Crenças disfuncionais e pensamentos distorcidos em autores de violência sexual

Abstract

Child Sexual Violence (CSV) is a multicausal phenomenon located in various sociocultural contexts and as a universal problem is a social concern, because it involves people in developmental conditions, is usually practiced by people known and affectionately linked to the child, both in the family and extra-familial context. This work aimed to investigate dysfunctional beliefs and distorted thoughts in perpetrators of sexual violence (SAV), in order to seek relationships between these constructs and SAV. This was an empirical research, mediated by videoconference, descriptive, quantitative and cross-sectional, with 41 men, During the research, a structured interview, Socioeconomic Questionnaire, Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire and Beliefs and Personality Disorders Questionnaire were used. The research revealed a majority of men in the FHS group (n=30) with a mean age of 41.5 (SD=8.3), low socioeconomic level, incomplete elementary school education, workers from different sectors of the urban area, with no apparent history of psychiatric disorders, who had experienced several forms of abuse and violence in their childhood, who recognize themselves as guilty of the violence committed, although they deny attraction or sexual fantasy for children. The Extrafamilial SAV group (n=11) consisted of men with a mean age of 43 years SD = (10.4), low socioeconomic level, incomplete high school education, workers from various professional segments, from the urban area, with a history of alcohol and/or drug abuse, who denied the committed offense, however, assumed sexual attraction/fantasy for children, the victims were predominantly girls, between the age range of six and twelve years, the Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire identified low levels in both groups for the general distortions. "Should statements", "What if", "personhood" and "predicting the future" were the ones that stood out, while the Personality Beliefs and Disorders Questionnaire identified as the main dysfunctional beliefs in intrafamilial AVS; "I cannot fail", "The other is bad" and "I prefer to be alone", in Extrafamilial AVS; "I cannot stand unpleasant feelings", "I am fragile and incapable" and "I cannot fail". Such beliefs suggest that they underlie some behavioral patterns commonly found in this population, insecurity in interpersonal relationships and intimacy, lack of empathy for the victim, need to control the other, resistance to conform to socially established standards and behaviors. When the groups were compared, using the statistical analysis by Mann Whitney's U test, it was found that there were no significant differences between them with regard to dysfunctional beliefs and Cognitive Distortions. Only the belief "the bad Other" was found to be more present in intrafamilial AVS. We conclude that the results broadened our knowledge about the constructs investigated in this population; however, they were not conclusive due to the limitation of the instruments used and the complexity of the phenomena studied. It is important that further research be carried out using complementary methodologies and the validation of international instruments for our reality.