The principal objective of this study was to examine the proposition, advanced by several authorities, that the views, attitudes and beliefs of the public concerning the sex offender and his offense are characterized by fallacy, stereotype and misconception. That the approach to the problem of the sex offense has been and continues to be primarily legislative is a fact that can be demonstrated; and that legislation reflects and is influenced by public attitudes and beliefs is a premise that can be supported. Hence the accuracy or inaccuracy of these public attitudes and beliefs will have a bearing on the legislation enacted. Yet no systematic study could be discovered by the researchers either validating or invalidating the proposition as stated. It was to this end that the project was undertaken. The method of approach was to establish some factual baseline data about sex offenders and to examine the assumptions of the public about this data. Difficulties in defining both populations, the sex offenders and the public, were met by limiting the former to those individuals admitted to the sex offender program at Oregon State Hospital under any of the provisions of Oregon's "Sexually Dangerous” law, ORS 42.6, and the latter to the first-year graduate social work students at Portland State University. The problem of distinguishing fact from fallacy was handled by limiting the data to recorded and verifiable information drawn from case records. These necessary limitations resulted in the reduction of the above-described proposition to the much narrow hypothesis that beginning social work students at Portland State University will make inaccurate assumptions about the characteristics of the sex offender population at Oregon State Hospital. Although this reduction resulted in some loss of primary value, other secondary gains realized from the study as designed include the compilation of data on a population not heretofore studied and the communication of knowledge and stimulation of interest in areas where knowledge is lacking. This latter factor is of particular importance when the nature of the respondent population is taken into account--they are not only members of the legislation-influencing public, they are future professionals who will be in a position to bring other approaches to bear on the problem of the sex offender and his offense. Procedure consisted of the gathering and tabulation of factual data from the case records of 79 offenders and the use of this information as the basis for construction of a questionnaire-type instrument for assessing the accuracy of the assumptions of the respondents concerning the characteristics of the offender, his offense and his victim(s). The instrument also included 12 statements of attitude claimed to be common misconceptions held by the lay public concerning sex offenders. The most significant finding of the study was that the exploratory hypothesis was not supported. The respondents made fewer inaccurate than accurate assumptions about the sex offender population at Oregon State Hospital. Moreover, they disagreed with 10 out of the 12 attitudinal statements. It is not concluded on the basis of this finding, however, that the initial proposition is therefore invalidated. The atypical character of both populations and the gross nature of the methodology employed preclude such a verdict. On the other hand, it is felt that the secondary benefits have been realized; and that, furthermore, the study represents a meaningful addition to the store of knowledge both about the sex offender and his offense and about public attitudes toward them.

This project was conceived at the Psychiatric Security Unit of Oregon State Hospital in 1968-69. The purpose of the study-was to develop a fund of knowledge concerning the Oregon "sexually dangerous" and to emphasize those elements of the subject which require more sophisticated research. It was undertaken with the hope that the information provided would prove of value to the professional and layman in their understanding of sexual offenses against children. The study plan, designed around an investigation of sexual offender characteristics, was submitted to the administrator of Oregon State Hospital, and permission was granted to examine clinical histories of the 81 sexual offenders who had been committed under Oregon Sexual Psychopath Statutes from September 1963, to May 1969. The study design was exploratory and descriptive. Exploratory elements were reflected in the effort to increase the student's familiarity with the subject of child molestation. Description was directed toward a presentation of data in succinct form which would be suitable to later refinement. A schedule of items was developed which included three main areas of inquiry: characteristics of (1) the offender, (2) the victim, (3) the offense. Appropriate sub-items rounded out the instrument. No explicit hypotheses were posed; however, two underlying guiding hypotheses were implicit: (1) Oregon offenders would be similar to other sexual offenders; (2) the traditional view of sexual offenders is unsupported by scientific investigation. Data was compiled over a three - month period and statistics were recorded in tabular form. A breakdown of offender types was employed for clarity. Findings related to the offender indicated a bi-modal distribution of age with the greatest number in the 20 - 29 age class interval and a rather high percentage over 50. All were white males and as many were married as were single. Their educational level was slightly lower than the general population and most did manual work. Social and employment adjustment was manifestly poor. Their psychiatric condition at the time of the current commitment included disorders of the personality for the most part. Many of the offenders had been, discharged at the time of the study; however, there were a substantial number of long-term cases continuing. Victims were predominantly in the 8 ~ 11 age class interval which is comparable with similar studies., The Oregon group .involved higher number of multiple victims than is usually found However, offender-victim relationship was comparable to most offender samples. The concept that a stranger plays a minor role in sexual offenses was not clearly supported by the study. Offenders were not particularly recidivistic prior to the current offense, and none have repeated f0llowing discharge. Contrary to the notion of violent threatening behavior on the part of the offender, findings indicated a very low frequency/with most acts consisting of immature sexual gratification. Victim behavior was not often resistive, mostly consensual, and occasionally inviting. Offenses occurred most frequently in a residence. Duration of the offense was more often single occurrence except in the incest group. Intoxication was present in a minority of offenses but played a major role in certain types of offense. Implications for further research suggest the need for additional empirical studies which will explore the interrelated factors among characteristic items and experimental studies designed to assess the effectiveness of treatment methods.

College is usually thought of as a time where students, often living alone for their first time, are encouraged towards healthy risk-taking behavior, as well as social, intellectual, and vocational development. Unfortunately for female students, college becomes the time of their lives where they are exposed to the highest risk of sexual victimization. Many colleges across America have taken steps to address the significant problem of sexual assault on their campuses. However, even with rising concern about the sexual victimization of college students, there remains very little systematic information published about the content of sexual assault policies, protocols and programs that exist on college campuses. Focusing on the seven schools of the Oregon University System (OUS), this study sought to examine the schools' sexual assault policies, as well as their prevention and response efforts to sexual assault. Additionally schools' willingness for assistance and training from Oregon Sexual Assault Task Force (OSATF) was also studied. Specifically, official school sexual assault policies were content analysis and secondary survey data gathered by the OSATF was examined. Results demonstrated that, in most cases, policies of the OUS schools were vague in their definitions of what constituted a sexual assault, and lacked the additional information necessary for victims to respond to their sexual victimization. However, Universities also offered various forms of educational opportunities and awareness raising activities. While this proves promising, there is clearly room for improvement. OUS schools also appeared willing to work with the OSATF to improve the delivery of their sexual assault prevention services. The findings of this thesis are important in directing future actions of the OUS when developing and implementing sexual assault response and prevention strategies.