Understanding Sexual Perpetration Against Children: Effects of Attachment Style, Interpersonal Involvement, and Hypersexuality

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:39:35 PST

This study explores in an adolescent sample hypotheses about child sexual abuse perpetration drawn from contemporary theories that implicate insecure attachment and adolescent social development. Specifically, three 13- to 18-year-old adolescent male samples (sex offenders with child victims, sex offenders with peer/adult victims, and nonsex delinquent youth) were compared in a cross-sectional design.Participants completed a computer-administered self-report questionnaire and a semistructured attachment style interview. Attachment style was coded by two independent raters blind to study hypotheses and group membership. The results indicated an indirect effect for attachment style. Attachment anxiety affected involvement with peers and interpersonal adequacy. Feelings of interpersonal inadequacy, combined with oversexualization and positive attitudes toward others distinguished sex offenders with child victims from nonsex delinquents and from sex offenders with peer/adult victims. These data provide a preliminary model of sexual abuse perpetration consistent with contemporary theories. Attachment anxiety with a lack of misanthropic attitudes toward others appears to lead to isolation from peers and feelings of interpersonal inadequacy. Individuals with this constellation of factors may turn to children to meet their intimacy and sexual needs, both of which seem to be exaggerated compared with other troubled youth.

The Relation Between Peak Response Magnitudes and Agreement in Diagnoses Obtained From Two Different Phallometric Tests for Pedophilia

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:05:04 PST

Phallometric testing is widely considered the best psychophysiological procedure for assessing erotic preferences in men. Researchers have differed, however, on the necessity of setting some minimum criterion of penile response for ascertaining the interpretability of a phallometric test result. Proponents of a minimum criterion have generally based their view on the intuitive notion that "more is better" rather than any formal demonstration of this. The present study was conducted to investigate whether there is any empirical evidence for this intuitive notion, by examining the relation between magnitude of penile response and the agreement in diagnoses obtained in two test sessions using different laboratory stimuli. The results showed that examinees with inconsistent diagnoses responded less on both tests and that examinees with inconsistent diagnoses responded less on the second test after controlling for their response on the first test. Results also indicated that at response levels less than 1 cm³, diagnostic consistency was no better than chance, supporting the establishment of a minimum response level criterion.

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Understanding Sexual Perpetration Against Children: Effects of Attachment Style, Interpersonal Involvement, and Hypersexuality

The Relation Between Peak Response Magnitudes and Agreement in Diagnoses Obtained From Two Different Phallometric Tests for Pedophilia