Many of these writings were lost in their electronic version and were retyped from hard copy. I haven't had a chance to proofread and edit the entries the way I would like to. Please forgive formatting inconsistencies and gross errors and typos.
In the case of Commonwealth v. Berkowitz, 537 Pa. 143, 641 A.2d 1161 (1994), a female college student entered Robert Berkowitz's dorm room attempting to locate the defendant’s roommate. The defendant encouraged the victim to stay in the room and began to fondle her and attempted to have the victim orally copulate him. He then removed her clothes and vaginally penetrated her. During the time, the victim continuously said, “no,” to the defendant, but she made no attempt to flee and made no attempts to physically protect herself.
Berkowitz was charged with Rape, a Felony 1 offense, and the conviction was reversed. Rape is defined as:
§ 3121. Rape
(a) Offense defined.--A person commits a felony of the first degree when he or she
engages in sexual intercourse with a complainant:
1. By forcible compulsion.
2. By threat of forcible compulsion that would prevent resistance by a person of
reasonable resolution.
* * * (Pennsylvania Statutes, Title 18)
Included in the Pennsylvania sex offenses are the offenses of Aggravated Indecent Assault, a Felony 2. and Sexual Assault, also a Felony 2. Aggravated Indecent Assault is defined as:
§ 3125. Aggravated indecent assault
Except as provided in sections 3121 (relating to rape)… a person who engages in
penetration, however slight, of the genitals or anus of a complainant with a part of the
person's body for any purpose other than good faith medical, hygienic or law enforcement
procedures commits aggravated indecent assault, a felony of the second degree, if:
1. the person does so without the complainant's consent;… .
* * * (Pennsylvania Statues, Title 18)
Sexual Assault is defined as:
§ 3124.1. Sexual assault
Except as provided in section 3121 (relating to rape) or 3123 (relating to involuntary
deviate sexual intercourse), a person commits a felony of the second degree when that
person engages in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse with a complainant
without the complainant's consent. (Pennsylvania Statutes, Title 18)
Because “forcible compulsion” was not present in this case, Berkowitz should have been charged with Aggravated Indecent Assault and Sexual Assault. This would have provided the prosecution with the chance for a felony conviction, but rather than a Felony 1 conviction, it would have been a Felony 2 conviction.
The Berkowitz case falls into the area of sex crimes, which, as shown above, can be either a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the facts of the case and the charges against the defendant. Typically jurisdiction of sex crimes falls on the state, and definition and penalties are outlined at the state level. Pennsylvania law has a “forcible compulsion” requirement in order to meet the criteria for rape as opposed to other sex crimes that may still involve penetration of the victim.
Berkowitz could not be re-tried in an attempt to convict him of Aggravated Indecent Assault or Indecent Assault, to do so would be allow Berkowitz to use Res Judicata and Collateral Estopple as a defense.
On an emotional level, it is easy to say, “No means no.” However, we must look at the Berkowitz case objectively. Based on the facts, Berkowitz should not have been charged with Rape, but rather Aggravated Indecent Assault, or at a minimum, Berkowitz could have been charged with Indecent Assault. Had the victim even as much as scratched Berkowitz, there may have been a slightly higher chance of a rape conviction. Emotionality of a crime obviously will lie with the victim, his/her family and often the community as well; however, if we are to maintain a fair a just society, we must look at a crime objectively. We cannot force a square peg into a round hole, and if we chip at the hole to make it fit, we are chipping away at the very things that makes this country what it is and affords us the freedoms that we have.
References
Commonwealth v. Fischer. No. 133, Philadelphia, 1998. Retrieved July 28, 2002, from the World Wide Web: http://dpg-law.com/opinions/pa-super/9812/6273-fischer.html.
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, Crimes and Offenses, Title 18. Retrieved July 28, 2002, from the World Wide Web: http://www.students.haverford.edu/masar/documents/PARapeLaws.pdf
Juvenile sex offenses have increased in the last decade. In earlier history, children were treated as “mini adults.” It wasn’t until the 1900s that juvenile courts even came into existence, and as late as the 1950s it was recognized that childhood was a “long and powerless phase in the cycle of life” (Empey, Stafford, and Hay, 1999).
