International Journal of Adolescence and Youth

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Socio-Cultural Factors and Young Sexual

Offenders: A Case Study of Western Madhya
Pradesh (India)

Sarita Sahay

To cite this article: Sarita Sahay (2008) Socio-Cultural Factors and Young Sexual Offenders: A
Case Study of Western Madhya Pradesh (India), International Journal of Adolescence and Youth,
14:2, 113-134, DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2008.9747998

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International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 2008, Volume 14, pp. 113-134
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Printed in Great Britain

Socio-Cultural Factors and Young

Sexual Offenders: A Case Study of
Western Madhya Pradesh (India)

Sarita Sahay, *

Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, Australia

ABSTRACT
Young sexual offenders claim that there are various factors that made them
offenders. By playing the blaming game, they try to protect their self-esteem
and diffuse responsibilities for their offensive behavior. The aim of this study
is to analyze the situation they faced, which they claim made them offenders.
An attempt has also been made to analyze how their socio-cultural and family
system of punishment as well as their moral education compelled them to
control their behavior and over come from the guilt feelings, they suffered after
their offensive behaviors.

Key-words: sexual offenders, self-esteem, blaming game, guilt feeling, family

punishment, moral education

INTRODUCTION

In most societies, there are certain behaviours that are strongly

prohibited. However, for some individuals, the practice of these
behaviours is strongly desired. Sexual offences and use of drugs
are examples of these behaviours (Bandura and Walters 1965).
The sexual abuse of children, especially of girls, has become a
curse in contemporary Indian society. Findings based on research
work done at Sakshi reveals that at least 2 out of 4 girls and 1 out
of 6 boys are victims of sexual abuse (Sakshi 1994). According to
the recent study on child abuse in India, 53.22 per cent of Indian

..Correspondence address: Building 11, Level 8, Clayton Campus, Wellington

Road, Clayton 3800, Victoria1 Australia. e-mail: [email protected].
au
114

children have faced one or more forms of sexual abuse (Report

2007). In these circumstances one wants to know why some
people go against the social norm. What make a person a sexual
offender against children? It was noted that the first reaction of
people in general was, "Parents of a child are responsible for a
child's behaviour" or "It is the result of the faulty upbringing of
the child that he or she dares to go against the prescribed social
norms".
Social scientists (Dekovic et al. 2003) have recognized the
importance of family in the socialization of a child. For all of
them the education of a child begins at home. The child grows
up in a family system, which impresses some basic social
values and morals into his character and shapes his personality.
Therefore, the importance of family in the development of
problem behaviour in a child cannot be ignored. Social scientists
have also concluded that ineffective parenting and dysfunctional
family life are detrimental to the healthy development of children
(Simons et al. 2004) and is primary source of causing abnormalities
in the sexual behaviour of a child (Feldman and Brown 1993;
Kandel 1990; Rosenthal et al. 1999). On the other hand, it has
been found that children growing up with warm, supportive and
responsive parents delay sexual initiations (Zelnick et al. 1981).
Social scientists argue that an offender does not appear one day
as a fully developed offender or is born as an offender. There is
a wide range of factors which make him an offender in the due
course of time. Factors such as a pathological family atmosphere,
early traumatic sexual experiences, sexual interest and frustration
are some of them. Not only this, at times these factors also affect
the development of other antisocial behaviour in an individual
(Dishion et al. 1995; Lahey et al. 1999).
But, during the investigation undertaken by this study, in
several cases it was found that both parents of the offenders
were well educated and were taking good care of their sons. The
son was also not able to give any reason for his behaviour, often
saying, "It happened" or "I wanted to do so". Such cases reflect
the findings of biologists who claim that a defective biological
make up such as the chromosomal abnormalities of endocrine
function might contribute to abnormal sexual arousal patterns
(Berlin 1983; Fuller 1989).
Psychologists (Ward et al. 2006) have concluded that there are
three sets of factors which interact continuously in making an
individual sexual offender. They are biological factors (genetic
and brain development), the offender's proximal and distal
ecology (social, cultural and personal circumstances), and three
 115

