Throughout the history of the development of the criminal justice system, researchers have always tried to categorize criminals on the basis of various factors in order to determine the needs of special treatment or rehabilitation process. Although the majority of offenders specialize in more than one particular type of crime, many of the delinquents and criminals "do show preference for certain antisocial acts that allow us to make rough categorization" and determine special criminal populations (Andrews & Bonta, 2010, p. 461). The two special populations that will be examined in this paper are as follows:
sex offenders;
male batterers.
Patriarchal values are considered to be one of the primary causes of spousal abuse. In simple words, if a man wants to have total control of his wife and her actions and does not consider his wife as an equal family member, that man is more likely than other husbands to resort to domestic violence. Another major risk factor relates to an individual's experience of witnessing spousal violence early in childhood. If a young boy constantly observes his father abusing his mother, he is likely to carry over such violent behavioral patterns into his adult life and wedlock. The third fundamental risk factor of spousal abuse is alcohol or other drug abuse. A study conducted by Williams Fals-Steward reveals that "on days when men drank, the likelihood of partner assault was eight times greater than on days when there was no drinking" (Andrews & Bonta, 2010, p. 464).
Numerous studies and researches prove that one of the major risk factors for sex offending is childhood sexual abuse. Individuals who became victims of sex offenders in childhood, are more likely to commit sex offences against other people later in life. Another fundamental cause of sex offences is emotional abuse and family dysfunction combined with childhood behavior problems, including antisocial behavior, of sex offenders. What is more, substance and other drugs abuse is considered to be another general developmental risk factor. Psychologists and other researchers examining criminal behavior of sex offenders argue that lack of victim empathy is also a major risk factor that is common among the majority of sex offenders. The poor quality of personal relationship and poor level of general social skills may also be referred to as a major cause of criminal behavior for sex offenders.
Taking into consideration the above-mentioned causes and risk factors, one may draw a conclusion that negative psychological experiences and emotional abuses as well as witnessing such abuses experienced in childhood contribute to criminal and anti-social behavior later in life. Moreover, alcohol, drug and other substance abuse is a major risk factor of criminal behavior both for sex offenders and male batterers.
Speaking from the perspective of differences between these two subtypes of special criminal populations, lack of victim empathy is also a major risk factor of criminal behavior for sex offenders, while a male batterer may physically and mentally abuse his loving wife.
The rehabilitation process for representatives of both special criminal populations should be based on the cognitive-behavioral approach in order to prevent the repeated relapse into crime. Having regard to the fact that spousal abuse is for the most part caused by psychological rather than external or socio-economic causes, in the process of rehabilitation "male batterers may benefits from anger management and management of relationship problems" (Johnson, 2007, p. 271). In the course of rehabilitation, sex offenders should receive special psychological treatment depending on the type of crime they committed. It also should be noted that both male batterers and sex offenders have to be constantly monitored, particularly as to their use of violence and anti-social behavior.
References
Andrews, D. A., & Bonta, J. (2010). Criminal Subtypes: From the Common to the Exceptional. In The psychology of criminal conduct (5th ed., pp. 461-496). New York, NY: Routledge.
Johnson, S. A. (2007). Physical abusers and sexual offenders: Forensic and clinical strategies. Boca Raton, FL: CRC/Taylor & Francis.
