Personal Attitudes of Young Men Prosecuted for Commission of Sexual Offences

Abstract

The problem of attitudes of a person who commits sexual crimes is of particular interest to personality psychology, since it does not contain open destructions and signs of personality disorders. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the installation and semantic determinants in young men brought to criminal responsibility for committing sexual crimes. Personality attitudes are stable psychological processes that cause not only stable, but also reactive behavioral reactions. The attitudes associated with values and meanings and laid down in adolescence are guiding in relation to oneself and others. The research presents data demonstrating the semantic determinants of young men convicted of sexual crimes undergoing the procedure of clinical and psychological examination. A qualitative analysis showed that young men accused of committing sexual assaults are already initially inclined to interpret the gestures of their communication partner as more aggressive than their own. The leading attitude that the partner is more active and initiative in communication and that they are responsible for the emergence of problems and conflicts, creates the basis for a hostile perception against the background of the value of “friendly relationship.” The results of the study allow to conclude that one’s own destructiveness acts as an attempt to resist the pressure of a partner, no matter who they are (male or female). The low level of their own communication activity, suspicion are the basis of the attitude to transfer responsibility for interaction to the communication partner.