The Social Construction of Addiction and Sexual Deviancy

192 Pages·2017·0.92 MB·English

The Social Construction of Addiction and Sexual Deviancy:
A Comparative Analysis of the Experts in Policy Debate

Haillie Rose O’Brien

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in the partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the MA in Criminology

Department of Criminology
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Ottawa

© Haillie Rose O’Brien, Ottawa, Canada, 2017
Abstract
Sexual deviancy and addiction are two concepts that have undergone considerable
development in the way in which they are constructed. Since the 1800s both concepts have
come to the attention of the medical field, psychological field and the criminal justice system
which have made numerous attempts to regulate and treat them within these realms. By using
the lens of social construction and Spector and Kitsuse’s theory of social problems, this project
explores how experts describe sexual deviancy and addiction. Important considerations
involving the significance of victims and a victim status emerge from the analysis, as the
differentiating factors between demands for treatment for addiction, while sexual deviancy
experiences an increasingly punitive regime.

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Acknowledgments
First and foremost I would like to thank my supervisor, Bastien Quirion, without
your support and guidance this project would never have come to fruition. I would also like
to thank my family and friends, my own personal cheerleaders, for your encouragement and
ongoing support throughout this process; you have helped keep me sane. Finally, thank you
to my cohort members for your role in supporting me and guiding me through the process. A
special thank you to Paula Hirschmann for your guidance through revisions; it was greatly
appreciated. I would also like to thank David Joubert and Christine Gervais for their
feedback and evaluation.

