Introduction
Criminology studies have attempted to answer the question of why people commit crimes. Several theories have been developed in the process focusing on such aspects as behavior and external determinants. Even with these theoretical foundations, crimes remain rampant as law enforcement tries to find the most effective preventive measures. This essay focuses on the crimes of sexual assault in Canada and discusses its current state, facts, and statistics. The law and punishment for these crimes are also discussed. Lastly, a theory is applied to this crime to explain why it occurs.
Sexual assault is a major crime in Canada due to the rates of occurrences and the fact that not many are reported. Statistics indicate that for every 100 incidents, only six are reported to law enforcement. Multiple classifications of sexual assault have been made, including date rape of which only 1-2% are reported. The targeted victims are also diverse, including 17% of girls under the age of 16, 83% of disabled women, and 15% of boys under the age of 16 (Sexual assault statistics in Canada, n.d). The news media is also filled with publications of major crime incidents. For example, an article by Connolly (2021)explains that the country’s military has received over 700 sexual assault reports since 2016. Other cases are more sensitive as they involve renowned people entangled in similar accusations (Kupfer, 2021). Many theories can be used to explain these crimes and potential solutions. The selected theory will be Eysenck’s Theory of Crime and Personality, often discussed in several contexts as personality predictors of crime.
Law and Crime Punishment
In Canada, several laws and codes dictate how sexual crimes are handled and punished. The main legislation is the Criminal Code R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46, where article 271(a) states that sexual assault is punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years for complainants older than 16 years or a minimum of 14 years for complainants below 16 years. Alternatively, section 272(b) indicates punishment for summary conviction of imprisonment of a term not more than 18 months for complaints over 16 years. This law indicates how the crime is punished and fails to show how the crime is determined. Sexual assault, according to this code, also has provisions for sexual assaults with threats to a third party, weapons, or bodily harm to the victim. Sexual crimes under these categories occur when the offender carries, uses, or threatens to use a weapon in committing a sexual assault. Additionally, the offender threatens to cause bodily harm to a person other than the victim, causes harm to the complainant, is a party to the offense with another person, or suffocates, chokes, or strangles the complainant.
The punishment for sexual assault with weapons, threats to a third party, or causing bodily harm has been outlined in Canadian law. Specifically, section 272 specifies a maximum of 14 years and minimums of 5 and 7 for the first case and second or subsequent offenses respectively. Therefore, it can be argued that Canada’s sex assault laws are embedded into the country’s legislative system.
The Criminal Code of Canada and Sexual Assault offers additional insight into the country’s laws regarding sex assault crimes. However, it is important to highlight that these codes are derived from sections 271 and 272 of the Criminal Code. A definition of sexual assault states that any unwanted sexual act done by an individual to another or sexual activity without voluntary agreement or consent constitutes sexual assault. With such a statement, several debates have emerged regarding the notion of consent focusing majorly on how it can be defined and its application both in sexual activity and in prosecution. These debates are often present in the Canadian media often commentating on current sex assault cases. Additionally, several issues and controversies also emerge due to the varied nature of sex assault crimes, which may include sexual violence. In such contexts as sex work, criminalizing laws may have been struck in Canada to offer sex workers freedom (McBride et al., 2020). However, issues of sexual violence and related violations remain sensitive in these environments as their determination by law remains difficult.
Sex assault for sex workers in Canada is an area inadequately covered by the law, a subject that has attracted massive scholarly attention. However, new developments are emerging, including laws dubbed ‘end demand,’ which seek to criminalize clients and third parties from commercial sex. The reasoning behind these laws is that commercial sex work leaves people inherently vulnerable to assault, a situation made worse by inadequate policing (McBride et al., 2020). Additionally, certain population groups are also inherently vulnerable, especially immigrant workers where cases of sexual assault are underreported. Therefore, the law may highlight the punishment for sexual assault but there remain legal deficiencies in the protection of vulnerable groups.
