Introduction

Sexual assault, which includes violent rape and pedophile behavior is an attempt to obtain sexual act without consent; unwanted sexual advances or even an action to traffic sexual act through force or coercion despite relations to the victim. Recently, the US has witnessed a drastic increase in sexual violence, particularly violent rate, despite the enactment of numerous measures seeking to avert such deviant behavior. With an increase in child abuse in the US people cannot take chances with pedophiles, that is, adults who are sexually inclined towards children. Furthermore, it is essential to determine why some adults, particularly men, are sexually inclined towards children below 13 years.  It will guide towards protecting children and providing help to victims. Therefore, it is critical to examine whether the positivistic approach is one of the best explanation for deviant behavior such as violent rape and pedophilia.

The Positivist Approach to Sexual Violence

The positivistic approach is one of the paradigms that can be used to deviant sexual behavior such as violent rape and pedophilia. The positivistic theory explains abnormal behavior using characteristics of criminals such as bodily features, distinctive personality traits and genetic defect (Weatherburn & Findlay, 1985), among others. The paradigm describes crime using three critical perspectives: the biological, sociological and psychological explanations. From a biological standpoint, the positivistic approach contends the traits of violent rape can be transferred from parents to an offspring (Devlin, 2015). According to Devlin (2015), brothers of males sentenced to sexual crime are five times at the risk of committing a similar offense in comparison to persons without such siblings. The biological perspective can also be used to explain pedophilia where people, and especially men, have a sexual inclination towards children below 13 years. Based on the explanation, pedophilia is a sexual orientation received at birth, hence, instead of apprehending offenders the government must focus on encouraging such persons to seek psychiatric help (Kühn & Gallinat, 2016). Therefore, genetic factors have a tremendous influence on committing a sexual crime such as violent rape in comparison to environmental factors such as sons learning the behavior from fathers. Despite the strong position presented through the positivist approach, it is clear that crime cannot just be associated with individual characteristics.

Opponents of the biological explanation contend perpetrators of violent rape are a heterogeneous population driven by diverse issues such as a need to satisfy sexual urge and have different psychological qualities (Weatherburn & Findlay, 1985). For instance, the new criminology theory opposes the notion that deviant behavior can be explained solely based on the characteristic of the offender (Weatherburn & Findlay, 1985). Additionally, it cannot be scientifically proved that fathers pass sex offending genes to sons (Devlin, 2015). Instead, the biological explanations are based on genes associated with other factors such as sex appetite and impulse control, which are assumed to increase the chances of a person committing a sexual offense. Equally, pedophiles can be linked with situational molesters, where disappoints in life including being rejected to turn to children. Theories such as the feminist paradigm, among others also make it clear that numerous factors cause sexual assaults. Based on the feminist theory violent rape is a symptom of male chauvinism in a society dominated by men. Rape, therefore, is a violent rather than a sexual act that is driven by political motivations to degrade and dominate women. Moreover, the feminist theory contends that sexual offense does not have an individualistic nature and instead is a conscious process of coercion that men use to subject women to a state of continuous fear. Therefore, the positivistic approach does not provide a substantial explanation for violent rape and pedophilia.

Aversion Therapy

The role of aversion therapy in addressing deviant behavior such as pedophilia and violent rape, which are highly linked with the biological explanation based on the positivistic paradigm must be determined. Aversion therapy is the less standard measure used to deter crime by making victims of undesirable behaviors to associates such habits with an unpleasant outcome (Lindsay, Taylor, & Murphy, 2018).  Since genetic factors provide the best explanation for pedophilia, it is advisable to use less conservative measures rather than established methods such as apprehending sexual offenders. For instance, to suppress the erotic sexual urges towards pre-pubescent children, pedophiles can use the olfactory aversion. Like covert sensitization, the olfactory aversion trains victims to use the pungent smell of ammonia to disrupt the series of events that precede acts of pedophilia (Lindsay, Taylor, & Murphy, 2018). Therefore, victims are encouraged to carry capsules of ammonia and to always pair and link the aversive order with the urges or fantasies of in an actual situation.  Nonetheless, the approach is not always successful because at times pedophile can be overcome by the erotic desires or fail to pair the noxious order of Ammonia with the sudden urges. Moreover, because biological factors such as birth are the leading cause of pedophile behavior, it is difficult for such persons to change besides having a hardwired sexual orientation they are inherently sociopathic.

