{"id":913,"date":"2020-02-25T14:09:44","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T14:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/?p=913"},"modified":"2020-02-25T14:09:44","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T14:09:44","slug":"harvey-weinstein-setting-a-precedent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2020\/02\/harvey-weinstein-setting-a-precedent.html","title":{"rendered":"Harvey Weinstein- Setting a Precedent"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Thinking Processes of Sexual Predators<\/h1>\n

With enhanced power, the predator reveals himself.<\/h2>\n

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by Stanton E. Samenow, Ph.D<\/div>\n
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Behavior results from the way a person thinks.\u00a0A person\u2019s thinking processes\u00a0largely define his character.\u00a0 In considering how to prevent further victimization of employees in the workplace, it is essential to understand the mental makeup of the victimizer.<\/p>\n

Sexual harassment, sexual assault<\/a>, and rape obviously are sex<\/a> offenses.\u00a0 But they have little to do with sex itself.\u00a0 The people who are making headlines for their exploitation of women employed by their company likely have had no shortage of opportunities for consensual sex.\u00a0 Sexual predators have plenty of sexual experience but it is shallow.\u00a0 Sex is a control operation for them.\u00a0 They ordain the time and place of the encounter.\u00a0 Seeking a conquest is the overriding aspect.\u00a0 The perpetrator cares little what his \u201cpartner\u201d experiences. The idea is to conquer a body, not have a relationship.\u00a0 Achieving his objective provides him with a buildup.\u00a0 He has sex on his mind a great deal of the time, looking at females as potential targets.<\/p>\n

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In his approach to potential sexual targets, the individual regards himself as irresistible and seeks to have this affirmed.\u00a0 He is certain that any person whom he finds desirable will be attracted to him. \u00a0A friendly smile may confirm that he is desired, and that he can proceed with his conquest. This thinking occurs even with complete strangers whom he quickly regards as his property.<\/p>\n

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The person who exposes himself hopes to entice someone into a sexual act. He seeks an admiring gaze and directs that gaze.\u00a0 He may do this by walking around naked.\u00a0 He experiences excitement in fantasizing and in the exhibitionism<\/a> itself.<\/p>\n

The assertion of power is most obvious in sexual assault and rape in which the perpetrator forcefully takes \u201cpossession\u201d of his target.\u00a0 Again, this has nothing to do with sexual need.\u00a0 Men who have an active and varied sexual life at home still attack women. It is characteristic that, both in fantasy<\/a> and action, they find it most exciting to use force in making their conquest.<\/p>\n

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The workplace provides an arena for these behaviors.\u00a0 The perpetrator has leverage over his victim who is a subordinate.\u00a0 He knows that she is unlikely to inform because she thinks she will not be believed, that she will lose her job, or perhaps lose opportunity to advance at all in her chosen line of work.\u00a0 The victim also thinks that the people in charge will support the perpetrator, especially if he is well-known and important to the reputation and success of the organization.<\/p>\n

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Four thinking patterns figure prominently in the commission of sexual offenses in the workplace.<\/p>\n

The pursuit of power and control.<\/strong>\u00a0 A critical part of the perpetrator\u2019s self-image<\/a> is being able to dominate others.\u00a0 He proceeds to do this as he pursues whomever he finds attractive.<\/p>\n

A sense of uniqueness.<\/strong> Everyone is unique \u2013 physically, psychologically, and experientially. But the person who engages in sexual harassment, assault, or rape considers himself one of a kind.\u00a0 Part of this self-perception is his certainty that he is irresistible to women, the answer to every woman\u2019s desires.\u00a0 When it comes to right and wrong, he makes his own rules.<\/p>\n

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Deception<\/a>. <\/strong>These individuals are often extremely intelligent, charismatic<\/a>, and talented.\u00a0 Even people who know them well cannot conceive that they are even capable of exploiting others sexually. Such predators are masters of deceit.<\/p>\n

An ability to compartmentalize and shut off fear<\/a> of consequences<\/strong>. Perpetrators of sexual harassment, assault, and rape know right from wrong.\u00a0 They are fully aware of the potential consequences of being apprehended.\u00a0 They have an uncanny ability to ignore them long enough to do what they want, all the while maintaining a sense of invincibility. They eliminate considerations of conscience<\/a> behaving as they please without regard to emotional, physical, or other damage they might inflict. When they are unmasked, their chief regret is getting caught with little or no remorse for the victim.\u00a0 Instead, they regard themselves as victims because of the unpalatable consequences they must face.<\/p>\n

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As the issue of sexual predation in the workplace has become increasingly prominent, there are calls to provide employees with special training to minimize this behavior in the future.\u00a0 Such training will not change the character (i.e., the thinking processes) of predators.\u00a0 What it may succeed in is establishing clear policies and deterrents so that potential predators may be deterred from engaging in this extremely destructive behavior at work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

*Added- Experts say that it is not unusual for victims of sexual harassment\/assault to maintain relationships even sexual with their victimizer because the intimidation factor is so high. Victimizers uses manipulation tactics to further their pursuits by being friendly or making promises to help the victim whether that be furthering their career or overall well-being.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Thinking Processes of Sexual Predators With enhanced power, the predator reveals himself. by Stanton E. Samenow, Ph.D Behavior results from the way a person thinks.\u00a0A person\u2019s thinking processes\u00a0largely define his character.\u00a0 In considering how to prevent further victimization of employees in the workplace, it is essential to understand the mental makeup of the victimizer.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":594,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHarvey Weinstein- Setting a Precedent - You Can Sit With Us<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Harvey Weinstein- Setting a Precedent - You Can Sit With Us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Thinking Processes of Sexual Predators With enhanced power, the predator reveals himself. by Stanton E. Samenow, Ph.D Behavior results from the way a person thinks.\u00a0A person\u2019s thinking processes\u00a0largely define his character.\u00a0 In considering how to prevent further victimization of employees in the workplace, it is essential to understand the mental makeup of the victimizer.…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2020\/02\/harvey-weinstein-setting-a-precedent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"You Can Sit With Us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-25T14:09:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sstoddard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Harvey Weinstein- Setting a Precedent - You Can Sit With Us","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Harvey Weinstein- Setting a Precedent - You Can Sit With Us","og_description":"The Thinking Processes of Sexual Predators With enhanced power, the predator reveals himself. by Stanton E. Samenow, Ph.D Behavior results from the way a person thinks.\u00a0A person\u2019s thinking processes\u00a0largely define his character.\u00a0 In considering how to prevent further victimization of employees in the workplace, it is essential to understand the mental makeup of the victimizer.…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2020\/02\/harvey-weinstein-setting-a-precedent.html","og_site_name":"You Can Sit With Us","article_published_time":"2020-02-25T14:09:44+00:00","author":"sstoddard","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2020\/02\/harvey-weinstein-setting-a-precedent.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2020\/02\/harvey-weinstein-setting-a-precedent.html","name":"Harvey Weinstein- Setting a Precedent - You Can Sit With Us","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-02-25T14:09:44+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-25T14:09:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/#\/schema\/person\/456f131c2db57f2b40f018648fec06b2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2020\/02\/harvey-weinstein-setting-a-precedent.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2020\/02\/harvey-weinstein-setting-a-precedent.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2020\/02\/harvey-weinstein-setting-a-precedent.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Harvey Weinstein- Setting a Precedent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/","name":"You Can Sit With Us","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Shannon Stoddard","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/#\/schema\/person\/456f131c2db57f2b40f018648fec06b2","name":"sstoddard","description":"Shannon Stoddard is a mother, writer, author. 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