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The Dominion
February 12, 2002
Molesters rationalise abuse - counsellor
by Ross Henderson
Forget the image of the typical child molester
as the "monster hiding in the bushes" – chances are he is an uncle,
neighbour or family friend who rationalises his actions in the same way as
other people do when taking office stationery, a workshop on child sex
offending in Wellington was told yesterday.
Social workers, carers and teachers gathered
yesterday for the workshop, titled Sex Offenders: Can They Ever Be Cured?,
led by Hamilton-based counsellor Robert Jenkinson.
The same excuses most people used to justify taking
something that did not belong to them – for example, a pen or stationery from
the office because they felt they deserved it – were used by child molesters,
Mr Jenkinson said.
"These people are not weird monsters, they are
just using the same mechanisms to rationalise their behaviour as we do . . .
it's just that it's focused on children."
Mr Jenkinson, who has been running a programme to
treat child sex offenders in Hamilton
for the past 12 years, said "stranger danger" was also a myth –
because about 80 per cent of victims were abused by someone they knew.
Child sex offenders were not all paedophiles whose
sexual desires focused on children over a long time. "I think
paedophiles are probably born with that attraction . . . fortunately they are
rare."
The offending of most child molesters stemmed from
feelings of powerlessness and low self-esteem so they manipulated children to
make themselves feel powerful, he said.
About 90 per cent of offenders were men, and about
half had been abused as children. Offenders were typically immature people,
who had few friends and found it hard to relate to other adults. They commonly
felt victimised and were closed off emotionally.
Most were extremely cunning, and put time and
effort into "grooming" the children they wanted to abuse. An
example was a man who shifted house five times to be near a child he wanted
to molest.
Like hunters, abusers also targeted the most
vulnerable child. Though many abusers used child pornography, United States
research also showed an attraction to hunting magazines, Mr Jenkinson said.
"I'm not saying hunters are child abusers – but put a child in place of
a deer and you've got the same dynamic."
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