Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment recent issues

Mental Disorder, Predisposition, Prediction, and Ability to Control: Evaluating Sex Offenders for Civil Commitment

Elwood, R. W. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:11:42 PST

Nearly 20 years after the first sexually violent person (SVP) statutes were introduced in the United States, the civil commitment of sex offenders remains controversial. SVP laws require that a sex offender has a mental condition that predisposes them to commit sex offenses and poses a high risk to reoffend because of serious difficulty controlling behavior. The controversy over the commitment of sex offenders is fueled by different interpretations of those key constructs. This article reviews those constructs; evaluates them from clinical, epidemiologic, and legal perspectives; and proposes interpretations that address both the major criticisms of civil commitment and the challenges in SVP assessment.

Circles of Support & Accountability: A Canadian National Replication of Outcome Findings

Wilson, R. J., Cortoni, F., McWhinnie, A. J. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:11:42 PST

Circles of Support & Accountability (COSA) started 15 years ago in Ontario, Canada, as an alternate means of social support to high-risk sexual offenders released at the end of their sentences without any community supervision. The pilot project in South-Central Ontario has since assisted almost 200 offenders. Projects based on this model are now in place in the United Kingdom, several jurisdictions in the United States, and throughout Canada. Initial research into the efficacy of the COSA pilot project showed that participation reduced sexual recidivism by 70% or more in comparison with both matched controls and actuarial norms. The current study sought to replicate these findings using an independent Canadian national sample. A total of 44 high-risk sexual offenders, released at sentence completion and involved in COSA across Canada, were matched to a group of 44 similar offenders not involved in COSA. The average follow-up time was 35 months. Recidivism was defined as having a charge or conviction for a new offense. Results show that offenders in COSA had an 83% reduction in sexual recidivism, a 73% reduction in all types of violent recidivism, and an overall reduction of 71% in all types of recidivism in comparison to the matched offenders. These findings suggest that participation in COSA is not site-specific and provide further evidence for the position that trained and guided community volunteers can and do assist in markedly improving offenders’ chances for successful reintegration.

Absolute Versus Relative Ascertainment of Pedophilia in Men

Blanchard, R., Kuban, M. E., Blak, T., Cantor, J. M., Klassen, P. E., Dickey, R. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:11:42 PST

There are at least two different criteria for assessing pedophilia in men: absolute ascertainment (their sexual interest in children is intense) and relative ascertainment (their sexual interest in children is greater than their interest in adults). The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd edition (DSM-III) used relative ascertainment in its diagnostic criteria for pedophilia; this was abandoned and replaced by absolute ascertainment in the DSM-III-R and all subsequent editions. The present study was conducted to demonstrate the continuing need for relative ascertainment, particularly in the laboratory assessment of pedophilia. A total of 402 heterosexual men were selected from a database of patients referred to a specialty clinic. These had undergone phallometric testing, a psychophysiological procedure in which their penile blood volume was monitored while they were presented with a standardized set of laboratory stimuli depicting male and female children, pubescents, and adults.The 130 men selected for the Teleiophilic Profile group responded substantially to prepubescent girls but even more to adult women; the 272 men selected for the Pedophilic Profile group responded weakly to prepubescent girls but even less to adult women. In terms of absolute magnitude, every patient in the Pedophilic Profile group had a lesser penile response to prepubescent girls than every patient in the Teleiophilic Profile group. Nevertheless, the Pedophilic Profile group had a significantly greater number of known sexual offenses against prepubescent girls, indicating that they contained a higher proportion of true pedophiles. These results dramatically demonstrate the utility—or perhaps necessity—of relative ascertainment in the laboratory assessment of erotic age—preference.

Does Victim Age Differentiate Between Perpetrators of Sexual Child Abuse? A Study of Mental Health, Psychosocial Circumstances, and Crimes

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:11:42 PST

To test the theory that sexual offenders who abuse very young children (0-5 years) have more severe mental health and psychosocial problems than those who victimize older children, authors compared psychiatric diagnoses, social circumstances, and crime-related data in all sexual offenders against minors referred to forensic psychiatric investigation in Sweden during a 5-year period. Thirty-one men had committed index crimes involving victims between the ages of 0 and 5 years (Group 1), 90 had 6-to 11-year-old victims (Group 2), and 41 had 12- to 15-year-old victims (Group 3). All three offender groups were characterized by severe mental health problems, in many cases fulfilling American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for both Axis I and Axis II diagnoses, but these problems did not differ between groups. Neither did social situation or sexual orientation. Offenders with 0- to 5-year-old victims significantly more often abused both boys and girls. Frequencies of retrospectively diagnosed childhood-onset behavior disorders were high in all three offender groups. The authors’ data did not support previous findings of increasingly severe mental health problems with decreasing victim age.

