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Future Directions: Defining the Challenges
that Lie Ahead
by John A. Hunter, Jr., Ph.D. - University of Arizona, Tucson
I do not think there is a more essential task for our field than
charting our course for the future and deciding for ourselves what
roles we would like to play, and how we would like to contribute
to finding solutions to the problems of our time. To not take the
time to reflect on who we are, where we have been, who we would
like to be, and where we would like to go, is to virtually assure
that our input will be diminished and that we will forever be "reacting"
to one crisis or another, never feeling in control of our destiny.
So it is with great pleasure and a keen sense of responsibility
that my discussion of "The Challenges That Lie Ahead"
focuses on three proactive steps that I recommend that the field
take to ensure our viability in the next century:
Sex Abuse as a Public Health Problem
The first step involves defining sexual abuse as a public health
problem, and our work with perpetrators as critical to finding a
solution to the problem. Historically, public health has been devoted
to the elimination of disease and illness associated with physical
causes; however, since World War II there has been growing awareness
of the need for public health to expand its focus to include issues
of mental health and to examine the social influences on behavior
that affect the physical health of people.
The problem is that our work with sexual perpetrators is not of
commonly perceived by the public, professionals devoted to the study
of public health, or in some cases even by our own colleagues who
treat victims of violence, as being directly involved with, or contributing
to finding solutions to these problems. Instead, our work is often
viewed with skepticism. Worse, it is sometimes viewed as contributing
to the problem by protecting the perpetrators of these crimes from
the appropriate legal consequences for their behavior. We cannot
afford to either be perceived in this manner, or work in isolation
of other professionals devoted to addressing public health problems.
So, I am suggesting that we need a public image overhaul; not simply
by demanding it, we are going to have to earn it, and it may take
some time. Furthermore, it will not be an entirely painless process
because it will demand some change on our part and an increased
willingness to examine our fundamental philosophic and conceptual
premises, to seriously consider the validity of some of the criticism
that has been leveled at us, to not define our mission and goals
in isolation of other professions or the public at large, and to
be fully accountable for that we do, as well as what we do not do.
Reframing The Problem of Sexual Abuse
The second step that I recommend involves effecting conceptual model
shifts with regard to how we view the nature, etiology, and amelioration
of sexual perpetration. Change in this realm must involve not only
reconsideration of what we believe to be true about sex offenders,
but more fundamentally how we approach the understanding of their
behavior. What I mean is that we have for too long regarded sex
offenders as engaging in "aberrant" behavior which relates
to a generally idiosyncratic process, as opposed to examining how
the behavior of certain groups of people relates to the more basic
needs of all people. Instead of focusing so intently on how different
sex offenders are, we need to examine how similar they are to the
rest of us, and how their issues are really the issues of our society.
To state this even more provocatively, they are too often the bearers
of a message that we do not like to hear: our society espouses values
and masks problems which contribute to a propensity for certain
of its members to engage in acts of interpersonal violence.
I am not suggesting that the behavior of sex offenders is not "bad"
or "objectionable," or that they as individuals should
not be held fully accountable for their perpetrating, but address
the underlying societal problems which give rise and shape to the
behavior of individuals who exploit others.
I am suggesting that we would benefit from examining sexual aggression
from theoretical frameworks which emphasize the environmentally
adaptive aspects of aggressive behavior. In particular, I have been
struck by how some of the newer psychosocial theories of human behavior,
such as evolutionary psychology and environmental psychology, lend
themselves to a fresh understanding of the motivators of sexual
behavior. I must admit that my thinking in this realm has also been
very influenced by having treated a large number of inner city youths
over the past several years.
Contrary to expectation, I have not found these youths to be highly
psychopathic individuals who are devoid of the capacity to attach,
but instead youths who have been forced by environmental circumstances
to deny their inner pain and develop a tough outer facade in order
to survive. Their treatment does not depend so much on confronting
their bad behavior or de-conditioning their deviant sexual arousal,
as it does on providing them with positive male mentoring and instilling
in them a belief in themselves and a sense of optimism about their
futures. In short, these youths do not strike me as being different
from the rest of us in their needs and wishes, but highly distinct
in the amount of trauma and pain that what we fail to do is adequately
identify and which they have had to endure, and the degree of difficulty
they have encountered in attempting to access society's resources
and share in our country's vast wealth.
Working with these youths has convinced me that many were actually
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder victims as young children, but never
diagnosed and treated as such. It was not until they reached adolescence
and began to externalize the effects of their trauma and act out,
that we even acknowledged that they had problems. However, once
identified these youths were not labeled as trauma victims, but
as "criminals" with the implication that they are simply
"bad kids" who come from "bad families" and
that the solution to the problem is punishment and confinement.
One of our field's greatest challenges is to reframe human behavior,
including sexual misbehavior, as deriving from larger social system
contingencies, and to become instruments of social change rather
than those who simply strive to become more adept at treating dysfunctional
individuals efficacy of our efforts. I do agree that salient concerns
include better understanding the etiologies of sexual offending
behaviors, risk profiling and typological classification, and examining
the impact of notification and registry policy changes. What I would
like to add to the discussion on research is my belief that research,
in order to be of maximal benefit to the field, requires a set of
guiding principles. I would like to suggest four such principles.
The first is that research should primarily have a utilitarian function.
Research priorities should reflect the delineation of public health
problems and issues. In our case, research must advance our understanding
of the nature and origin of sexual behavior problems and their amelioration.
Secondly, research should be institutionally driven in accordance
with public health policy. It should not be the domain of the individual
researcher and his or her esoteric interests. We should encourage
agencies devoted to addressing issues of public health to join in
the macro-system planning of large-scale research initiatives. Teams
of researchers, across disciplines, should be invited to explore
discrete, but interrelated aspects of these problems.
Third, research should be disseminated in multiple formats and at
multiple forums in order to be of maximal benefit. It is unfortunate
that most research conducted today ends up published in obscure
journals where it is seldom read by most practitioners in the field,
let alone other professionals, or the lay public. In order to be
useful, research must be accessible and comprehensible.
Fourth, in order to truly achieve accountability in the field, clinical
practice should follow, not precede, empirically validated theory.
Until that happens, we will justifiably be subject to the criticism
that our clinical efforts and public policy recommendations are
guided as much by self-interest as public interest.
In conclusion, I believe that we as a field are capable of achieving
these goals, and that in their achievement we will become an even
stronger voice in helping shape the worse in which we live. Our
success in achieving these goals, and in strengthening the degree
of public support for our work, depends in large part on our own
resolve and determination, our willingness to listen to our critics
as well as our supporters, our willingness to work cooperatively
with one another and those outside of the field in the pursuit of
the common good and the welfare of all, not just a few, and our
commitment to respecting the dignity of all people including the
clients with whom we work and the communities that we serve.
[The above comments and insights offered by Dr. Hunter were adapted
from his plenary address to the fifteenth annual conference of the
Association for Treatment of Sexual Abusers, Chicago, November 1996
ed.]
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