Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil.
The sexual molestation of children is one of the most pressing problems of our times. Considering that as many as one in every four girls, and one in every ten boys are sexually victimized as children, the sexual molestation of children seems to be a common occurrence. Child sexual abuse results in emotional symptoms such as depression, low self esteem, sexual disfunction, impaired health, eating disorders and other emotional disturbances. The vast number of children being subjected to sexual molestation, as well as the cost in terms of human suffering, necessitates studies that focus on determining why certain individuals violate sexual boundaries with children.
Mainstream theories and research to date only focus on the conscious functioning of men who sexually molest children. The focus is therefore only on the description of the outward manifestation of symptoms. Research to date does not succeed in describing the mechanisms or processes that culminate in the sexual molestation of children. This study represents a first step in addressing this void in the body of knowledge pertaining to men who sexually molest children. By means of a method of analysis, namely Medical Hypnoanalysis, the subconscious thought patterns of two males, which culminated in the molestation of children, were revealed, described and explained.
The problem statement and purpose of the study, namely to reveal, describe and explain the dynamic development and course of the subconscious thought patterns which eventually culminated in the molestation of children, inspired a qualitative multiple case study as a research design. After an in-depth analysis of each individual case, the dynamic development and course of the subconscious thought patterns of the two cases were integrated with each other by means of a cross case analysis. The cross case analysis enabled the researcher to develop detailed explanations, better insight and theories pertaining to the subconscious thought patterns underlying the sexual molestation of children. The cross case analysis was integrated with the theory of Medical Hypnoanalysis to form a general psychological structure consisting of the dynamic development and course of the subconscious thought patterns of men who molest children. The general psychological structure was subsequently integrated with previous literature, which allowed for the development of new theory.
This study has found that the absence of love, which was experienced since the prenatal period, and intensified throughout, resulted in the perception of worthlessness. The absence of love led to an insecurity with regards to the self and a feeling of spiritual emptiness, a death-like feeling. Without love a person cannot survive; without love life is just not worthwhile. The subconscious mind is genetically programmed to survive, and is therefore compelled to engineer ways to establish survival. For various reasons, sexual interaction became the proof to the two molesters in this study that they were loved, that they were worthy, and thus alive. Sexual interaction was therefore the way in which survival was established. For both molesters, sexual interaction developed into a compulsion. Their emotional and spiritual survival were threatened whenever they were deprived of sexual interaction. This led to severe anxiety, which was provided by the subconscious mind in order to compel the men to have sexual interaction, and survive. It is this compulsion, together with the fact that both respondents’ emotional development was arrested at an earlier age, which led to the sexual molestation of children. The study was concluded with recommendations to psychologists on how to treat men who molest children.