Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 26, 1993 TAG: 9301260486
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SEXUAL-ABUSE CYCLE DEFIES PAT ANSWERS
IN RESPONSE to Mark Morrison's article on the Botetourt County sex offender, John Robert LaFlamme (Roanoke Times & World-News, Jan. 22), I would like to call attention to a rather grievous factual error. Morrison notes that " . . . like many other victims of sexual abuse, he started victimizing others . . . "In fact, the vast majority of victims and survivors of sexual abuse never go on to molest or sexually assault others. The inference is patently unfair to the majority of courageous sexual-abuse survivors who struggle to rebuild their lives after this kind of heinous invasion.
The victim-to-victimizer relationship is a complex one, and easily misunderstood. While it is relatively accurate to state that most sex offenderes were victims of sexual abuse, it is not true that most (or even many) child sexual-abuse victims become perpetrators.
There are a multitude of factors, other than sexual-abuse histories, that lead an individual to cross the line and become an offender. However, with rare exceptions (for example, true psychosis), the decision to molest is made consciously, and knowingly, by the perpetrator. It is intentional behavior.
In evaluating literally hundreds of sexual offenders, I have not encountered one who did not know, at the time he acted out, that his behavior was morally wrong. However, typical sexual offenders have an uncanny ability to suspend normal conscience to allow themselves to sexually access a child.
The cycle of sexual abuse and abusing is a perplexing tapestry that can only be understood in its totality. I urge your writers to avoid the temptation of reductionistic thinking when approaching this painful issue. ISAAC T. VAN PATTEN, Ph.D. Director, Roanoke Area Sex Offender Program Community Corrections of Virginia, Inc. Roanoke