Female Sex Offender Recidivism: A Large-Scale Empirical Analysis

Sandler, J. C., Freeman, N. J. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:11:42 PST

Using a sample of 1,466 females convicted of a sexual offense in New York State, the current study explored the following: (a) offending prior to the commission of the offenders’ first sexual offense, (b) rates of recidivism following their first sexual offense conviction, and (c) factors associated with the likelihood of sexual recidivism. Results showed the recidivism rates of female sex offenders to be lower than those of male sex offenders for all types of recidivism studied (any rearrest, felony rearrest, violent [including violent sexual] felony rearrest, and sexual rearrest). Several significant differences were found between the group of female sex offenders who sexually recidivated and the group who did not, including crime of first sexual conviction and measures of prior offending.

Construct Validity of the Violence Risk Scale--Sexual Offender Version for Measuring Sexual Deviance

Canales, D. D., Olver, M. E., Wong, S. C. P. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:11:42 PST

Previous studies have identified sexual deviance as a particularly strong predictor of sexual recidivism in sex offenders. The present study examined the construct validity (i.e., convergent and discriminant validity) of the three dynamic factor domains (Sexual Deviance, Criminality, Treatment Responsivity) of the Violence Risk Scale— Sexual Offender version (VRS-SO) as well as the Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI; for comparison purposes) with respect to phallometric measures of sexual deviance. VRS-SO and phallometric data were collected from 124 federally incarcerated sex offenders from a maximum security forensic psychiatric facility. The Sexual Deviance factor and SSPI were positively correlated to varying degrees with computed arousal indexes (Percent Full Erection, difference scores) for child stimuli but were not significantly correlated with nondeviant arousal, supporting the convergent and discriminant validity of these measures, respectively. Convergent validity also appeared stronger for sex offender subtypes with child victims. Criminality and Treatment Responsivity did not correlate with male stimuli, although they were positively correlated with arousal to female profiles. The VRS-SO Sexual Deviance factor and some phallometric indexes of deviant arousal (e.g., female children) were predictive of sexual recidivism whereas the SSPI was not. The pattern of findings across analyses broadly supports the construct validity of the VRS-SO in assessing sexual deviance.

The Diagnostic Reliability of Sexual Sadism

Doren, D., Elwood, R. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:58:32 PDT

Previous studies have reported low diagnostic agreement on the paraphilias, especially sexual sadism. In the present study, 34 evaluators throughout the United States reviewed summaries of 12 committed sex offenders. The evaluators agreed more than 90% of the time on whether offenders met criteria for any paraphilia in general and sexual sadism in particular. The authors attribute the low reliability reported in previous studies to different agreement indices, the amount and quality of information available to evaluators, and the prevalence of the respective paraphilic diagnoses in their samples.

A Cumulative Scale of Severe Sexual Sadism

Nitschke, J., Osterheider, M., Mokros, A. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:58:32 PDT

The article assesses the scale properties of the criterion set for severe sexual sadism in a sample of male forensic patients (N = 100). Half of the sample consists of sexual sadists; the remainder is sampled at random from the general group of nonsadistic sex offenders. Eleven of 17 criteria (plus the additional item of inserting objects into the victim’s bodily orifices) of Marshall, Kennedy, Yates, and Serran’s list form a cumulative scale. More specifically, this scale comprises all the 5 core criteria that Marshall and his colleagues considered particularly relevant. The resulting 11-item scale of severe sexual sadism is highly reliable (r_tt = .93) and represents a strong scale (H = .83) of the Guttman type (coefficient of reproducibility = .97). The 11-item scale distinguishes perfectly between sexual sadists and nonsadistic sex offenders in the sample.