Theoretical Application
Several theories have been developed to explain why certain crimes occur. Even though most of these theories are not discussed in specific contexts, they can be used to explain why many people commit sex offenses. According to Kyle (2016), a sociological lens is one of the most effective approaches to examining sex offenses, especially because they attempt to explain the complex relationships between socio-cultural and psychological factors and their roles in criminal intent. Therefore, Eysenck’s Theory of Crime and Personality holds that that personality is biologically based, including temperaments that cause people to engage in crime. According to (Alcázar-Córcoles et al., 2017), Eysenck developed a model where personality was categorized into extraversion, neuroticism, and psychopathy. Today, this is known as Eysenck’s PEN model, from which a personality questionnaire can be developed. The indicators of offending include high extraversion, high neuroticism, and high psychopathy. However, more recent studies indicate that these indicators largely hold when psychopathy is termed psychoticism as in the original theory of Eysenck. Regardless of these theoretical provisions, it is apparent that personality traits are effective indicators of intent to commit a crime.
Violent personalities and other personality disorders are the main reason why crimes occur, including sex crimes. The concept of psychopathy is the most important construct from Eysenck’s Theory of Crime and Personality. The argument is that many studies have based their criminology subjects on this notion, including personality disorders. Johnson (2019) discusses several personality disorders, including antisocial, narcissistic, borderline, and Schizoid. As a criminology theory on its own, antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) has robust associations with crime and violence.
In the context of sexual assault, ASPD would be highly linked with cases of sexual assault with weapons, threats to a third party, or causing bodily harm. Even though these relationships are not expressly stated, inferences remain possible because of the nature of both the personality and crime. ASPD is often the result of extreme childhood experiences causing people to fail to conform to social norms and respect lawful behaviors. Therefore, the offenders suffering from ASPD will display such characteristics as impulsivity, deceitfulness, aggressiveness, lack of remorse, and irritability (DeLisi et al., 2019). Violent sexual offenders can be perceived to possess similar characteristics where the pain and suffering of the victims do not deter them from committing the assaults. Additionally, irritability and aggressiveness may also prompt offenders to commit sexual assault even when such intentions are not pre-meditated. Therefore, ASPD is both a predictor and risk factor for violent sex assault crimes.
The PEN model states that criminals display high scores in all three personality dimensions. High scores of extraversion reflect individuals whose characteristics include being socially active, adventurous, talkative, and desire for new experiences (Simane-Vigante et al., 2018). On the contrary, low extraversion scores indicate low levels of arousal, which require more environmental stimulation. People with high neuroticism often suffer from more depression and anxiety, which makes them more emotionally unstable. They also tend to react more to unfavorable stimuli, as opposed to low neuroticism where people do not overreact to environmental stimuli. Lastly, high psychoticism indicates people who are egocentric, aggressive, and antisocial. Therefore, a combination of high scores of the PEN elements means that the individuals will most likely engage in crime and deviant behavior.
The links between the PEN model and criminal activity often touch on socialization. This is because the theory suggests that criminal behavior is a delay in development. The argument given by Simane-Vigante et al. (2018) is that criminal behavior is selfish, opposite to socialization, and seeks instant gratification. Considering the definition of sexual assault where the value of consent is emphasized, sex offenders can be perceived as people who do not seek or wait for consent from their victims. Antisocial behavior and the search for instant gratification indicate that the offenders do not observe any social norms regarding matters of sex. Selfishness and inconsideration for the interests of society can be attributed to the personalities of the individuals. Therefore, Eysenck’s Theory of Crime and Personality can be used to explain sex assault crimes using the biological foundations surrounding the personalities.
Conclusion
Sex assault crimes are rampant in Canada as is the case in many countries across the world. Sex assault has been described as the act of engaging in sexual activity through force or without the consent of the other person. In Canada, facts show that only very few cases are reported, which means that most of the sexual offenses remain unnoticed. The laws and punishments for these crimes have been discussed, majorly focusing on the criminal code R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46, sections 271 and 272. Minimum and maximum imprisonment for sex offenses and sex offenses with weapons, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm have also been provided. However, the deficiency of Canada’s laws in protecting such vulnerable groups as immigrant women workers has been highlighted. Lastly, Eysenck’s Theory of Crime and Personality has been used to explain why sexual assault crimes occur where the discussion has been centered around the PEN model.
References
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