Berlinger (1998) states, “The social policy response to adolescents who commit sexual offenses has undergone dramatic change since the early 1980s. Prior to this time, acts of child molestation or rape by teenagers were often dismissed or trivialized. These youth were seldom prosecuted, and treatment programs were rare” (p. 1). Juveniles who committed sex crimes were not required to accept any accountability for their actions (Ryan, et. al, 1996). Unfortunately, it has only been during the last couple of decades that research has been devoted to Juvenile sex offenders (JSOs); therefore, research regarding recidivism rates and many other aspects of juvenile sex offenses do not have the long-term studies behind them that many of the studies of adult sex offenders have.
JSOs do not necessarily develop into adult sex offenders or serial offenders, but most adults who sexually abuse children begin offending in adolescence (Glazer, 1996; Ryan, et. al, 1996; Zolondel, et. al, 2001).
Little research previously existed on JSOs, because the concept of juvenile sex offenders as a classification of offender separate and different from adult sex offenders is new. Only been in the last decade or so has research been devoted to the area. Some of the research is contradictory, and because research is relatively new, little long-term research on recidivism rates, effectiveness of treatment, and rehabilitation exists; therefore, additional research should be devoted to this area of study.
Who Are Juvenile Sex Offenders?
The research surrounding JSOs is relatively small in comparison to research in other areas. Brown and Kolko (1998) state, “there is no universally accepted terminology to describe these children” (p. 8). Brown and Kolko (1998) further state,“…JSAs [Juvenile sexual abusers] are a complex group, experiencing a variety of psychiatric and behavior difficulties. . . .We also have limited empirical understanding of the role of the entire system (i.e., lawyers, judges, probation officers, service providers, teachers, families) in the treatment of JSAs” (p. 1-2).
It is estimated that juveniles are responsible for “15 to 20 percent of all rapes and 30 to 60 percent of child sexual assault cases committed in the United States” (Hunter, 2000, 1). There are many variables when discussing Juvenile Sex Offenders (JSOs). Child maltreatment, social development, sexual knowledge, academic and cognitive development and mental health all factor into the behaviors of a JSO (Righthand and Welch, 2001). Researchers found that of JSOs studied, only “one-third of the juveniles perceived sex as a way to demonstrate love or caring for another person” whereas 25 percent felt sex was a means to “feel power and control,” 9 percent believed sex was an avenue to dispel anger, and 8 percent felt that sex was to “hurt, degrade, or punish” a person (Righthand and Welch, 2001, p. xii).
Juvenile Sex Offenders are typed and classified into the following categories: “naïve experimenters, undersocialized child exploiters, sexual aggressives, sexual compulsives, disturbed impulsives, group influenced, and pseudosocialized” (Righthand and Welch, 2001, p. xiii). Adult serial sex offenders are also typed and classified, as will be discussed later.
Righthand and Welch (2001) state that females have committed more juvenile sex offenses than males, and that there were little differences in the aggressiveness of the offenses between female and male offenders.
Psychology and Characteristics of Sex Offenders
Some researchers have found many similarities between juvenile and adult sex offenders (Berlinger, 1998). Berlinger (1998) states, “They many engage in serious sexual crimes, have multiple victims, exhibit deviant sexual preferences, have comparable cognitive distortions, and lack victim empathy” (p. 1).
It seems that JSOs use coercion more than violence in the commission of their crimes. They appear to only use as much aggression or violence as is necessary to carry out the crime (Zolondel, et. al, 2001), and like adult sex offenders, 33 percent of JSOs blame their victims, and 48 percent stated that when molesting a much younger child (five or more years younger), the younger child either initiated the activity or it was mutual.
Zolondel, et. al, (2001) state that JSOs engage more in fetishisms, obscene phone calls, child molestation and phone sex, whereas adult sex offenders have a higher rate of involvement in zoophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sadism, and use of pornography. Transsexualism and transvestitism were equal for both JSOs and adult sex offenders.
Recidivism Rates Of Sex Offenders
In one study conducted, 37 percent of JSOs committed sexual offenses as adults (Righthand and Welch, 2001). Other research has found that subsequent to a JSOs offenses becoming “public,” recidivism rates are low (Righthand and Welch, 2001), and Zolondel, et. al (2001) state that in the event a JSO commits further offenses following treatment, they will more likely commit non-sexual offenses. Comparing numerous studies of JSOs, it was found that relatively few JSOs were arrested for sex offenses as adults (Righthand and Welch, 2001).
Brown and Kolko (1998) state that first-time, adjudicated JSOs admitted that they had committed anywhere from two to five sexual offenses before being caught, and goes on further, “…an adolescent abuser who continues a paraphiliac pattern into adulthood may perform 380 sexually abusive acts during his lifetime” (p. 2).