neuropsychological systems (motivation/ emotional, action selec-

tion and control, and perception and memory systems).
When young sexual offenders were questioned about their
behaviour they tried to protect their self image arguing that
circumstances made them offenders. The respondents were
asked to talk about why they had not been able to control
themselves when they were aware that what they were doing
was not expected from them. They claimed that they would not
have committed sex offences if they had not faced the situation
they faced. In an effort to develop a deeper understanding of
offenders with their purported experience that was grounded in
their memory, their narrative data were used to identify the major
causes of their troublesome behaviour. It was noticed that the
girls who they made their victims were usually known to them.
The girls were often their cousins, nieces, girls of neighbourhoods
or their own sisters.
During field visits it was found that due to ignorance and the
inability of adults to deal with the subject in many cases where
the victims were forced to suffer in silence, the offenders were
freed after a minor scolding. Thus, both the offender and the
victim did not receive much support from the family members
as they did not want the matter to be disclosed and family name
exposed. This attitude of family members forced the offenders to
struggle hard to over come from his disorder and many of them
found it very difficult.
Using qualitative data this article explores and analyses:
(1) the situations faced by the offenders which they claim that
had made them offenders, (2) to put forward the arguments
they gave to diffuse their responsibilities, (3) the reasons for the
choice of victims (4) how their socio-cultural and family system
of punishment as well as moral education compelled them to
control their behaviour and (4) how they over come from the
guilt feeling they suffered after their offensive behaviour.
Here it is necessary to mention that none of the participants
of this study were taken to a psychotherapist or for any medical
help. Many of them, especially tribal people, did not agree with
the view that it was a psychological problem that required
treatment from a specialist. It was also noticed that some
parents in order to protect their sons being labelled as mentally
ill and/ or receiving psychiatric treatment thought it better to
avoid taking any medical help. This unique concern also raises
important insight into how the stigma of being psychologically
ill can lead to individuals suffering in silence. The offenders
either received no treatment for their disorder or were treated
116

by family or village panchayat members. Many of the offenders

claimed "Maybe they do not typically provide treatments which
are supported by clinical trials" or "Maybe we would have
controlled our behaviour if we had received scientific medical
help". Woods finds treatment of such cases is necessary to protect
the offenders from being lost in the system (Woods 2003). Not a
single case in this study had been reported to police due to the
unwillingness of parents, especially of the victims. They wanted
to solve the problem through their own efforts: "Going to police
means publicizing the issue and making the situation worse"
was typical of their comment. Studies show that in India 71 per
cent of sexual assaults cases go unreported (Dabir and Nigudkar
2007).

METHODOLOGY

Sample/Participants

This study includes the cases of 131 young adults (85 tribals
and 46 non-tribals) of different religious, socio-economic and
educational group. They were of the age group of fifteen to
twenty-six years and their mean age was twenty. They were
Hindu, Muslim, Christian and of lower as well as of upper caste.
However, this article does not include the quantitative data of
people in the 30+ age group; in some cases, qualitatively they
are included. Many of the tribal participants were married while
almost all the non-tribal participants were unmarried.
Among the tribal participants only 8.2% were educated up to
high school and the rest were either uneducated or educated up
to primary level only. However, half of the non-tribal participants
were degree holders. They were agricultural workers; bus, taxi
or auto drivers, and school teachers; or they were working in
offices and factories. Almost all of them were livings with their
parents, brothers and un-married sisters as joint family. At the
time of interviews, these offenders claimed that they had left
offending or were trying their best to eliminate this problem,
and their claim was taken at its face value.

Procedure

Data was gathered using focused group discussion, in depth

interview and a survey using a self-administered questionnaire.
 117

The findings discussed in this paper are primarily based on case

studies.
Data collection on such a sensitive issue was not an easy
task. Recruitment of participants was also difficult. At first,
the offenders proved themselves impossible to access. In the
beginning, the boys of known families were chosen and with the
help of them contact was made with others as they knew about
their friends and other offenders. Efforts were made to establish
a good rapport with offenders taking them in to confidence and
also by making; they understand that it was for the welfare of
others like them. Instead of a blaming attitude, an atmosphere of
sympathy was created. Given the example of one or two known
cases, they were encouraged to participate in this study. Some
of participants were encouraged to write down their experiences,
if they were not able to speak in front of the author. Special
care was taken to keep the identity of the offenders secret. This
was also done to protect their family members who had suffered
from guilt, shame and the wrath of some who blamed them
for the actions of their troubled adolescents from any further
psychological damage.

Study Area

The study was conducted in the tribal and non-tribal male of

western Madhya Pradesh (India) between January 2002 and
March 2005, especially in the city of Indore and in the villages
near Jhabua. ·
Indore is the commercial centre of an agricultural region
in which wheat, millet, com, cotton, opium, and oilseed are
produced. In the city are factories that manufacture cotton
textiles, hosiery, chemicals, furniture, and metal products. Jhabua,
the north-west district of Madhya Pradesh, is the heartland of
Bhil territory. According to the 2001, Indian Census Report, the
tribes like Bhil, Bhilala, and Patelia constitute more than 84% of
the total population there.

Measure/Limitation

The measure of sexual offence consists of action that includes

a range of relatively minor acts such as passing comments as
well as more serious offences such as forcing victims to watch
masturbation or to help in masturbation, touching, pressing and
118

fondling the genitals or breasts of the victims or introducing

them to pornography.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Data obtained made it clear that there were various reasons that
had influenced the psyche of individuals and as claimed by them
had made them offenders. On the basis of those reasons data
were divided into five groups and are presented in Table 1.

