Sexual behavior and laws
All living creatures reproduce. Many creatures reproduce without direct contact with each other or at least without a physical act having to take place. Plants may have an intermediary such as the bee or a bird. Many creatures enjoy intimate sexual connections without regard for reproduction or even gender. Only humans seem to have a plethora of rules about sexual contact although, to be fair, some creatures are programmed to limit sexual contact. There are a few creatures which are programmed to die after sex and/or feeding their young. Some, such as the eel, have managed to keep their sex lives secret even from research scientists. We humans are sexual from birth although puberty does not arrive until age 9 to 14. Our desire to physically connect and to experience a release is clearly not limited to the need for procreation.
Us humans seem both obsessed with and frightened of our sexual desires. There was a time in human history when many groups had a relaxed attitude towards sexual interaction while maintaining a deep respect the right to not be forced to have unwanted sexual connections or any physical contact and were committed to community responsibility for child rearing. There were those who believed that males had a limited number of sperm and, thus, given the rate of deaths during childbirth, same sex behavior and masturbation was prohibited. Once microscopes and other scientific instruments were invented the abundance of male sperm for most males was discovered. Yet, the same lies about masturbation and same sex behavior was promoted; often by religious groups.
Age of consent for sexual behavior has varied and continues to be different in various states of the United States and in various countries. Some states have complicated rules proscribing when teenager can legally have sex with each other.
Many factors affect what rules are in effect regarding sexual behavior. These include:
· Ability to give consent including age, mental/impaired state.
· Attitudes and beliefs of adults responsible for/guardians for those who are not of legal age to decide.
· Personal belief systems and the extent to which politicians and religious leaders can impose their beliefs/fears on the community at large.
· Power relationships and the beliefs about how long the dynamics of those power relationships last. For example, some professional health care organizations and academic organization have a rule that a professional always has dominant power position even if 5, 20 or 50 years have passed. Other specify a time period following the structured professional relationship.
· Personal likes or dislikes of politicians and other community leaders. In most states of the United States sex for pay is illegal but in Nevada there are licensed sex workers, In some states or communities sex clubs are quietly tolerated.
· Views about where and when one can engage in sexual activity or view pornography. In the United States one can be arrested and put on a sexual offenders lists for watching what is defined as child pornography. This might include watching any pornography involving pre and post pubescent children.
· Sexual contact which is physically forced or sex which is cohered in any manner - physical force, date rate pills, being drunk, or power inequity.
· Sexual contact with an underage person who lied about their age.
A few facts:
· Depending on what one reads, 90% or more of forced sexual relationships are with a family member or other known person.
· While it may be true that if there were no viewers there would be no child pornography the fact that it is such a huge financially successful business means that something is at the root of this attraction and/or definition of child pornography. Us humans seems very fond of viewing symptoms and not looking for root causes.
· The definition of child or consent varies from state to state and country to country.No one consciously or intentionally has a compulsive need to sexually be attracted to or use very young children and infants. The primary diagnosis is mental illness and not criminal behavior.
· Some cultures successfully honor the sexual nature of children and develop safe, proscribed rituals to honor those feelings.
· The United States publicly uses reference to sex and sexual fantasies to sell food, autos and ,any other products in this culture.
· We design, create and purchase clothes which deliberately sexualize young children and adults.
· Sexual addiction is not primarily about sex although it affects people sexually. It is about addiction and needs to be treated as such. Addiction to pornography and other sexual behavior can be successfully treated although we are in early stages of the treatment of all forms of addictive behavior.
· With over a million people on the sexual offenders lists in the United States and billions more buying and watching all forms of pornography we need to identify what is truly harmful as well as the etiology of the widespread, worldwide attraction to what is broadly defined as child pornography.
· Current sexual offender laws do not distinguish between behavior which is truly dangerous and that which one may dislike or disagree.An extremely large percentage of those on the sexual offenders list pose no danger to anyone in the community.
· Treating people as pariahs/throwaways has not proven to decrease dysfunction or undesirable behavioral.
The results of the few studies which have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the sex offender laws and registry indicate that they do reduce recidivism rate or if they do it may be by a very small percentage. It is difficult to evaluate the studies because I could not locate studies which whose algorithms differentiated type of offenses and other factors.
As near as I can determine, the annual cost of maintaining a sexual offender registry (may only be a fraction of the total cost to locate, prosecute, punish, and monitor) has not been widely studied and/or published. The figures I did find approximated at least a billion a year.
The obvious conclusion is the emotional, public safely, financial and moral cost of our current policies and practices regarding what is labeled and treated as illegal and/or immoral sexual behavior needs to be examined from the scientific perspective of what sexual behavior is harmful to individuals and the community at large.