Righthand and Welch (2001) mention that some factors can increase recidivism rates for JSOs. “…[A]dolescent sex offenders were probably more likely to reoffend if one or more of the following factors were present: initial offending was pleasurable, consequences for the offense were minimal, the deviant sexual behavior was reinforced through masturbation or fantasy, and/or the offender had social skills deficits” (Righthand and Welch, 2001, p. 32).
Brown and Kolko (1998) state, “…the younger the offender is, the greater the likelihood is of criminal reoffense. In addition, male JSAs who had committed at least one recent sexual offense against boys were somewhat more likely to reoffend than were those who had victimized only girls” (p. 7).
Hunter (2000) states, “fewer than 10 percent of either group of juvenile sexual offenders were under the influence of alcohol or other drugs at the time of the offense” (p. 2) when sexual homicides were committed. Hunter (2000) further indicates that of juvenile sexual killers studied, 28.6 percent of offenders “intentionally tortured their victims,” 42.9 took items from the victim’s house, 14.3 percent involved penis/anal rape, penis/vaginal rape occurred in 42.9 percent of the cases, in 28.6 percent of the offenses, penetration with a foreign object occurred, and a staggering 42.9 of the cases involved post-mortem rape (p. 2). These activities appear very similar to many of the activities of serial adult offenders, with profilers noting many of these same activities when creating a profile.
Treatment and Rehabilitation methods
Researchers have found that parents are losing control of their children, and as they do, the public becomes more in favor of trying violent juvenile offenders as adults. Hunter and Lexier (1998) state, “public disenchantment with the seemingly intractable problem of juvenile violence has led to a “’more punitive, just-desserts juvenile justice model’”(p. 2).
Juvenile sex offenses are increasing. In 1986 there were less than 350 treatment programs for juvenile sex offenders. By 1992, the number had more than doubled to 750 (Hunter and Lexier, 1998). Over the last decade, laws and regulations surrounding the juvenile justice system have dramatically changed. Many states now try juveniles as adults. Hunter and Lexier (1998) state that “[t]he number of delinquency cases waived to the adult criminal courts increased by 71% between 1985 and 1994” (p. 1). Almost half of the states have no minimum age requirements for trying juvenile offenses in adult courts, and some states will permit juveniles to serve sentences in adult facilities. In addition, many states now require juvenile sex offenders to register just the same as adult sex offenders (Hunter and Lexier, 1998).
The Ethan Allen School has a group therapy approach to the rehabilitation of juvenile sex offenders. The offenders work closely with counselors and have writing-intensive assignments. Other segments of the program include “survivors’ group, fathers’ group, “’errors in thinking’” group, men’s work, and video group (Millard and Hagan, (1996).
The Ethan Allen School was developed in 1984, and between 1984 and 1996, participants in the program have been monitored and tracked. The program boasts approximately 20 “graduates” each year. Of graduates of the program, recidivism rates for new sexual offenses are under 10 percent (Millard and Hagan, 1996).
Brown and Kolko, (1998) cite the study of a single subject, an 11-year old male sexual abuser with a “history” of sexual offenses. Treatment was “[b]ased on a functional analysis of problematic social behaviors, [and] social-cognitive skills… (p. 2).” The treatment program had target behaviors in which the offender received treatment, including “use of each skill, modeling, role-playing, feedback, coaching, and didactic discussion” (p. 2). The subject displayed improvements in the areas targeted, as witnessed by staff and peers. It is further cited that the subject’s foster mother, “reported he had not participated in any deviant sexual behaviors.” Brown and Kolko, (1998) further cite the “success” of this single case as raising the question of whether treatment needs to be “sexual abuser specific.”
Here is a question. If adult serial sexual offenders admit to engaging in deviant thoughts and behaviors during adolescence, and this 11-year old child had a “history” of sexual offenses, has he really been effectively treated? The literature states that at a one-year follow-up, his foster mother stated that he had not engaged in deviant behavior. If this child is in the early development of becoming a serial or predatory sexual offender, wouldn’t he have a desire to continue his activities for gratification, and would he willingly confess to his foster mother that he was continuing to offend? This is not to say that the child will develop into an adult serial or predatory sex offender, but due to the lack of research into juvenile sex offenders, and the lack of long-term studies surrounding JSOs, can we dismiss the idea of “sexual abuser specific” treatment, especially when so little long-term research has been done into the adult activities of JSOs.