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Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iii
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1 Literature Review ......................................................................................... 6
1.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 7
1.2 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION ...................................................................................... 7
1.3 WHAT IS ADDICTION? ........................................................................................... 9
1.4 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CONCEPT OF ADDICTION .............. 10
1.4.1 Nineteenth Century-Post World War I ................................................................... 10
1.4.2 Post World War I ................................................................................................... 15
1.4.2.1 Biological-Genetic .............................................................................................. 15
1.4.2.2 Moral/Spiritual .................................................................................................... 18
1.4.2.3 Psychological ...................................................................................................... 20
1.4.2.4 Sociological ......................................................................................................... 22
1.5 WHAT IS SEXUAL DEVIANCY? .......................................................................... 24
1.6 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SEXUAL DEVIANCY ................................. 26
1.6.1 Archaic Period-Beginning of the Nineteenth Century ........................................... 26
1.6.2 Nineteenth Century-1930 ....................................................................................... 28
1.6.3 Post World War II- Present ................................................................................... 29
1.6.3.1 Psychological ...................................................................................................... 29
1.6.3.2 Sociological ......................................................................................................... 33
1.6.3.3 Biological ............................................................................................................ 38
1.7 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 39
Chapter 2- Theoretical Framework ............................................................................ 41
2.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 42
2.2 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION .................................................................................... 44
2.3 SOCIAL PROBLEM ANALYSIS ........................................................................... 46
2.3.1 Functional and Value-conflict Analysis of Social Problems ................................. 46
2.3.2 Social Problems as an Activity/Process ................................................................. 48
2.3.3 Providing Solutions to Social Problems ................................................................ 51
2.4 CRITIQUE OF THE SEPARATION OF ROLES ................................................... 54
2.4.1 Therapeutic Professionals as Part of the Solution ................................................ 55
2.4.2 Therapeutic Professionals as Experts and Claims-makers ................................... 55
2.4.3 Why is this problematic? ........................................................................................ 56
2.5 IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL CONTEXT, VALUES, AND BELIEFS .................. 57
2.6 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 59
Chapter 3- Methods ...................................................................................................... 61
3.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 62
3.2 DATA COLLECTION ............................................................................................. 62
3.3 SAMPLING .............................................................................................................. 63
3.3.1 Sampling Method ................................................................................................... 63
3.3.2 Sample Size ............................................................................................................ 64
3.4 ANALYTICAL METHOD ....................................................................................... 66
3.4.1 Qualitative Content Analysis ................................................................................. 66
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3.4.2 Unit of Analysis ...................................................................................................... 66
3.4.3 Categories of Analysis ........................................................................................... 67
3.4.3.1 What is Sexual Deviancy (Addiction)? ............................................................... 68
3.4.3.2 Can Sexual Deviancy (Addiction) be treated? .................................................... 70
3.4.3.3 What are the Consequences and Risks of Sexual Deviance
(Addiction)? .................................................................................................................... 71
3.4.3.4 How can Sexual Deviancy (Addiction) be regulated? ........................................ 71
3.4.4 Coding Steps .......................................................................................................... 72
3.5 THE WITNESSES .................................................................................................... 74
3.6 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS .............................................................................. 77
3.7 METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS .................................................................. 77
3.8 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 78
Chapter 4- Analysis ...................................................................................................... 79
4.1 LAW ENFORCEMENT ........................................................................................... 80
4.1.1 Explanation ............................................................................................................ 82
4.1.2 Treatment ............................................................................................................... 83
4.1.3 Consequences and Risk .......................................................................................... 86
4.1.4 Regulation .............................................................................................................. 88
4.2 LAWYERS ............................................................................................................... 93
4.2.1 Explanation ............................................................................................................ 93
4.2.2 Consequences and Risks ........................................................................................ 94
4.2.3 Regulation .............................................................................................................. 96
4.3 VICTIM/VICTIM ADVOCATES ............................................................................ 98
4.3.1 Explanation ............................................................................................................ 99
4.3.2 Treatment ............................................................................................................. 100
4.3.3 Consequences and Risks ...................................................................................... 103
4.3.4 Regulation ............................................................................................................ 104
4.4 PUBLIC OFFICIALS ............................................................................................. 109
4.4.1 Explanation .......................................................................................................... 109
4.4.2 Consequences and Risks ...................................................................................... 111
4.4.3 Regulation ............................................................................................................ 111
4.5 TREATMENT PROVIDERS ................................................................................. 112
4.5.1 Explanation .......................................................................................................... 113
4.5.1.1 Sexual Deviancy ................................................................................................ 113
4.5.1.2 Addiction ........................................................................................................... 116
4.5.2 Treatment ............................................................................................................. 123
4.5.3 Consequences and Risk ........................................................................................ 125
4.5.4 Regulation ............................................................................................................ 129
4.6 ACADEMICS/RESEARCHERS ............................................................................ 134
4.6.1 Explanation .......................................................................................................... 135
4.6.2 Treatment ............................................................................................................. 140
4.6.3 Consequences and Risks ...................................................................................... 142
4.6.4 Regulation ............................................................................................................ 148
4.7 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 153
Chapter 5- Discussion ................................................................................................. 156
5.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 157
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5.2 DESCRIPTIONS OF SEXUAL DEVIANCY AND ADDICTION BY
TREATMENT PROVIDERS ....................................................................................... 157
5.2.1 Sexual Deviancy ................................................................................................... 158
5.2.2 Addiction .............................................................................................................. 159
5.3 COMPARISON OF SEXUAL DEVIANCY AND ADDICTION ......................... 161
5.4 DESCRIPTIONS OF SEXUAL DEVIANCY AND ADDICTION BY OTHER
EXPERTS ..................................................................................................................... 163
5.4.1 Law Enforcement ................................................................................................. 163
5.4.2 Victims and Victim Advocates ............................................................................ 164
5.4.3 Treatment Providers ............................................................................................. 165
5.4.4 Lawyers ................................................................................................................ 166
5.4.5 Academics and Researchers ................................................................................. 166
5.5 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 167
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 169
References .................................................................................................................... 178
Appendix A- Names and Titles of Witnesses ............................................................ 183

List of Figures
Figure 3.1 Sample Size by Expert ................................................................................ 65
Figure 3.2 Tables of Categories ................................................................................... 72