Pathological Family Abnosphere

In this study the pathological family atmosphere includes the

exposed sexual life of parents, frequent quarrelling between
parents, rejection of the child, isolation from other children and the
excessive expectations of parents of a child. The high percentage
of the participants belonging to this group (Table 1) shows that
the pathological family atmosphere is one of the primary sources
of causing the abnormal sex behaviour of a child. Though in both
the cases of the tribal and the non-tribal offenders, the factor of
a pathological family atmosphere holds the top position among
all the other factors the participants claim that made them sexual
offenders, the percentage of tribal candidates is much less in
comparison to their non-tribal counterparts. If we go into details
to find out the reasons for this difference, once again it makes it
clear that the pathological family atmosphere appears to play an
important role in making a male youth a sexual offender.

TABLE 1

Causative Measure (in %)

S.No. Causes Tribal Non-tribal

1 Pathological Family Atmosphere 29.4 54.8

2 Traumatic Sexual Experiences 5.9 8.0
3 Sexual Interest/curiosity 23.5 12.4
4 Deprivation 17.7 16.1
5 Failure in Love 23.5 8.7
 119

In a tribal community, in general, we find that youths spend

most of their time out side the home with grazing cattle, working
in the field and in construction work. At night they sleep in the
courtyard, near the field or cattle shed, or in the watch hut.
Sometimes all the friends sleep together either to have fun or to
protect their belongings from thieves and wild animals. Thus, to
some extent their daily routine does not permit them to watch
the activities of their elders at home. But in non-tribal families
the situation is completely different. Many of them live in a
small house or apartment where the maintenance of privacy for
the adult couple is difficult. It was found that children were
compelled to pretend sleeping while parents or elders engaged in
sex. One of the participants narrated his situation in this way:
We were living in one bed room apartment. We all, parents brothers
and sisters used to sleep in one room. Very often my father used
to say to my mother, 'Aaj maine sonch rakha hai' (today I have
planned). I do not know about the feelings of my brother and
sisters but I used to start dreaming about the situation I was going
to face in night. I had to pretend sleeping while my parents had
sex. I never liked facing this situation but I was unable to tell any
thing to my parents. There was no need of declaring about it in
advance especially in front of us but my father was doing so. If
he had not said like this in front of us may be I would have slept
peacefully. Many times I used to hate my father or mother or both.
They were the person who had no concerned with the feelings
of others at home except their own pleasure and gratification.
Sometimes I wanted to show my parents that I was not a kid. To
show my father that I was an adult I started smoking and abusing
girls. I abused many girls. I thought that by this way I would make
my parents aware that their children were adults and they should
control their behaviour. Do you think I was wrong? People who
have not faced such situation can blame me saying that my action
was not justified but why not they go to my parents and say that
their action was not sophisticated. If they were not able to afford
two bed rooms apartment why did not they sleep in the drawing
room? If I had not faced such a situation may be I would not have
done any thing wrong. Though I knew what I was doing was not
right, I was unable to control myself.

After narrating his case the participant felt relieved. It was the
first time any one had given him a chance to put his case forward.
Otherwise, he had faced only the anger and hatred of others.
Listening after this incident his friend narrated his experience
in this way:
I was sixteen years old and was preparing for school examination.
One day my lady tutor was helping me in solving mathematical
problems. We were sitting facing each others. In another room my
120
parents were busy in sexual foreplay. Dim light was there in the
room. My shameless father who knew that I was watching them
had no concern about my feelings. He was smiling seeing me. My
tutor's back was to the bedroom so she was not seeing any thing
and had no idea that what was going on in my mind. That was the
first day I felt a strong sexual urge and onwards from that day I
started keeping eyes on my parents' activities and wanted to repeat
my father's role with small girls of my home and of neighbours'.
I was unable to control myself though I knew that what I was
doing was not correct. Don't you think that if I had not faced such
situation I would not had done any thing wrong"?

One of them put his case with anger in his voice:

My parents used to say, 'My children are the students of biology.
They know every thing about the relationship of male and a female.
There is no need to hide any thing from them'. Yes, my parents
were right that we know about the relation of a husband and a
wife. But at the same time we all know about the body parts of
the male and the female. Does it mean there is no need of wearing
clothes? We know about the role of a male and a female in the
game of sex but my parents were not just a male or a female to me.
They were my father and mother and it was their duty to remain
my father and mother and not to become just a male and a female
to me. Do you think what I am saying is wrong? What will happen
if my wife and I start doing the same to them, behaving like just a
male or a female and not like their son and daughter-in-law"?