Conclusion
Much of the research about juvenile sex offenders is relatively new, and often times redundant. It is to be applauded that attention is being given to this growing class of offenders; however, because research into this area is fairly new, long-term studies are not provided. Other areas that should be studied are the types of juvenile sex offenders, any possible parallels between juvenile and adult sex offenders, the various treatment methods and the success or failure of those methods, and long-term recidivism rates for subsequent sex offenses.
Much of the current literature states that juvenile sex offenders are not as likely to commit future sex offenses once they have been brought into “view;” however, due to the lack of long-term studies, can we adequately make that statement? This is especially concerning when the literature states that many juvenile sex offenders, like adult sex offenders, have multiple victims prior to being caught. The more times a person does something, whether it is drugs, traveling a path, cooking a meal, or working on a car, the more proficient they become at it, and the more ingrained it becomes. There is not enough research into long-term recidivism rates of juvenile sex offenders.
The Massachusetts Treatment Center for Sexually Dangerous Persons (MTC) (adult offenders) conducted a 25-year study on recidivism rates of 251 sex offenders. Recidivism rates for these offenders peaked at the 5-10-year mark, but even at 15-25 years following release, recidivism rates for the MTC offenders were higher than the recidivism rates for these same offenders during the first five years following release (National Institute of Justice, 1997). Perhaps if we had an equivalent study with juvenile sex offenders, the data would be different.
Sex offenders, like other criminals are not usually going to confess to additional sex offenses, and it is secrecy that breeds sex crimes like child molestation. A sex offender is even less likely to admit deviant sexual thoughts or behaviors if he/she has previously been convicted for a sex offense.
The current research into the study of juvenile sex offenders is a positive thing; however, because children are not adults and usually don’t have the same mental or reasoning capacities as adults, it would be unfair to treat them as adults, especially those children that are far from the legal age. Nevertheless, they need to be monitored and tracked to 1) adequately develop methods of treatment and rehabilitation, 2) monitor recidivism rates, even as late as 25+ years following release, and 3) to see if there are any parallels between child and adult sex offenses, especially offenses like rape or sexual killings. After all, it is the serial crimes that are the most difficult for investigators to solve, and it would seem that if we really researched the childhood and adolescent years of serial offenders, there would probably be early indicators leading to the serial behaviors.
References
Berlinger, L. (1998). Juvenile Sex Offenders: Should They Be Treated Differently? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13:5, 645-646.
Brown, E. and Kolko, D. (1998). Treatment Efficacy and Program Evaluation With Juvenile Sexual Abusers: A Critique With Directions For Service Delivery and Research. Child Maltreatment, 3:4, 362(12).
Empey, L., Stafford, M. and Hay, C. (1999). American Delinquency: Its Meaning and Construction. (4th Ed.). New York: Wadsworth.
Hunter, J. (2000). Juvenile Sexual Homicide. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 69:3, 1(7).
Hunter, J. Jr., and Lexier, L. (1998). Ethical and Legal Issues in the Assessment and Treatment of Juvenile Sex Offenders. Child Maltreatment. 3:4 339(10)
Millard, D. and Hagan, M. (1996). Ethan Allen School Rehabilitates Juvenile Sex Offenders. Corrections Today. 58:5 92(4)1
National Institute of Justice. (1997). Child Sexual Molestation: Research Issues. Retrieved May 28, 2002, from the World Wide Web: http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/163390.txt.
Righthand, S. and Welch, C. (2001). Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended: A Review of the Literature: OJJDP Report. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Ryan, G., et. al. (1996). Trends in a National Trend of Sexually Abusive Youths. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35:1, 17(9).
Zolondel, S., et. al. (2001). The Self-Reported Behaviors of Juvenile Sexual Offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 16:1 73-85.
It seems that there are two primary reasons for a person to write—the first being that of expression, perhaps catharsis, and the second, a desire to be understood, and to take the reader to the same place the writer is at the moment pen meets paper. Few words have grabbed me, spoken to me, moved me, and made me feel as though I myself could have written them the way Nawal El Saadawi’s A Modern Love Letter has mesmerized me—each and every line.
I could easily say that I identify with El Saadawi as a woman, or is it as a human that this parallel is stemmed from? For my own sanity’s sake, I have chosen to decide that it is as an independent and intelligent woman. Intelligent, because it is my belief that the greatest knowledge is realizing how little we truly know.
Each day, from the moment I awaken, before my eyes find a way to open, or my feet find the floor, I find myself in search of the answers to life—to understand and to be understood.
