Psychological treatment is not an “absolute guarantee” that sex offenders will not return to crime, the vice president of the Order of Psychologists warned, for which the focus should be on prevention and education of potential victims.
Renata Benavente told Luza that there is a treatment for sex offenders using special methods to prevent these people from returning to criminal practices and similar behavior.
While there is no specific profile of the abuser, the official said, “from the moment this trend is identified, or already practicing this type of activity, these people can develop skills that prevent them from committing repeated abuse of children or adolescents.”
Renata Benavente acknowledged that it is impossible to give “absolute guarantees” that treatment will prevent the abuser from re-offending, stating that “it is possible to intervene at the level of impulses of this kind and then control this type of person.” “.
“These people should be supervised and, in the most difficult cases, prevent contact with children or teenagers,” the official defended, noting that there is a list of mentioned sexual abusers and that Portuguese law already obliges those involved in activities with children . or young people who have not been convicted of this type of crime.
According to the vice-president of the Order of Psychologists, “the grand strategy includes prevention” and “educating children, youth and potential victims so that they can detect these kinds of situations.”
Renata Benavente recalled that “these are crimes of a very complex nature” in which there is usually an ascension of the offender in relation to the child, who is often a reference figure, which makes it “very difficult” “to manage this dynamic emotional nature with abusive practices.”
“It is important to teach children this in the logic of prevention. For example, with messages about who can touch the intimate parts of the body, what is the appropriate touch, and what is the less appropriate touch, and warn children about this, ”he said. Responsible, adding that “this can be done as early as preschool and throughout the developmental process.”
For the person in charge, this will serve to ensure that “in case they get into this type of situation, they may find themselves holding back this type of business.”
He also said that this preventive work and the education of healthy sexuality should be carried out both in the family and in the school context or in child support facilities “by professionals qualified to deal with these problems with children.”
On Monday, the final report of the Independent Commission for the Study of Church Sexual Abuse was released, in which 512 confirmed testimonies were received, which allowed extrapolating the existence of at least 4,815 victims over the past 72 years.
The data presented showed that 97% of the abusers were men and in 77% of the cases they were priests, in addition to the fact that in 47% of the cases the abuser was a member of the child’s immediate family.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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