These were other cases of exposed sexual life of parents which

(as claimed by the offenders) made the children offenders. The
finding of these case studies is in agreement with the researchers
(Pettit et al. 1997) in western countries who noticed that the
abnormal sexual behaviour of parents or their exposed sexual life
enhances the chances of making the children sexual offenders.
It was also observed that over expectations of a child also
put him under pressure and enhanced the chances of the child
becoming a sexual offender. It was found that in non-tribal
families the expectation of parents of their children remains very
high. Parents push their child to come first in every event or test
whether it is the field of education or other curriculum activities.
On the other hand, it was also noticed that often a father, being
the head of the family, and in want of maintaining his supremacy
in the home, does not tolerate the success of his child when the
child proves more intelligent than he does. 1his kind of success
of a son hurts the ego of the father and he tries to diminish the
success of his son by highlighting his weakness in front of every
one. This becomes clear with this example which was narrated
by a participant:
 121
One day one of my father's friends came to our house and said to
my father, 'Your son is not shy as you are. Today he delivered his
speech very confidently in front of so many audiences in school
function and answered every question asked very clearly. I was
also there as a guest'. My father did not utter a single word in my
praise I was expecting him to do so. Instead he passed comments
on me saying like this, 'Uh! Confidently and clearly! So what?
He had got only 68% marks in his half-yearly examination. I was
always getting above 70% marks in my school days'. It was not
the first time that I had to face jealous attitude of my father. I
had faced similar situation many time. Don't you think my father
was not able to digest my praise? My father's friend had shown
my superiority over my father comparing me with him. If he
was not able to tolerate my success why was he forcing me, not
encouraging, to come first in every competition? That day onward
I started eating more in frustration and started abusing girls.

After examining more cases similar to those presented above we

can conclude that by paying attention, praising achievements,
and taking more interest in their children parents would possibly
stop them from offending.
It was also found that comparison of one child with other
one also made a boy depressed and liable to offend. One of the
participants stated his situation like this:
I was not as fair as my younger brother was but I was a better
student than him. My father loved my younger brother more than
me. He always used to pass comments on me saying like this,
'Do not wear this dress its colour does not suit you. Give it to
your younger brother. He will look more handsome in this dress.
Anyway what ever you wear that will not change your look so do
not waste money on expensive clothes'. Even he did not allow me
to go out and play with other children saying people will see my
ugly face which might bring shame to him. Not only this, he was
not taking my any complaint, any need, seriously. Whenever I made
any complain that I was suffering from stomach pain or else like
this he said go drink water and sleep; there was no need to study.
As if I was pretending to escape from study. But when my brother
made any complaint he took action promptly saying that illness
would faint his colour. I was always obtaining between 75% to 80%
marks in my every examination whereas my brother was managing
with 45%. My father was not happy with my performance. He used
to compare his childhood difficulties with the facilities available to
me. He always said to me, 'I am giving everything to you. When I
was a student I used to study with a lantern and you are studying
with an electric bulb still you are not getting above 90% marks'. He
was not saying anything to my brother whereas he was obtaining
fewer marks than me. Don't you think my father behaviour was
not right with me? By passing comments like this he always gave
emotional shock to me only because my look was not good in
his eyes. In frustration I started smoking. It gave me temporary
122
relief from stress. After that I started abusing girls. I used to draw
vulgar picture on the walls of girls' common room and also to
keep pornographic books at such places where they can see them
easily. I enjoyed watching the shocked face of girls. I was unable
to control myself".

This case supports the findings of Rothabaun and Weisz who

noticed that parental rejection and isolation from other children
was one of the major causes of making a boy sex offender
(Rothabaun and Weisz 1994).
In tribal society, it was found that although the parents did not
force their children to excel, their expectations of their children
were different. They expected their child to earn as early as
possible. They compared their one child with other one on the
basis of their active nature and hard working capacity. One of
the tribal candidates narrated his plea in this way.
My father used to call me lazy. He was not old but pretending old
was shouldering all his responsibilities on me. I was of marriageable
age and wanted to marry but my father was not able to give bride
price for me. If my father had worked and taken care of the family
I would had worked in the field of others. This way I would have
earned for my bride price and other necessities of the home. But
my father was not doing so. Above all whenever I saved money
he used to drink liquor with that. He was forcing me to work in
the night as a watch-man in the factory. I was not able to work the
whole day in the field and whole night in the factory. The situation
was quite frustrating for me and in the state of frustration I started
chasing girls. It gave me pleasure and relief from my tension. It
was a fun for me.

