‘Corrective’ sex education may make sexual offenders more dangerous

	Tweet

While it is commonly thought that men with low IQs sexually offend because of a lack of knowledge or sexual deviance, new research has found the men may sexually offend because of their exposure to “corrective” sex education previously taken.

A team of North American researchers compared two samples of individuals with and without an intellectual disability and a history of sexual offence and found that sexual offenders with intellectual disability who had committed a serious sexual offence, such as rape or pedophilia, actually demonstrated a greater sexual knowledge than non-offenders. 

This increased sexual knowledge may be from “corrective” sex education that the offender was given in the past. It can then be concluded that the higher level of knowledge of those who had committed some form of sexual offence was the direct result of their exposure to formal or informal sex education.

The data indicates that there may be two categories of persons with intellectual disabilities that sexually offend: Individuals who are knowledgeable and who offend in more serious ways and Individuals who appear to have a lack of sexual knowledge and whose offence may be the result of that lack of knowledge. The latter is termed counterfeit deviance.

“We simply cannot treat all sex offenders as ‘counterfeit deviant’ and excuse their behavior as a result of inadequate knowledge,” says Shelley Watson, a graduate student from the University of Alberta. “We need to establish whether sex education is needed as an element of a comprehensive treatment package.”

As supported in this study, people with intellectual disability were also found to be typically very conservative when it came to sexual attitudes. However, the researchers found that serious sex offenders actually expressed much more liberal attitudes when it came to sex, including same-sex relationships, than sex offenders who only committed sexual inappropriate behaviors, such as public masturbation or inappropriate touching.

“This study provides support for the need to assess sexual knowledge, sexual attitudes and prior sex education when an individual commits a sexual offence,” says Watson. “Only a careful diagnosis will reveal whether the offence is motivated by sexual urges and fantasies consistent with serious sexual offence or by other factors.”

###

Participants were drawn from a dataset of 276 individuals in Canada and the United States with ages ranging from 16 to 71 years-old. Their intellectual functioning varied from borderline IQ (19%) to severe ID (4%). All participants completed the Socio-Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Assessment Tool-Revised (SSKAAT-R), which provides a comprehensive assessment of areas of socio-sexual knowledge and attitudes for people with intellectual disability.

This study appears in the Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability.

Contact: Kris Connor

780-492-9214
University of Alberta

RELATED STORIES:
1 in 5 gay, bisexual men in US cities has HIV   Antidepressant shows benefits for low sex drive   SSRI’s developed for premature ejaculation, safe and effective   Thais ban condom line because of name   Sex taboos hamper safety message for gay Chinese   Increased responsibility could lead to decreased sexual activity among women   Sexual harassment at school – more harmful than bullying   Both alcohol dependence and conduct disorder contribute to having a high number of sex partners   Obesity Linked to Hormone Imbalance that Impacts Sexual Quality of Life   Study Links Sex Education to Delayed Teen Intercourse   Sexual Dysfunction in Schizophrenia   Viagra not a thrill pill   Porn industry may boogie out of L.A. over condom law   Couples report gender differences in relationship, sexual satisfaction over time   Male Circumcision in South Africa

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]