 19 were four times more likely than the general population to be victims of a sexual assault of some kind, including uninvited fondling or rape, with females between the ages of 12 to 34 among the highest risk.

Further inquiries into these numbers showed that seven-percent of girls in middle school grades five to eight and 12-percent of girls in grades nine to 12 said they had been sexually abused in one form or another, while three percent of boys in middle school grades five to eight and five-percent of boys in grades nine to 12 said they had been sexually abused by adults in a 1998 study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health of Adolescent Girls.6

The results of these crimes can manifest in a number of ways. From nightmares, addiction and even suicide, there are many negative manifestations seen from a clinical view that typically befalls the victim. When we disregard the victim to a statistic, however, we only add to the heinousness of the crime.

A (2002) report by the World Health Organization states that victims of sexual abuse are three times more likely to suffer from mental and emotional disturbances such as major depression and sleep deprivation; six times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder; 26 times more likely to abuse drugs; 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol and at least four times more likely to contemplate suicide.7,8

Without a doubt, the outcomes of such abuses vary, but almost always result in some form of physical or psychological pathology. Nevertheless, when we research these statistics more closely, we will find that the numbers varied considerably from state to state, and often drastically when data changes once annual reports are submitted. Though such differentials show that statistics are not always accurate, this might be due to insufficient data, corrupted data as by error or by mishandling, and occasionally by fraud in order to generate income for progra...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Author’s Note
• Preface
• Banished: A Comprehensive Look into the Mind and Soul of the Sex Offender (Part I)
• Banished: Sex Offender Case Studies and the Recidivism Challenge (Part II)
• Endnotes
• Figures and Illustrations
• References
• Appendix A: Listing of Advocacy and Support Groups
• Appendix B: Recommended Film and Documentary List
• Biography