Psychology of Perverse Sexual Behaviour: Socio-Psychological Crisis in Kenya

Abstract

One of the greatest social crisis in the world today is sexuality. Kenya is one of the developing countries whose social and economic institutions have been adversely affected by sexual perversions. The media, religion, academic, police and legal reports indicate shocking revelations about the extent to which sexual perversions have engulfed Kenyans. Rape, bestiality, paedophilia, incest, sex-oriented violence and insults characterize the social landscape of the country with dire implications on the family, health, religious, economic, political and other vital institutions of the society are ever reported. Cases of priests/pastors/imam defiling their ‘flock’; teachers sexually assaulting their students; prostitution and promiscuity; fathers raping their daughters; jobs being awarded on sexual advances are not uncommon. Consequently, people are dying of sexually-oriented diseases; hospitals are full of sex health problems; families are breaking because of sex and sex-related challenges; streets are full of abandoned children; leaders have lost to their enemies because of sex; companies have been rundown because of sex; professionalism has waned because sex has replaced merit; students are passing examinations because of sexually transmitted marks; the environment is polluted because of sex; even religious books warn that many may miss the Kingdom of God because of sex-related sins. Sex sin is everywhere. It is not limited to the bedroom anymore, but to the television, movies, billboards, office buildings, hotels, kitchen, cars, classrooms, in the field, corridors, in conferences, toilets, churches, mosques, streets, and in the bush, just to name a few of the spaces. This paper provides some empirical and conceptual observations, which suggests ‘a sex crisis’ that is reflected in the kind of sexual patterns observed in the Kenyan society today. The current social and moral policies emphasize equity, human rights and freedom. However, there is a lack of or little on self-control and morality mechanisms in social control systems especially in relation to rapid socio-cultural changes that have led to identity and personality crisis. This has led to the prevalence of sexual patterns that advance egocentrism rather than the common good. Consequently, the paper recommends a reflection on what actually happened to the sex moral values in Kenya and suggests what the society’s leadership should do to inform policy-oriented strategies that can tame the current situation.