Many of the tribal participants claimed that the frequent

quarrelling between their fathers and mothers led them to
conclude that god has created girls for making fun of and taking
services from them but the number of non-tribal candidates who
claimed like this was very low. A similar cause was also noticed
by researchers in other countries who claimed that disharmony
and frequent quarrelling between the parents made their children
troublesome (Keitner et al. 1998).
During analysis of other case studies, it was also found that the
relationship of a child with his parents also plays an important
role in making him an offender. Parents who believe in always
punishing their children because of some small fault or force
their children to do something not acceptable to the child may
make their children offenders.
In all the above mentioned cases, the youths claimed that if
they had not faced the situation they faced, they would have not
 123
done any thing wrong. Almost all of them blamed their parents
for their improper behaviours. It was also found that one of
the other proximal factors was the quality of the parent-child
relationship was responsible for initiating sexual behaviour in
the early life of children. This finding goes in favour of others
who found that parents who do not support their children or
offer guidance during the crucial phase of development (Smith
1997), who are demanding but unresponsive and neglect their
children (Gilligan 1996; Miller et al. 1986; Whitebeck et al. 1999),
initiate sexual behaviour in the early life of their children.
It was found during field visits that family violence including
child maltreatment was disproportionately high in tribal
communities compared to non-tribal. Yet, the number of cases of
tribal candidates who blame a pathological family atmosphere
for their offensive behaviour is noticeably less in comparison to
non-tribal participants.

Traumatic Sexual Experiences

The percentages of cases (see Table 1), which comes under this
category is less than other categories but still significant. It was
observed that an early sex episode started the process of sexual
offence in many of the cases. In some cases it all started with
a homosexual encounter, which led a child to be trapped into
sexual offending.
Here are several cases which illustrate the process of how the
victim became an offender because he was addicted to or excited
by the homosexual acts. One of the participants explained:
I was only seven years old. Very often one boy elder than me, used
to come to me and said that his penis was hard while mine was
not. In the beginning I did not understand any thing. That boy
taught me how to make my penis hard. It was a great fun for me.
Gradually I started taking interest in this play. First we boys started
playing this game with each other and later on I started thinking
about girls' body part and wanted to play with them. Do you think
I was wrong? I was very young to understand what was right and
what was wrong and when I grew I was unable to control my self.
That boy made me an offender.

Though in this study we found more cases which started with

homosexuality and made a child offender in a few cases it was
also found that a woman had abused young male children
leading to sex offence in future. Here is an incident narrated by
one of the participants:
124
I was eight years old. An old lady, very closed to our family used
to come to my home to give oil message to my grandmother and
to me too. Sometimes instead of that lady her young daughter used
to come for this purpose. While giving oil message to me she used
to play with my body parts. I also enjoyed her doing so with me.
Thus my sex episode started very early. It was not my fault. Do
you think I was wrong? If that woman had not done so, I would
have been a normal person. First time I have told you, what I faced
in my childhood. Out of shame and fear I was unable to tell any
thing to any one of my family.

The cases presented above support the findings of Fehrenbach

and others who had also noticed that in some cases the children
were themselves the victims of sexual abuse prior to offending
(Fehrenbach et al. 1986).
It was found that many children who were sexually abused
were not able to relate their grievous experience to their elders.
After revealing their feelings in front of researcher, they felt
relieved of their stress.
It was found in the other parts of the world too, that the
children who were sexually abused lived with intense feelings
of secrecy and isolation. Only a minority were able to reveal
their situation to others (Furniss 1991; Salter 1988). This situation
was not beneficial for their emotional health, because the traces
of this trauma were often carried into adulthood in the form of
internalized shame (Salter 1995).
Now the question comes to mind that why the children do
not go to their parents or any other elders for help after being
abused? After discussing this with the boys it can be said that in
the state of shock a child did not have the courage to reveal his
experience to his parents. It was also noticed that whenever he
tried to confide his problem to them they did not take the matter
seriously or did not believe the child. Frustrated, the child would
stop talking with them on this issue.
The boys who come under this category claimed that they
were the 'victims of yesterday'. When the boys were asked
about the consequences of their action, especially in the case
of homosexuality, they replied, "Our action was not a planned
action. We were unable to control ourselves and in the need of
fulfilment of our inner urge, we did what is not considered good
by others. We did not think about or care about victims as others
did not think about us when they made us their victims. We never
imagined that our victims will become tomorrow's offenders
like us". They also said that they would have controlled their
behaviour if their elders had guided or supported them after
listening to their experience patiently.
 125
Sexual Interest/Curiosity

It was noticed during interviews that young children want

information about sex. In tribal society, songs sung during
marriage give a little knowledge about sex to new couples and
young children. Drama played during certain occasions indirectly
describes sex and the pleasure derived from it. Elders play such
drama for fun (Lourdusamy and Sahay 2004) but it develops
curiosity about sex in the young mind. In the absence of any
other source of sexual knowledge, these youths try to find out
the solution of gaps in their knowledge in unusual ways. In
short it can be said that ignorance about sex is also responsible
for many sexual complications and developing abnormal sexual
behaviours in young children. Sex education is not common in
a country like India. It was found that for seeking information
about sex these participants had relied less on their parents
and more on their peers. Data obtained related to sources of
information is given in Table 2. This table (Table 2) makes it
clear that for most of the participants, the most common source
of information on sex was their friends. The percentage of tribal
youths who seek information from a sex manual is very small
(3%) in comparison to non-tribal youths (38% ). This can be
attributed to the non-availability of sex manuals in village, or
to their poor literacy or to their poor economic conditions not
allowing them to buy books. As mentioned earlier, parents were
no choice for seeking information. One of them explained the
situation in the following way, "When I went to my mother to
ask any question or any other doubt she sent me to my father
and when I asked from my father he started scolding me". On
the basis of the comments given by the participants about the
attitudes of their parents, it was concluded that most parents
were not able to tackle the situation properly. It was found that
some of the tribal candidates seek information about sex from

