Dark Dreams

by Roy Hazelwood

Any purported explanation for why an individual commits sexual violence is incomplete if it ignores the most important variable, the criminal himself. Each person is a unique product of nature and nurture, genetic destiny, and environmental influences. What has a great impact on one person may have no effect at all on another. So while a number of factors seem to contribute to the genesis of a sexual offender, no single element is the cause of deviant behavior.

I’m confident that no single factor of any sort will ever suffice to explain the millions of variations that occur among individuals. No two people are alike, and the factors that combine to cause people to turn to violence—especially sexual violence—will always be unique.

The rapist uses sex as a tool of aggression. The sexual assault is an assertion of power or an expression of anger, or it may be a combination of the two. In any event, sexual assault primarily serves nonsexual needs.

I realized that it isn’t race but socioeconomic and cultural influences that determine these behaviors.

Both are likely to commit incest with their natural children and will molest stepchildren or other minor relatives.

You can move a lot of garbage across the bridge of love: alcoholism, infidelity, addiction, abuse.

In my opinion, there are two reasons why serial killers select prostitutes as victims: They are available, and they are vulnerable.

With whom will a street prostitute go? Anyone. Why will a street prostitute go with anyone? Money. Where will a street prostitute go with anyone? Anywhere. When will a street prostitute go with anyone? Anytime. Who cares when street prostitutes are murdered? Hardly anyone.

In my view a major reason for the increase has been a gradual relaxation of what was once a fairly strict behavioral code in this country.