In shock therapy, electrical currents are passed through people’s brains. The prefrontal cortexes where the electric current passes are passed is linked with abstract reasoning, working memory and selective attention (Kirsch & Fanniff, 2017). Thus, the memory generated from the electronic shock is likely to deter perpetrators from violent rape from committing aggressive acts in the future. Such an approach is highly effective for perpetrators depending on a situation to commit a crime. Based on the positivist approach, rather than being a reflex the deviant behavior of violent rape is a complex human trait that is inherited by most victims. Though electric shocks may enliven brain function, it is difficult to separate perpetrators from natural behavior. Thus it is not advisable for the criminal justice system to use shock therapy to subdue violent rape.

Chemical Castration

Chemical castration must be used to deter perpetrators. To stop perpetrators of violent rape and pedophile behavior the criminal justice system in the US must embrace chemical castration. Chemical castration is the induction of drugs that reduce the sexual libido of sexual perpetrators (Turner et al., 2017). Since violent rape and pedophile behavior is inherent among most perpetrators, it is difficult to deter the deviant behavior using measures like psychological therapies and conventional penal methods including punishment. Chemical castration is a useful measure that reduces the rates of recidivism among sex offenders. Unlike physical castration, chemical castration is not permanent; hence, its effects on the libido of sexual offenders can be reversed (Turner et al., 2017). From the case presented in Owen’s article, it is clear that each sex offender must be filed with the choice of continued imprisonment or release with chemical castration.

The WFSBP (World-Federation-of-Societies-of-Biological-Psychiatry) contends adequate scientific evidence on the irreversibility of chemical castration is not available (Turner et al., 2017). Moreover, unlike the US, Europe has banned the use of Depo-Provera, which is the common pharmaceutical drugs administered on sexual offenders. Some of the side effects associated with Depo-Provera include delayed return of fertility and born density loss, among others (Turner et al., 2017). Besides, based on the retribution theory perpetrators are morally responsible for crimes committed, hence must be punished. In turn, such punishment is likely to influence the decision of other probable criminals and reduce sexual assault in the US. However, based on the positivist paradigm, most sex offenders are compelled to obey compulsive desires inherited biologically at birth. Therefore, despite muting the biological function of some apprehended perpetrators, others possessing similar in-born natures are likely to be driven by compulsive desires are expected to continue the violent rape and pedophile behavior. Therefore, chemical castration is not an adequate measure for deterring sexual offenders.

Conclusion

Sexual violations such as violent rape and pedophile are a heinous crime that requires immediate attention through punishment or treatment. Based on the positivist approach deviant behaviors such as violent rape and pedophile behavior are inherent; therefore, most people are unable to control such practices. Consequently, the criminal department in the US must embrace aversion therapy to address the sexual offense in the country. Unlike chemical castration, which has side effects and can be unethical, aversion therapy is most appropriate for persons suffering from in-born challenges such as pedophile behavior. For instance, through olfactory aversion enables a pedophile to avoid erotic urges by pairing the unpleasant smell of ammonia with the series of activities that precede pedophile behavior.

Reference

Devlin, H. (2015). Risk of sex offending linked to genetic factors, study finds. Retrieved from

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/09/risk-of-sex-offending-linked-to-genetic-factors-study-finds

Kirsch, L. G., & Fanniff, A. M. (2017). 21 Treatment of Sexual Offenders. The APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment, 348.

Kühn, S., & Gallinat, J. (2016). Neurobiological basis of hypersexuality. In International review of neurobiology (Vol. 129, pp. 67-83). Massachusetts: Academic Press.

Lindsay, B. H. R., Taylor, J. L., & Murphy, G. H. (2018). About Sex Offenders. The Wiley Handbook on Offenders with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Research, Training, and Practice, 229.

Turner, D., Petermann, J., Harrison, K., Krueger, R., & Briken, P. (2017). Pharmacological treatment of patients with paraphilic disorders and risk of sexual offending: An international perspective. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 1-10.

Weatherburn, D., & Findlay, M. (1985). Positivism, empiricism and criminological theory. Legal Studies, 5(2), 191-204.

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