Kellie,
You hit a raw nerve in me, by asking this...so pardon my rant if this gets out of hand.
This was something my therapist and I discussed/"hashed out" in many sessions of my therapy, and she has also "treated" offenders. Of which, quite honestly, made me very, VERY angry to be seeing her myself. I thought, "how could SHE?" However, I saw past that and realized it as an opportunity to find out the question we all have, as survivors. Can sex offenders be rehabilited???
I can't describe the heat inside that room as we talked/argued and agreed on certain things. Our conversations always led to our 'hands in the air', and a question of, "What do we do to stop them then?" and "How do we do it fairly/justly, and with compassion?" Need I tell you, that we had no conclusion. EVER.
I am DEAD-SET in the reality that sex offenders can NOT be rehabilitated, by any means. My therapist agrees, through her own educated opinion. She seemed to be 'admitting' to me, when I asked the question, that there has NEVER been proof of rehabilitation, in sex offenders. She seemed relunctant to divulge it to me, personally. I think she already suspected that I knew. That 'admittance' (for lack of a better word) was all the fuel I needed to believe it, once and for all. I had wondered for so long and I felt that, NOW, I could finally believe it (and not be as bad as them/ not as hate-filled/ not as cruel).
There is no answer to WHY rape and abuse happens, in the first place. If we had the sorce, we would have conquered by now. We all know it's not necessary for human survival...to rape and molest each other. We all know it is simply a 'theivery' for power (and that's it). But why do they want that power so badly that they would force a 'life sentence' (cheers Jackie) on those of us who survive it? I don't believe we have an answer to that. AND, I strongly believe that NO excuse is adequate!
When thinking in terms of psychology, one might try to argue that sex abuse/rape is a vicious circle of damage. Meaning, "it happened to them, so they do it us...they don't know any better". Throughout my court case as a young child, I was often told that it was my responsibility to "break the chain". If I didn't end it, who would? At the time, it kept me focused...but I didn't believe it- not even as a child. Well here I am today, a survivor of severe sexual abuse/sexual harrassment/sexual deviance...and I have NEVER touched, or raped another child/person. NOR, would I even consider it a "good idea"...as sexual predators would! There is NO excuse, or reason, that these monsters prey on innocent people and children. They are animals, they are pigs and they are cowards. Period.
Like someone has already mentioned, with medication and so called, "programming" these offenders can be supressed...(but for how long?). Until they decide they can't control themselves anymore??? Until they decide that they hurt so bad (through their own past) that they HAVE to inflict it on someone else...They NEED to do it to feel better???
Well that's NOT good enough. It's not a risk we should be forcing on the general public...on each other! How it's gone on so long...I have no idea!
I KNOW, and I SEE...deep inside my aching little girl, that these sex offenders are destructive, immoral, in-human...from every direction, from every angle and through every tear I shed, as a result...every single day I breathe.
My answer:
#### NO! There is NO such thing as a "rehabilitated sex offender". The phrase itself has me rolling my eyes.
T.
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