Accounts, excuses and apologies of juvenile sexual offenders in selected prisons in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Indeed, appreciable number of researches has been conducted to facilitate relevant insights about the aetiology of child sexual offending in Nigeria; however, the understanding of the origins and causes of sexually abusive behaviour perpetrated against minors in the country remains rudimentary. This present study examined the psychosocial and psychosexual histories of offenders and presented the accounts, excuses and apologies of child sexual offenders. Drawing on the Integrated Theory of Sexual Offending (ITSO), explanations of adults’ sexual attraction towards the underage, mode of operation and events leading to sexual abuse of the children were investigated. Qualitative analysis of official demographic and offence history data, and in-depth interviews of 29 purposively selected offenders in Ikoyi, Kirikiri Medium and Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, Lagos revealed that a combination of developmental experiences, biological processes, cultural norms, emotional arrest, psychological vulnerability, and sociological inadequacies are responsible for onset of abusive behaviour towards children. The excuses of the offenders for their abusive behaviour hinged on unfulfilled sexual needs, drug influence, ignorance of the law, impulse disorder, alcohol, senility, the urge to feel in control and powerful or the identification with young children as a result of arrested emotional development. The study concludes that the factors that accounts for child sexual abuse in Nigeria are multidimensional, hence, singular factorial theories may fail to effectively expose the aetiology of sexual abuse of the underage in the country. There is need for concerted efforts to be directed towards addressing the problem of objectification and sexual violence against children in the country.

Keywords: Accounts, Apologies, Excuses, Child Sexual Abuse, Juvenile Sex Offenders