HOMOSEXUAL OFFENDERS VS. CHILDREN: ANIMAL CONTACTS
The homosexual offenders vs. minors rank fifth in the proportion who had sexual contacts with animals. Their figure of 22 per cent nearly equals the percentages of the other two homosexual-offender groups, which rank second and third. This incidence does not imply any particular emotional involvement; animal contact did not occur as a theme in their dreams or masturbatory fantasy with any notable frequency.
In age-specific incidence these offenders usually rank high. Between puberty and fifteen they are in second place with 14 per cent; after falling to intermediate status between ages sixteen to twenty, they rise to third rank in age-period 21—25 with 5 per cent, and to second rank in the next age-period (26-30) with 4 per cent. In this last age-period it is noteworthy that the three homosexual-offender groups rank first, third, and fourth.
As with the other homosexual offenders, we are inclined to view the relatively high incidence of animal contact among the homosexual offenders vs. minors as chiefly a by-product of their typical emphasis upon self-masturbation.
While the offenders vs. minors rank high in terms of incidence, the actual frequency of their activity is not particularly high. Of those who had contact with animals, for the average (median) offender it was a matter of 4.5 times a year between puberty and age fifteen, a frequency shared by the heterosexual offenders vs. minors and children, and very similar to that of the control and prison groups. Actually, we cannot expect too much from frequency data concerning an activity that we know to be sporadic, rather rare, and heavily dependent upon factors that are largely fortuitous.
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