One major shortcoming that I feel our entire society has made regarding this issue, however, is that there is likely a high probability that many (certainly not all) child molestors demonstrate strong, detectable indications of their future behavior in childhood.
I knew a kid once who was severely mentally retarded, and even as a young child it was patently obvious that he would never integrate into society, yet everyone- his parents (older, good but very simple, ignorant people), school, etc -just insisted on 'raising him like everyone else'. By the time he reached puberty he had no concept whatsoever of appropriate behavior, displayed a tendency toward violence, and is now in prison for child molestation.
This behavior could be easily be predicted when he was a child (it was pretty obvious) and he should have been placed in a group home then- but there was (and still isn't) any type of infrastructure in place in that town or surrounding counties that could take him by the time he was a teenager.
I've also seen, worked with, and spoken to several people who work in group homes that do work with those age groups, and a staggering number of them make no provision for once the children they care for become adults. It's really like they babysit them until they turn 18, after which they will be 'turned loose' and end up in prison. I asked a friend who works at such a home how many of the males he thought would commit sexual assaults once they grew up or weren't under heavy supervision, and he said that he'd "be very surprised if more than 30% of them did not."
To boldly go where lots of men have gone before...
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Calliander
Bookmarks