Written June 9, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
All living creatures reproduce. Many creatures reproduce without direct contact with each other or at least without a physical act having to take place. Plants may have an intermediary such as the bee or a bird. Many creatures enjoy intimate sexual connections without regard for reproduction or even gender. Only humans seem to have a plethora of rules about sexual contact although, to be fair, some creatures are programmed to limit sexual contact. There are a few creatures which are programmed to die after sex and/or feeding their young. Some, such as the eel, have managed to keep their sex lives secret even from research scientists. We humans are sexual from birth although puberty does not arrive until age 9 to 14. Our desire to physically connect and to experience a release is clearly not limited to the need for procreation.
Us humans seem both obsessed with and frightened of our sexual desires. There was a time in human history when many groups had a relaxed attitude towards sexual interaction while maintaining a deep respect the right to not be forced to have unwanted sexual connections or any physical contact and were committed to community responsibility for child rearing. There were those who believed that males had a limited number of sperm and, thus, given the rate of deaths during childbirth, same sex behavior and masturbation was prohibited. Once microscopes and other scientific instruments were invented the abundance of male sperm for most males was discovered. Yet, the same lies about masturbation and same sex behavior was promoted; often by religious groups.
Age of consent for sexual behavior has varied and continues to be different in various states of the United States and in various countries. Some states have complicated rules proscribing when teenager can legally have sex with each other.
Many factors affect what rules are in effect regarding sexual behavior. These include:
· Ability to give consent including age, mental/impaired state.
· Attitudes and beliefs of adults responsible for/guardians for those who are not of legal age to decide.
· Personal belief systems and the extent to which politicians and religious leaders can impose their beliefs/fears on the community at large.
· Power relationships and the beliefs about how long the dynamics of those power relationships last. For example, some professional health care organizations and academic organization have a rule that a professional always has dominant power position even if 5, 20 or 50 years have passed. Other specify a time period following the structured professional relationship.
· Personal likes or dislikes of politicians and other community leaders. In most states of the United States sex for pay is illegal but in Nevada there are licensed sex workers, In some states or communities sex clubs are quietly tolerated.
· Views about where and when one can engage in sexual activity or view pornography. In the United States one can be arrested and put on a sexual offenders lists for watching what is defined as child pornography. This might include watching any pornography involving pre and post pubescent children.
· Sexual contact which is physically forced or sex which is cohered in any manner - physical force, date rate pills, being drunk, or power inequity.
· Sexual contact with an underage person who lied about their age.
A few facts:
· Depending on what one reads, 90% or more of forced sexual relationships are with a family member or other known person.
· While it may be true that if there were no viewers there would be no child pornography the fact that it is such a huge financially successful business means that something is at the root of this attraction and/or definition of child pornography. Us humans seems very fond of viewing symptoms and not looking for root causes.
· The definition of child or consent varies from state to state and country to country.No one consciously or intentionally has a compulsive need to sexually be attracted to or use very young children and infants. The primary diagnosis is mental illness and not criminal behavior.
· Some cultures successfully honor the sexual nature of children and develop safe, proscribed rituals to honor those feelings.
· The United States publicly uses reference to sex and sexual fantasies to sell food, autos and ,any other products in this culture.
· We design, create and purchase clothes which deliberately sexualize young children and adults.
· Sexual addiction is not primarily about sex although it affects people sexually. It is about addiction and needs to be treated as such. Addiction to pornography and other sexual behavior can be successfully treated although we are in early stages of the treatment of all forms of addictive behavior.
· With over a million people on the sexual offenders lists in the United States and billions more buying and watching all forms of pornography we need to identify what is truly harmful as well as the etiology of the widespread, worldwide attraction to what is broadly defined as child pornography.
· Current sexual offender laws do not distinguish between behavior which is truly dangerous and that which one may dislike or disagree.An extremely large percentage of those on the sexual offenders list pose no danger to anyone in the community.
· Treating people as pariahs/throwaways has not proven to decrease dysfunction or undesirable behavioral.
The results of the few studies which have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the sex offender laws and registry indicate that they do reduce recidivism rate or if they do it may be by a very small percentage. It is difficult to evaluate the studies because I could not locate studies which whose algorithms differentiated type of offenses and other factors.
As near as I can determine, the annual cost of maintaining a sexual offender registry (may only be a fraction of the total cost to locate, prosecute, punish, and monitor) has not been widely studied and/or published. The figures I did find approximated at least a billion a year.
The obvious conclusion is the emotional, public safely, financial and moral cost of our current policies and practices regarding what is labeled and treated as illegal and/or immoral sexual behavior needs to be examined from the scientific perspective of what sexual behavior is harmful to individuals and the community at large.
Written June 9, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
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