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Introduction

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My interest in sexual offenders began during my undergraduate studies in a
criminology class titled Psychological Explanations of Criminal and Deviant Behaviour. The
assignment for this course was to write a research paper based on one of the videos we
watched in class. I chose to write my paper on sexual offenders and gained more knowledge
of the topic including the different explanations of the causes and how it is treated (Terry,
2006). My curiosity grew when I realized that we did not know much about sexual offending
from the point of view of the offenders. Therefore, my original idea for a project was to
interview sexual offenders about their views of themselves and what they felt would be the
best way to help them. However, due to the obstacles I would face as a student, in the form
of gaining access to participants and getting ethics approval, it was advised to not pursue this
type of project at this level. It was suggested to me that it would be easier to have access to
the therapeutic professionals who work with those with sexual deviancies, which provided
the inspiration for this project.
During my final year in my undergraduate degree, I was placed in a practicum, which
led to employment, working with male inmates who were participating in an intensive
addiction program within the prison. While I was facilitating treatment groups, using the
cycle of addiction and relapse prevention method which was developed for the treatment for
addiction, but has since been implanted for sexual deviancy treatment (Polaschek, 2003), I
started to draw connections to the similarities between addiction and sexual deviancy
concerning how they were treated. These similarities included the use of cognitive
behavioural therapy aimed at addressing the risk of relapsing into destructive behaviours
(Polaschek, 2003). Many of the residents in the program would describe their triggers, or
high-risk situations, to be feelings of stress or depression, being around people who were bad
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influences, or feeling isolated. These were all high-risk situations associated with sexual
offenders as well.
When I began to consider the similarities, I also started to notice some significant
differences, particularly in the way addiction and sexual deviancy is regulated. I started to
consider, why are they regulated so differently if they are treated with the same intervention?
For instance, despite those with addiction often becoming habitual offenders (Pratt, 1997),
there is no demand by the public for stricter punishments for them such as those found in the
dangerous offender legislation used for sexual offenders (Petrunik, 2002). The harm
reduction model aimed to reduce the societal and personal harms caused by addiction is not
extended to address sexual deviancy.
The discrepancy between treatment and regulation for these two concepts made me
wonder if their treatment providers had any opinions as to the effectiveness of both treatment
and regulation of sexual deviancy and addiction. This project was initiated in order to
explore how therapeutic experts discuss addiction and sexual deviancy in regards to
treatment and regulation and throughout the process, it was developed further to encompass
all experts and more topics such as consequences and harms.
Originally this project was aimed at only exploring the view of therapeutic experts;
however, it was expanded due to constraints with data collection and to add depth to the
analysis and comparison. The goal of the project was to explore the descriptions and
perspectives of experts from various backgrounds as they discuss sexual deviancy and
addiction. The main assumption guiding this project is that the way in which people (the
public, political officials, and experts) discuss the concepts will have an influence on the
way they are regulated. This project is conducted through the lens of social construction and
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answers the following question: How do therapeutic professionals (as experts) describe the
concepts of addiction and sexual deviancy when submitting evidence to parliament for
policy changes, and how do these descriptions compare to each other, and other experts who
submitted testimony?
To situate the project contextually, the historical background of each concept is
exposed to demonstrate the changing views and explanations of both sexual deviancy and
addiction throughout time. In this first chapter, sexual deviancy and addiction are explored
as concepts from their introduction as a problem to their current understanding. This chapter
examines how context and societal values can change and influence the way in which social
problems are described and regulated.
The second chapter explores the theory of social construction and the social
construction of social problems, which is the theoretical framework that guided this entire
project. Spector and Kitsuse (2001) discuss the idea that social problems are in fact part of a
process in which there are many key players. These key roles include claim-makers, the
audience, and experts. The claim-makers are a group of individuals who have identified what
they believe to be a problem and they begin to campaign to bring awareness to this issue
(Spector and Kitsuse, 2001). These claims-makers are trying to convince their audience,
which could be the public or the government agency they believe should provide a solution
to the problem. The experts are professionals and scientists who the claims-makers mobilize
to legitimize their claim. These experts provide their opinion and support the claims-makers
in their campaign (Spector and Kitsuse, 2001). These experts are the focus of this project.
To answer the question above, it was more effective to take an approach that allowed
the participants to give their own meanings to the concepts being explored and a
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