Examining sexual offences through a sociological lens: A socio-cultural exploration of causal and desistance theories

Abstract

This article considers often contrasting theoretical approaches to sexual and non-sexual offending by comparing some influential accounts of the causes of sexual offending and examining the role of socio-cultural factors in the offending process. It also examines how desistance theories may be applied to this complex interaction between psychological factors and socio-cultural ones. The article concludes that there is a strong theoretical argument for substantial socio-cultural elements of sexual offending. It also argues that desistance theories may be applied for the same reason, but also because the causal and desistance process may be thought of as two separate processes. Moreover, and related to the second point, many criminological theories position offending behaviour not in the action that is considered a crime, but the fact that this action is a crime, meaning that both resistance to and desistance from sexual offending can be viewed in the context of general criminological theories.

Desistance, Disengagement, and Deradicalization: A Cross-Field Comparison

“…As Laub and Sampson (2003) indicate, criminal behavior might come with “natural sanctions” that tend to accumulate over time (Zdun, 2018). According to Paternoster and Bushway (2009, p. 1124), such negative experiences only become an impetus for change once they are linked together and this pattern of repeated failure and overall dissatisfaction with life is in turn attributed to the criminal identity itself, a watershed moment which they termed the “crystallization of discontent.” In other words, negative emotional states do not only convey that offending has damaging effects on one’s life (Kyle, 2016), they can also be symptomatic of a nagging dissonance between where an offender currently is in life and where he or she would rather be (Doekhie & Van Ginneken, 2020; Paternoster & Bushway, 2009).…”

El estigma de los reclusos condenados por el delito de feminicidio en la Cárcel Modelo, de la ciudad de Barranquilla

“…Estos pueden ser creencias de que no están haciendo nada malo y que éstas son equivocas cuando consideran el daño causado por los delitos sexuales. Se dice que esto explica por qué actúan en contra la ley y el código moral de la sociedad, cómo su sistema de creencias interno puede Justificar el actoKyle (2016), p. 175. La posesión sexual sobre una mujer deja entre ver que el agresor puede tener patologías, fetiches, sadismos, que reafirmen su masculinidad mientras la toman como un objeto sexual.125 Los hombres feminicidas matan a las mujeres por diversos motivos: cosificación, posesión, celos, odio, placer, erotismo...La violencia resulta un instrumento de poder clave para someter y subordinar a las mujeres.…”