TABLE 2
Feelings of Guilt (in %)
S. No. Feelings Tribal Non-tribal

Always Sometimes Total Always Sometimes Total

1 Yes 7 11 18 20 45 65
2 No 54 28 82 15 20 35
126

their maternal or parental uncles or from their brothers-in-law

but their non-tribal friends were not so fortunate to find some
one who can guide them in this regard.

Deprivation

According to many social scientists, sex is a powerful urges and

if there is no way to satisfy this basic need normally it may force
an individual to seek gratification in unconventional methods
(Miller et al. 1986). During the investigation, it was found that a
few young boys were not able to get married when they wanted
to marry. Factors such as unemployment, presence of unmarried
sisters, and other economic necessities were preventing them in
getting married. A frustrated youth founded it difficult to control
his feelings and urges and he was trapped into sex offending.
One of the participants stated his position as follows:
I was in job from four years. My younger sister was in school. My
father was not allowing me to get married. He was forcing me to
save money for my sister's marriage and also for his old age. After
the death of my mother my father had left his job and was sitting
idle at home. At that time he was only forty two years old. I had
given sufficient money to my father and was ready to give more
in future, but he had no faith in me. My elder brother had started
living separately after his marriage and it was my father's doubt
that I would do the same like my brother did. On one hand he
was not allowing me for marriage on the other hand he used to
pass comments on me saying that in my age he was the father
of three children. His behaviour and attitude disturbed me very
much. I stated living in isolation. A feeling of hatred for my sister
also developed in my heart. About her I used to think that she
was the cause of all problems. Being unable to control my urge I
got trapped in sex offence. Sometimes I abused my sister too. Later
on after discussing my problem with my friends I realized that my
sister had no fault. She was not demanding anything from me. It
was my father's fault who was shouldering his responsibility on
my shoulder in very hard way. He was not able to take care of his
own needs. I got married and sent my sister to hostel when she
joined the university".

It is right to say that depression and the incompetence of parents

as parents also contribute in making a child offender (Dickstein
et al. 1998).
 127
Failure in love and frustration

In some cases, it was found that frustration due to failure in

love made a young boy an offender. It was found that boys had
approached the girls of their liking and the girls had refused.
The ego of the boys had been hurt. When the friends and the
family members of the boys came to know about the failure of
their boys they made fun of his failure. It was quite humiliating
for the boys. The frustrated boys started abusing girls.
I was in a job while my other friends were unemployed. One girl
was working with me. I wanted to marry with her and one day I
approached her. She refused my proposal saying she did not love
me. My friends knew that I was in love with her and was going to
propose her. They had suggested me that before approaching her
I should try to know whether she also loved me or not but I did
not care. I thought I was in a job and any girl would accept me
happily. I ignored my friends' advice. When that girl refused my
proposal I started hating girl. Whenever I saw any beautiful girl
a feeling of hatred developed in me and I wanted to abuse her. If
my colleague would have accepted my proposal I would not have
done wrong with any girl.

Others

Though this study was confined to young offenders only, a few

older people also became ready to share their experiences. They
believed that sex with a young girl would add years to their
life span and would cure their sexual problems. Besides, alcohol
consumption by elders also undermined their attempts to control
their inclination to sexually abuse the child.

WHY THE GIRLS WERE KNOWN TO THEM

In Indian society, especially in small towns, the movement of a

girl is restricted. Parents try to send their daughters to a Girls'
School and Women's College for studies. If a girl has to work
she is accompanied by her mother, elder brother, or any of
the family members or person known to her. Even so, a girl is
not allowed to mix or talk with any unknown boy. In such a
situation, a boy also finds it difficult to mix with a girl other
than his family members or one known to his family. When the
boys were asked why they had chosen the girls known to them,
they said that at the time only that girl was available to them.
128

One of the participants who was well educated and in a good

job explained this point:
If you are hungry you eat what ever is available to you at home.
Going out for dinner or lunch is a planned action. Similarly a boy
when he needs a girl could not go out or far from his house in
search of a girl not known to him. Secondly, doing any thing wrong
with an unknown girl means inviting great trouble if caught. The
punishment given by the family members would not leave you in
a position to roam out in the society with your head up. But if
the girl belongs to your family, family members would punish you
with a sympathetic heart. After all, a boy is more valuable for the
family and family members do not want to take the risk to harm
their boys. It means your punishment would be light. Also, family
members would not like to take the matter outside the home and
an offender would not have to face any embarrassing situation in
the society.

