Taken from Psychology Today. (Ref follows) …
Four thinking patterns figure prominently in the commission of sexual offenses in the workplace.
The pursuit of power and control. A critical part of the perpetrator’s self-image is being able to dominate others. He proceeds to do this as he pursues whomever he finds attractive.
A sense of uniqueness. Everyone is unique – physically, psychologically, and experientially. But the person who engages in sexual harassment, assault, or rape considers himself one of a kind. Part of this self-perception is his certainty that he is irresistible to women, the answer to every woman’s desires. When it comes to right and wrong, he makes his own rules.
Deception. These individuals are often extremely intelligent, charismatic, and talented. Even people who know them well cannot conceive that they are even capable of exploiting others sexually. Such predators are masters of deceit.
An ability to compartmentalize and shut off fear of consequences. Perpetrators of sexual harassment, assault, and rape know right from wrong. They are fully aware of the potential consequences of being apprehended. 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 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. Instead, they regard themselves as victims because of the unpalatable consequences they must face.
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. Such training will not change the character (i.e., the thinking processes) of predators. 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.
Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inside-the-criminal-mind/201712/the-thinking-processes-sexual-predators
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