"Nice people who commit monstrous acts"

From Alternet:

Transforming Fear into Power: The Politicization of Child Sexual Abuse - Politicians trying to gain points are pushing laws to "get tough" on child sexual offenders. But a new movement has a better idea -- work with offenders instead of ostracizing them

For years, CASA's staff had responded to phone inquiries for help from perpetrators, or potential perpetrators, with a quick and cold, "I'm sorry, we don't do that here. Good bye." After... a partnership with... Stop it Now!, a national prevention organization, CASA became more aware of services for perpetrators.

The MA-based Stop it Now! has been working for years to dispel what it considers the dangerous practice of demonizing child sex offenders. "The stark truth is that more often than not, people who sexually abuse children really are 'nice people' who commit monstrous acts," reads one of its monthly newsletters. "Our wish to place them squarely in one camp or the other is perhaps the greatest single barrier that prevents us from recognizing the behaviors that lead to sexual abuse."

CASA's programming more closely reflects the realities of (child sexual abuse): young people under 18 years of age perpetrate 29 percent of assaults; and almost half of the perpetrators were identified as family members, and only 10 percent were strangers... CASA is doing more to counsel families where one child is victim and another child is a perpetrator, a key priority for many who know the issue well...

I am finding this dynamic especially challenging, working with young sex offender clients, taking into account their families, parents and younger siblings in particular.