Adult Sexual Abuse of Children
According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC(2018), the official statistics published annually by the United Kingdom authorities on sexual abuse against children often differ with the reality considering that most crimes are not reported or disclosed. Most children that fall victim to sexual abuse fail to tell anyone and hence the crime becomes only witnessed by the victim and the abuser. According to Radford, L. et al (2011) one in twenty children in the UK have been victims of sexual abuse. In the year 2015/16, approximately 2,900 children required protection from sexual abuse behaviours. One in three children are sexually abused by older people and they end up telling no one about the ordeal. Nonetheless, children who disclosed sexual abuse behaviours against them were not helped or heard and hence no actions were taken by either the parents, guardians, or the individuals who the children reported to (Allnock and Miller, 2013; Lampard and Marsden, 2015). 90% of the children who are sexually abused know the abusers. Children who are disabled are more likely to be victims of sexual abuse compared to non-disabled children (Jones, et al 2012, p. 899). In the year 2015/16, the police in the UK recorded 54,000 sexual offences that were committed against children (Bentley, et al., 2017, p. 28). In this essay, two theories that critically examine the causes of adult sexual abuse of children are the preconditions model and the psychotherapeutic/ cognitive model.
First, Finkelhor (1984, p. 1) developed the preconditions model which suggests that there are four factors that can be used to provide an explanation on why adults abuse children sexually. According to Finkelhor, and Araji (1986, p. 145) the precondition model has four main components guiding it and includes sexual arousal to children, emotional congruence, disinhibition, and blockage. Specific theories under the emotional congruence seek to explain why some adults become emotionally satisfied when relating to a child sexually (Finkelhor, Cuevas, and Drawbridge 2016, p. 27). Secondly, sexual arousal depicts that children arouse some adults in the society while blockage component reveals men are unable to get satisfied with their sexual needs using the methods that are socially appropriate and hence result to children (Araji, and Finkelhor 1985, p. 23). Finally, the aspect of disinhibition shows that after developing the sexual desire with these children, adults become disinhibited and reveal a behaviour that contradicts normal behaviour. The assertion of this model is that for the adult to abuse the child sexually, four preconditions should be satisfied. Originally, the offender should have the motivation to abuse the child sexually (Ward, and Beech 2006, p. 58). Secondly, the man should overcome internal inhibitions such as severe stress, alcohol, impulse disorder, as well as social tolerance of having sexual interest in a child among others. The third precondition is about overcoming inhibitions caused by the external environment or the factors that act as catalyst towards committing the crime such as illness, social isolation, paternal domination, or poor parental supervision (Ward, and Beech 2006, p. 58). The final precondition entails the ability of the offender overcoming the resistance caused by the children against sexual abuse like the use of threats, giving gifts, and establishment of emotional dependence.
Ward and Hudson (2001, p. 293) notes that the Precondition model was the 1st theory created to account for adult sexual abuse of children and has been critically important for clinicians and researchers throughout the globe. Nonetheless, despite the influence that the model has, it does not provide an ideal explanation of sexual offending etiology. First, while the model might work in sexual abuse against children and sexual abuse by adults, it has been unable to account in a case where adults and children become victims of same offender. Similarly, the model provides no alternative as to why some adults choose to have their arousal needs met by children rather than utilise other means such as pornography (Ward and Hudson 2001, p. 295). Apart from this, the precondition model omitted some of the factors which largely contribute to adults sexually abusing children. For example, the sociocultural contexts is an afterthought and while there is acknowledgment that the environment of the offender can contribute to the way they behave, the model does not describe it. Further, Finkelhor gave no attention to developmental factors. In totality, the preconditions model has some vulnerability when seeking to explain why adults abuse children sexually.
The final model that can be used to provide an insight on why adults abuse children sexually is the psychotherapeutic model sometimes known as the cognitive model. The primary emphasis of the cognitive model is on behavioural and cognitive steps that are part of the offending behaviour (Howitt, 2015, p. 183). The model assumes that there four steps before the sexual behaviour is committed against the child. First, the offender develops cognitive distortions that led to distorted thinking or beliefs such as having sex with a child helps them to become aware of sex (Abel, Barlow, Blanchard, and Guild 1977, p. 895). The second step is grooming which includes the methods that the offender contacts the child to gain confidence and trust. Threats of violence or actual violence might be occurring. The third stage involves fantasy planning where the offender is involved in a fantasy on how the events could happen for instance, the words they could use, the right location and how to seduce the children etc. The final step is being in a state of denial where the offender appears to deny the consequences of their sexual behaviour and blame someone else (Howitt, 2015, p. 183). Denial can happen in multiple ways including denying sexual abuse occurred, minimise extent of abuse by reducing the victims involved, deny the seriousness, or being in denial that they need no help in terms of therapy.
Nevertheless, a major drawback of the cognitive model is that while it has been established that there is cognitive distortion among the paedophiles and other types of sexual offenders, often these individuals are largely associated with being manipulative in nature. Thus, they are taken to be people who are keen on manipulating others including psychologists and other professionals. Repeatedly, they are always seeking to convince others in a manner that would advantage them. As a result, it becomes hard to classify them (Howitt, 2015, p. 183). Thus, it becomes unclear if these individuals really think in a certain manner or they are out to manipulate. Additionally, another drawback for this model is that few studies have been done in relation to paedophiles. As a result, less criticism has been attributed to the model in relation to explaining the causes of adult sexual abuse of children (Howitt, 2015)
Conclusion
Over the years, thousands of registered offenders have been found guilty for sexual offences against children. The preconditions model suggests that sexual arousal to children, emotional congruence, disinhibition, and blockage can explain why adults abuse children sexually. The psychotherapeutic model on the other hand emphasis that behavioural and cognitive steps that are part of the offending behaviour. Nonetheless, both models have their shortcomings as explained above.

References
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