Another participant, who was at university, described his

situation:
"We were living with our grandparents. My uncle (Father's elder
brother) was also living with us with his wife, daughter and a son.
My father was in a good job and earning good amounts but my
uncle was in an ordinary job and was not able to take care of his
family with his own earnings. One day one of my friends gave
me a sex manual. Reading that book some thing happened to me
and in that state of mind I abused my cousin. She complained
about it to her mother (my aunty) and her mother told about it to
my mother. My mother, instead of saying any thing to me started
shouting at my aunty saying, "Since we are economically depended
on your husband, you dare to blame my son". My grandmother also
took the side of my mother because she loved me more than my
cousin. Even my uncle ignored the sorrow of his own daughter and
scolded his wife telling she wanted to create difference between two
brothers by blaming his nephew. If I had abused a girl of another
family and had been caught, all of her family members would have
given me a strong punishment but here I got unpunished".

After going through the details of these case studies it can be

concluded that the boys know the consequences of their action
and take the advantages of their position at their home. It is
convenient for them to choose a girl known to them. It helps
them to avoid excessive punishment.
 129

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS/ GUILT FEELINGS &

SELF-CONTROL

Though the young sexual offenders claimed that the various

factors had made them offenders, many of them accepted that
what they did was wrong. They suffered from guilt feelings (See
Table 3). The moral lessons they obtained from their elders or
from books or in school made them able to realize that their
action was a deviation from an internalized moral standard and
led them to negative self-evaluation.
We see (Table 3) that the percentage of tribal youths who
suffered from guilt feelings is much less than the non-tribal
youths. This can be attributed to their socio-cultural and family
system. It was found that in tribal society when parents, especially
of girls, came to know about the incident of offence they did not
hesitate to bring the matters in front of other elders of the family
or the village panchayt. They all wanted to punish the offender
because for them punishment was necessary to stop recidivism.
In many cases this punishment helped an offender to overcome
his guilt feelings. They did wrong, they received punishment. It
was also found that in some cases punishment brought a negative
result. The following case study as narrated by one of the tribal
candidates is an example of such an observation.
One day a girl complained against me to her father. Her father
brought the matter immediately in front of 'tadvi' (village chief).
The elders of the village punished me to work free in the field
of girl's father for three months. Besides, my father had to give
RS. 1000 to the father of the girl and had to offer a community
dinner too. At home my father caned me. I had done wrong and I
received punishment now there was no question of guilt or shame.
I suffered from shame while working in the field of the father of
the girl. Friends made fun of me, but when punishment time was

TABLE 3
When Do They Suffer From Guilt (in%)
S. No. Situation Tribal Non-tribal

Always Sometimes Never Always Sometimes Never

1 Facing 3 57 40 18 72 10
the victim
2 Admitting/ 70 25 5 85 15
Discussing
130
finished every thing was over. In future if I repeat my action elders
are free to punish me. If I will have money I will do any thing I
like and suppose if I caught I would like to give money to girl's
father instead of working in his field".

This participant had taken punishment as justification of his

action. Another tribal candidate narrated his case like this:
My friend's daughter was a lovely child. One day I abused her
and told her not to tell about that to any body otherwise I would
sacrifice her in front of the village deity. The child was scared and
she did not tell about this incident to any body. She was the student
of class seven and had taken her annual examination. Next day her
result was declared and she secured first position in her class. She
was the first girl child of my village who had studied up to this
level. All were happy but I was able to see sorrow and fear all over
her face. Her mother told her to seek my blessing touching my feet.
Her mother also told her that I was just like a father to her because
her father was only one year elder than me. The girl obeyed her
mother but I was ashamed of me. I was not ·like a father to her I
was a criminal I thought. I started keeping myself away from the
child and never met her when she was alone. But even today on
some occasions that incident haunts me.

This participant escaped punishment but suffered from guilt by

evaluating his own action. It seems that moral education may
help in solving the problem of offence in a more sufficient way.
It was found that barring some exception all most all the tribal
offenders were punished for their deeds. Tribal people, whether
they were the family members of the girl or were the society
members, did not doubt the claim made by the girl and took
action. The offenders had to give money to the father of the girl
or had to work free for her father or had to face a social boycott
for a few months.
But in non-tribal society, it was noticed that when the parents
of the girl came to know about such incidents they did not find
the courage to talk to the boy or to his parents. They tried to hide
it, saying, "Who will believe that my daughter was innocent?"
or "How will I prove it?" If the boy was caught red handed
the men of the girl's family gave a substantial beating to the
offender. It was also noticed that if it was a case of incest the
elders of the family tried to handle the situation on their own
and many times a boy was left unpunished. Only in some cases
did the parents of the offenders make them busy undertaking
some positive work. A few educated parents believing that
making their offender sons busy would reduce the sexual feeling
of them and would help in enhancing self control, engaged their
 131

