SORRC, Sex Offender Risk Reduction Class (the whole reason they ship all of the sex offenders here and pack ‘em in a warehouse), is a week-long course of education that consists primarily of movies and statistics from the ’80s and, if we’re lucky, role playing. Day One has been a giant source of amusement with the occasional dash of sheer horror thrown in for spice.
Right off the bat, you are given a pre-test with such questions as “All women have rape fantasies and want a man to force them to have sex.” Should anyone be wondering, the answer is apparently ‘yes…I mean no.’ (Sorry, bit of a sex offender joke there). Seriously though, I wonder if they track stats on how many people answer “true”. I’d bet it’s pretty high, actually.
After the awesome pre-test, you get to watch a Peter Jennings documentary from the ’80s called “Men, Sexuality, and Rape”, which appears to have been a thinly-veiled excuse for Peter Jennings and his camera crew to photograph hot wimminz on beaches and at strip clubs. It is full of badass ’80s hair, you know, the giant Tokyo-destroying, ozone-depleting hair for the ladies and the spiky mullet for the rapin’ menfolk.
The ’80s hair and shoulder pads aside, this thing is not all fun and games. As I mentioned, there are elements of sheer horror involved… like the interview with the 10-year-old rape victim (dude got counseling and not death as he deserved), and the account of one of the many victims of a serious rapist (8 women and 8 years in prison), and other such things. There are also interviews with rapists that say such charming things as “All men have contemplated raping a woman at some time” and “Fantasizing about violent rape is ok, it’s just when you cross the line that it becomes a problem.” Those comments actually sparked off a fight (ok, no blows, just some dudes woofin’ at each other), and sent some dudes to the hole. One dude agreed, and one took offense to the implication that he might have been a rapist… odd that.
Later, the program was interrupted by a lecture/class on HIV/AIDS and STDs in general, where they passed around a giant genital-warty vagina for our general education and amusement. They also showed a film about HIV which was another bit of sad-making horror for me (most of us, actually), as it was primarily interviews with people infected by HIV (thankfully, only one person was gay), and they were shockingly frank about it. Another ’80s film, actually, wonder why.
This place is absolutely fascinating to me. I sincerely wish that I were a good enough writer to convey exactly how fascinating and eye-opening this experience is. I can’t wait for Monday, when classes start again.