AUSTRALIA
The Conversation
April 22, 2018
Kelly Richards
Senior lecturer, Queensland University of Technology
The public often feels intense loathing and anger towards paedophiles and those who sexually abuse children. A raft of sex offender policies such as Western Australia’s publicly accessible register of “dangerous and high risk offenders” has been introduced globally to appease an increasingly hostile, punitive and vocal community.
What the public thinks about the causes of child sexual abuse is important, because what people think causes a problem informs what they believe should be done.
My recent research examined what the public think causes paedophilia and child sexual abuse. I found there were four common causal explanations, and while each had some truth to them, they ultimately missed the complexity of the actual causes.
‘Born that way’ or cycle of abuse?
I analysed nearly 800 comments posted by members of the public to four online forums created following the announcement of a new program for reintegrating sex offenders in South Australia.
The forums are a rich source of data on public views about causality, particularly since people’s comments are “off the cuff” rather than telling the researcher what they want to hear.
People posting on the forum put forward four causal explanations for paedophilia and child sexual abuse.
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