Framing in the Making: The Evolution of Sex Offender Motivation in Sierra Leone. (March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bensel, Tusty ten
• Is Part Of: International criminal justice review. Volume 24:Number 1(2014:Mar.)
• Page Start: 59
• Page End: 81
• Publication Date: 2014-03
• Subjects: South Africa -- comparative crime/justice -- criminal organizations/gangs -- criminal victimization -- qualitative methods -- sex crimes; Crime -- Periodicals; Criminal justice, Administration of -- Periodicals; 364
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567714524775
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1057-5677

Abstract

Previous research on sexual violence has focused on individual-level behaviors that typically include a single victim in an isolated event. Criminologists have failed to examine sexual violence as a group-level phenomenon, which is often exhibited during war. For this study, case study methodology was used to analyze court transcripts from the United Nations, detailing the conflict of Sierra Leone. By utilizing the framing perspective, the purpose of this study was to determine the nature of sexual violence during war, focusing specifically on whether the evolution of sex offending motivations changes overtime. A better understanding of how sex offending becomes a group behavior will expand the current literature on collective and sexual violence, identify preconflict indicators of collective sexual violence, and provide strategies for postconflict mediations in warring countries.