Characteristics of a Sexual Predator
According to statistics by the Bureau of Justice, over 200,000 people are arrested for sex crimes each year. Many of these offenders are considered sexual predators, meaning that their crimes were particular violent or repetitive. A federal law called the Jacob Wetterling Act of 1994 was enacted that requires all states to pass legislation requiring sexual predators to register with their governments. This registration has led to an increase in studies over the characteristics, motives and backgrounds of sex offenders. This research has produced a few common characteristics seen in many sexual predators.
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Intimacy
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As documented in a study done in an Irish prison, many sexual predators are frightened or extremely uncomfortable with adult intimacy. For some, this stems from being abused as a child, which leads to a distorted view of sexual intimacy. That is not to say that intimacy in this case is purely sexual in nature; rather, it includes emotional intimacy such as meaningful relationships. Sexual predators often report having few close friends or confidantes and coming from strained families where nurturing support was rare or completely absent.
Control and Power
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The Irish study also dealt with the predators feelings concerning control. Many reported feeling a lack of control in their own lives due to socioeconomic or emotional factors. For sexual predators, sexual crimes are seen as a way of exerting control, resulting in pleasurable feelings of power that are less concerned with sexual gratification, and more with emotional validation. By forcing their advances on other people, they experience one area of their lives where they were the controlling factor.
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Knowing victims
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A study conducted by the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety in West Virginia reported that 88.5 percent of all studied sex offenders knew their victims prior to violating them. 48.7 percent of these victims were simple acquaintances that the sexual predators admitted to having built relationships with for the purpose of assaulting them. Typically, predators seek out women or children who are vulnerable and lacking a strong support network of family or friends. Oftentimes, they build some levels of trust or familiarities with the people before victimizing them.
Responsibility
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The West Virginia study reported that over 36 percent of victims blamed their actions at least partially upon drugs while over half did the same with alcohol. This is evidence of an overall trend that points to the fact that sexual predators often do not take full, if any, responsibility for their actions. Often, they blame outside forces or the victim themselves. This tendency of blaming others frequently extends to other areas of their lives where failures at work, school and personal lives are viewed as the fault of other people and not their own.
Considerations
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The characteristics described above are trends observed in many sexual predators. They are not an all inclusive list; many sexual predators do not exhibit all of these traits and some do not give any outward sign of their behavior. Additionally, a person who has any or all of these traits is not necessarily a predator.
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