El Saadawi says the very same thing in the first sentence of her work—the moment that captured me. “…so that you may perhaps understand me or that I may perhaps understand myself. The attempt may come to nothing, for who is able to understand himself or the other? Who is able to break the shell? Just as attempting to break it merely confirms that it is not broken, so attempting to understand only increases the feeling of not understanding. And yet I try. I realize for certain that the attempt is futile but that does not stop me trying, just as I do not give up living my life, knowing that death is inevitable.”
The more I attempt to understand or to make myself understood, the less of an understanding there seems to be. Even when an understanding seems to have been achieved between two people, don’t we then realize that there are others that don’t understand us, or that we ourselves don’t understand? And yet, we continue to try. We forage for this understanding as if it were a life-sustaining nutrient. How many times will a person, tell the same story again? The beggar, sifting through debris, moving from dumpster to dumpster, looking for a morsel to appease the hunger, is he any different than the person who moves down a line of people relating the same incident looking for someone to understand? Are they not both looking for sustenance?
El Saadawi describes the happy medium that society has come to believe is what everyone should strive for. She describes it as the “halfway position,” loving but not loving, hating but not hating. And, as she states, this is how mental health is defined, and that to be considered healthy, a person must be dishonest with him/her self and not truly feel, but be somewhere in between.
I spent most of my life loving but not loving, hating but not hating. I denied myself to be expressive; I wanted to be viewed as healthy, sane, and yet, that is when I most felt as though I was balancing like a tightrope walker. Sanity lay on one side, and on the other, madness. One deep or rapid breath, and my balance could be lost—but which way would I fall? People are often afraid of those people who display or express intense emotion. We are terrified of the fire of one man’s wrath, and we dub the jubilant man crazy; we welcome the man in the middle—the man that neither loves nor hates—the safe man.
El Saadawi also writes of a feeling of loneliness, of being surrounded by people, and yet feeling isolated. She speaks of times with her friend and despite their close proximity, the lack of “touch,” and the push and pull of wanting to abandon the loneliness, and run away, push away, and hide from the very thing she seeks.
My life has been a constant push and pull of that which I desire, and that which I am afraid of. How many times I have been in the company of people, many people, and felt very alone. Is it because I am different and feel misunderstood, or is it because I have pushed them away? My entire marriage, I pondered how it was that I could share a living space and a bed with the man I called my husband, have one body against another, and yet feel that a touch never occurred.
“In truth, most of the time I live in my dreams for I can choose and change them, whereas it is reality which changes me without my choosing,” writes El Saadawi.
In my dreams, I can be a director, an editor. I can cut out the parts I don’t like, and replay the parts I do. I can change things to suit me—to encourage my sanity, or promote my madness. Sometimes, I feel that the division between the two is so fine it is almost nonexistent. My imagination, it is either my greatest ally or my most lethal opponent, depending on how I chose to use it. But, it is mine, and I alone have the choice.
Although El Saadawi never actually says to her friend that she loves him, she expresses passionately, intensely, that she is drawn to him, wants him, and at moments has come very close to telling him what he means to her, and yet she is afraid of losing her freedom.
So many American women lose themselves and their identity when they become involved in a relationship. They become someone’s mother, someone else’s wife or girlfriend, and they always remain another’s daughter, and frequently, somewhere while picking up these many titles, they misplace the most vital one, that of themselves. Having experienced that myself, I fought one of my most difficult battles, with everything inside of me, to regain my most precious title and my autonomy. To once again become Angela. It was that fight that has made me so guarded. No matter how important something or someone is to me, there remains a fortress around that title, protecting it as if it were the royal crown, the last remaining heir to the throne.
El Saadawi ends her letter asking, “after all this, can you still accuse me of being incapable of loving? Can you again tell me that I don’t understand…can you now understand me a little? And do I understand you a little?”
I could fill volumes with my written attempts to understand and be understood. My confessions, my questions, and all my emotions—my sanity and my madness, have found it safe to venture out from their hiding places most frequently when they could take advantage of the rendezvous between pen and paper.
There is not a line in El Saadawi’s A Modern Love Letter that does not hypnotize me.One does not have to be an Arab woman to identify with the work.One only has to desire to be understood, and to feel the conflict of wanting something so badly, and wondering if we are willing to gamble those things that we have fought so hard to obtain.After reading this for the fifth time, I can only wonder, could I have written this during some dissociative fugue?No?Oh, then El Saadawi and I must have spoken during one of my dreams, for it is all so real to me.