sons in some positive work. It was also noticed that many of the
offenders were left alone after minor scolding from their parents.
One of the participants put his case in this way:
I was unemployed and was in stress. My cousin was very beautiful.
One day I abused her. She told her mother and when her mother
asked me I lied. I was unable to control my feelings towards her
and abused her again. She told her mother again. Her mother told
it about to my mother. My mother did not believe that I could do
any thing wrong with my own cousin and said that there would
be some misunderstanding. Instead of me both of them scolded my
cousin. I was happy that none of them said any thing to me but my
mother's word that her son can do wrong with his cousin brought
tears in my eyes. My mother had so much faith in me. After one
week the festival of 'Rakhi' came (Rakhi is festival of brothers and
sisters. In this festival a sister ties colourful thread around the wrist
of her brother and pray for his long life. In tum a brother makes
a promise that he will protect his sister from all the evils). My
mother told my cousin to tie Rakhi on my wrist. She was calm
and quiet but I was able to see hatred for me in her eyes. I recalled
that last during this festival my cousin and I were in festive mood
but this year the situation was different. I thought I was not the
right person to receive Rakhi from her. Instead of protecting her I
had created trouble for her. I was ashamed of me. I said sorry to
her for my deeds and promised that I would not any wrong with
her again. I started spending more time in reading books and with
my friends. Four years are over. I kept my promise. But even today
when she calls me 'bhaiya' (elder brother) some thing happens to
me and I got ashamed.

It was noticed that whether the offenders suffered from guilt

feeling or not, the majority of them accepted that they found
it humiliating when they had to accept it or discuss the matter
with others (see Table 4). On some occasion they felt ashamed
facing the victims.

Table4

Information from Whom (in %)

S.No. Source Tribal Non-tribal

1 Friends 82 60
2 Sex Manuals 3 38
3 Others 15 02
4 Parents
132

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Young sexual offenders who blame others for their offensive

behaviour also argue that it is wrong to blame only the offender
and not the others. When they claim that, it is wrong to blame
only the sexual offenders for their misbehaviours, one finds it
difficult to argue with them. Analysis of different case studies
makes it clear that child maltreatment (emotional, physical and
sexual abuse as well as emotional and physical neglect) poses a
significant risk of making a child sexual offender. An emotionally
disturbed child finds it difficult to control his action. Mangal
concludes that the needs related with psychological and biological
satisfaction leads a child to be trapped in sexual offence as and
when he finds an opportunity to do so (Mangal 1989).
In this study, we have seen that a number of participants
always claimed that though they knew what they were doing
was wrong they were unable to control themselves. In the grip
of sexual impulses they did what they were not supposed to
do. Impulsivity is an unplanned reaction to stimulus without
thinking of the consequences (Moller et al. 2001) and it in the
cases of these offenders this is what occurred. But at the other
hand, it was also found that the fear of punishment compelled
many boys to control their behaviour and impulses. It was
noticed that many young boys continued to offend girls because
they were not sufficiently penalized for their previous act. On the
other hand it was also found that in some cases the punishment
brought negative results as the offenders took the punishment
as justification of their action. After offending, many of them
suffered from guilt feelings and tried to control themselves
by their own effort of keeping themselves busy in some
positive work such as playing with friends and reading good
books.
It was noticed during investigation that when the parents
came to know that the boys were after their daughters they
wanted to protect their girls in very unpractical ways. Instead of
taking action against the boys, they restricted the movements of
the girls and compelled them to live at home. The action taken
by the girls' parents was harmful for both the offenders and the
girls. The offenders remained unpunished and the girls lost the
opportunities of self development. Acts of sexual offence can,
therefore, be seen as attacks on the fabric of the society just as
much as they are crimes against a particular person. It seems
that it would have been better if the elders had arranged for
proper supervision and emotional support for the offenders.
 133

They should have diverted the energy of boys towards positive

work when they knew about their offensive behaviour.
It seems some punishment, moral education and adequate
parental control would bring positive results. Punishment de-
velops fear for the action whereas moral education develops self
regulatory capacities. Bandura says that by arranging environ-
mental inducements, generating cognitive support, and imposing
consequences for their own action, people are able to exercise
some measure of control over their own behaviour (Bandura
1977). The causes of this type of sexual offence are complex and
clearly future research is required to begin adequately address
how to respond this grave social issue.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude towards

Dr. Matthew Piscioneri of the Arts Learning Support Unit,
Monash University, Clayton Campus, Australia, who helped me
throughout in writing this article and editing it patiently.

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