Autores de agressão sexual de crianças e adolescentes: experiências adversas na infância e fatores associados

Abstract

Studies that identify the different profiles of sex offenders against children and adolescents have been more explored in the literature, however, the investigation of their life trajectory remains less observed in the Brazilian population, mainly from the perspective of Bioecological Theory of Human Development. This study aimed to demonstrate possible relationships between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and personal and situational factors in the bioecology of the development of male sex offenders against children and adolescentes (n = 30), who were serving time in prison units located in the mesoregions of the state of Pará. To this aim, a system of categories was built based on the ACE-IQ Test instrument, which defines ACE as potentially traumatic experiences that become a source of chronic stress, with negative outcomes for development at later ages. The results were analyzed from two different stages: the first, quantitative, where the descriptors of the occurrence, frequency and typology of ACE were identified, and a second, quanti-qualitative, in which excerpts from the interviews with sex offenders were inserted into the Software IRAMUTEQ to perform simple and multivariate textual analysis. In this sample, 96.67% of sex offenders reported having experienced at least one subcategory of ACE, while more than half (60%) revealed four or more, with an average of 4.36. Physical abuse was the most reported ACE (70%), being mainly related to the figure of the mother, while the death and/or divorce of parents (56.67%) and substance abuse in the domestic context (53%, 33) were related to the father. About 40% of the participants reported experiences involving sexual abuse, whose reports specified characteristics such as age and bond with the possible perpetrator, while social violence appeared mainly in contexts of ecological transition from childhood to adolescence. It was observed that experiences of death and/or divorce of the parents, emotional neglect and domestic violence in the trajectory of sex offenders in this sample can increase the risk of experiencing sexual abuse in childhood. Participants with higher ACE scores abuse children more frequently and with less need of alcohol or other drugs use. The results reveal the existence of a relationship between the frequency and tipology of ACE and factors related to the commitment of sexual aggression, demonstrating that this is a variable to be considered in the investigation with sex offenders, since the effects of stress resulting from such experiences can manifest both in the short and long term, influencing the future adoption of sexually abusive behaviors. It is suggested that further studies may directly apply the ACE-IQ Test to larger samples, with the realization of a post-test to provide greater reliability to the collected reports.