The Sociology of Sex Offending

Abstract

Evidence for the characteristics and experiences said to explain sex offending behaviour is considered to be weak while all such characteristics are as true for women as they are for men – girls are just as likely as boys to grow up in abusive family environments and experience lack of nurturance, social rejection, loneliness, and negative peer relationships. This information together with fact that most sex offenders are male invites an interrogation of the ‘man question’. This question ought to be central to theories of sex offending since explanations of sex offending are likely to be found in an analysis of men's relationship to crime rather than being attributed to concepts of ‘deviant’ sexuality which are loaded cultural terms.