The myth that rapists they can’t be re-educate so that they do not commit sexual assaults again is “false & rdquor ;, according to the specialists and the data reveal. And more so if the criminals are minors, when their behavior is even more malleable. Although the group attacks committed by adolescents in recent months have triggered a political and social alarm, the figures indicate that the recidivism in the sexual crimes of the minors It is 16%, half that of the rest of the crimes. The work carried out with these aggressors, both by the administrations and by third sector entities, gives results. But how are they re-educated? What interventions are carried out so that they do not attack again?
Next, specialists and educators explain how they work with young sex offenders, both in juvenile centers and in the open and probation regime.
Consider the profile
To address their reinsertion, educators keep in mind the profile of the aggressors. Some are under 14 years and, therefore, unimputable, but the bulk are 14 or 15 years old (35%) and there are also quite a few young adults between 18 and 19 years old. “There is no single profile but we could talk about two groups of young people, a factor that must be taken into account when working with them,” he explains. Alba Alfageme, psychologist specialized in sexist violence. The first group are those who only commit sex crimes and the second one that has a full criminal profile.
Most of them, specialists point out, tend to suffer from mental disorders such as autism or deficit in social relationships, take drugssuffer from a lack of sexual education and consume a lot of a type of for not which leads them to “eroticize violence & rdquor ;, says Alfageme. Also, many come from violent environments or with a dysfunctional emotional reality.
Process towards the assumption of responsibilities
Most of these young people, after committing the crime, go through a process that goes from denialthen passing through the justification, the assumption of responsibilities and, finally, most come to confrontation, according to specialists. In the first phases of denial or justification, their excuses range from “we were fooling around all night, wanted safe roll”; “I was very excited, I don’t know what happened to me & rdquor ;; “I saw it in porn, it turned me on and I wanted to do it & rdquor ;; “I was drunk and it was my chance & rdquor; or “I was not aware of the damage I was doing & rdquor ;.
Through group and personal interviews, educators work, first of all, on communication skills. “Consensual sexuality requires understanding what the other says, it seems obvious but there are people who do not understand what the other communicates”, explains santiago round, Professor of Criminology and Psychology at the University of Barcelona. Redondo has worked for the Ministry of the Interior and various autonomies precisely in the psychoeducational projects that are carried out with rapists. With adults, the first programs began in Barcelona, in 1996, and later spread to all of Spain. From the 2000s they were activated with minors. After his extensive experience, he assures that re-education “works, in most cases.”
Work from vulnerability
Their cognitive distortions are also worked on, justifications attacks, questioning their beliefs, “but not from a moralizing point of view, but by raising the problem and opening the debate, so that they themselves find the solution& rdquor;, according to Redondo. One way of working with these kids -who throughout their lives have often suffered violence, integration difficulties or mental illness- is from their personal history. “When there are wounds that have not been healed, through Repair your own pain sometimes they realize how they have acted& rdquor;, adds Alfageme. From there, work assumption of responsibilities.
You also work with them emotions. Very often “they have a limited emotional repertoire of the ‘type I like, I don’t like’, and it must be developed so that they learn to recognize 30 or 40 emotions in others and in themselves,” Professor Redondo stresses. The main emotion that seeks to promote is the empathyso that they know how to recognize it and feel the pain of the other, in this case of the victimsand that that prevents them from raping again.
In sexual crimes, the sexism patriarchal, so we work with adolescent aggressors so that they deconstruct toxic masculinity and learn not to objectify women. “With group rapes they do not seek pleasure, but the can about girls, so you work with them so they understand the male privileges but also the pressures and prejudices that exist against men who do not act according to the established model& rdquor;, explains Lázaro Carrillo, a member of the cooperative ‘Reeducating the violence‘, which carries out anti-sexist training for young people. Regarding the group’s mandates, it promotes “that they be positive leaders, not only towards women, but towards the entire community& rdquor ;. Finally, through the affective sexual education respect for others, equality and a critical look at porn are offered.
All the scientific literature recommends that the re-education of child and youth aggressors be completed with interventions in their family and social environment. So that from the environment they do not continue to send messages that contradict therapeutic teachings and what has been learned can be reversed. It also seeks to provide them with support so that they can continue their path in the educational or work environment.