The Impact of Prison-Based Treatment on Sex Offender Recidivism: Evidence From Minnesota

Duwe, G., Goldman, R. A. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:58:32 PDT

Using a retrospective quasi-experimental design, this study evaluates the effectiveness of prison-based treatment by examining recidivism outcomes among 2,040 sex offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 1990 and 2003 (average follow-up period of 9.3 years). To reduce observed selection bias, the authors used propensity score matching to create a comparison group of 1,020 untreated sex offenders who were not significantly different from the 1,020 treated offenders. In addition, intent-to-treat analyses and the Rosenbaum bounds method were used to test the sensitivity of the findings to treatment refuser and unobserved selection bias. Results from the Cox regression analyses revealed that participating in treatment significantly reduced the hazard ratio for rearrest by 27% for sexual recidivism, 18% for violent recidivism, and 12% for general recidivism. These findings are consistent with the growing body of research supporting the effectiveness of cognitive—behavioral treatment for sex offenders.

Penile-Response Profiles of Sexual Aggressors During Phallometric Testing

Michaud, P., Proulx, J. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:58:32 PDT

This study analyzes sexual-preference profiles in a sample of 420 sexual aggressors who exhibited a valid profile during their initial phallometric assessment. The sexual stimuli used in the process were audiotapes describing sexual-offending scenarios. Two types of sexual stimuli sets were used: one developed for sexual aggressors against women and a second developed for sexual aggressors against children. Penile responses were recorded during stimulus presentation using a mercury-in-rubber strain gauge. Classification analyses (hierarchical and K-means clustering combination) were conducted separately for three groups of sexual aggressors: (a) sexual aggressors against children (n = 253), (b) sexual aggressors against women (n = 138), and (c) mixed sexual aggressors (n = 29). The sexual aggressors against children exhibited four penile-response profiles, the sexual aggressors against women two penile-response profiles, and the mixed sexual aggressors only one penile-response profile. In addition, analyses carried out on randomly split subsamples established that the generated profiles for sexual aggressors against children and sexual aggressors against women were stable.

Discriminative and Predictive Validity of the Penile Plethysmograph in Adolescent Sex Offenders

Clift, R. J. W., Rajlic, G., Gretton, H. M. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:58:32 PDT

The current study addresses the discriminative and predictive validity of the penile plethysmograph (PPG) in a sample of 132 male adolescent sex offenders who were admitted to a sex offender treatment program. The subjects were assessed pretreatment and posttreatment, under two different instructions sets: an Arouse condition, where subjects allowed themselves to become aroused; and a Suppress condition, where subjects attempted to suppress or control their arousal. Under the pretreatment Arouse condition, the group with male child victims demonstrated significantly greater arousal to child stimuli than the group with female nonchild victims. However, the group with female child victims could not be differentiated from the group with female nonchild victims. Under the Suppress condition, there was no evidence of discriminative validity for any of the PPG indices. As for predictive validity, posttreatment arousal to male and female children was significantly related to sexual offense recidivism. Posttreatment inability to suppress deviant arousal to male and female children was also significantly related to sexual offense recidivism over the 6-year follow-up period. In light of these findings, the implications for adolescent sex offender research and treatment are discussed.

How Safe Are Trick-or-Treaters?: An Analysis of Child Sex Crime Rates on Halloween

Chaffin, M., Levenson, J., Letourneau, E., Stern, P. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:58:32 PDT

States, municipalities, and parole departments have adopted policies banning known sex offenders from Halloween activities, based on the worry that there is unusual risk on these days. The existence of this risk has not been empirically established. National Incident-Base Reporting System crime report data from 1997 through 2005 were used to examine daily population adjusted rates from 67,045 nonfamilial sex crimes against children aged 12 years and less. Halloween rates were compared with expectations based on time, seasonality, and weekday periodicity. Rates did not differ from expectation, no increased rate on or just before Halloween was found, and Halloween incidents did not evidence unusual case characteristics. Findings were invariant across years, both prior to and after these policies became popular. These findings raise questions about the wisdom of diverting law enforcement resources to attend to a problem that does not appear to exist.

Adult Attachment, Cognitive Distortions, and Views of Self, Others, and the Future Among Child Molesters

Wood, E., Riggs, S. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:58:32 PDT

A conceptual framework derived from attachment theory was tested examining adult romantic attachment; views of self, world/others, and the future; and cognitive distortions in a sample of 96 child molesters receiving sex offender treatment and 92 nonoffending males. Results showed a significant main effect for child molester status, with nonoffending controls reporting fewer negative perceptions of self, others, and the future; and fewer cognitive distortions regarding adult—child sex. With the exception of views of others, significant interactions were also found between child molester status and attachment categories. However, the patterns of interactions were theoretically counterintuitive and illustrated areas for future research. Overall, the findings supported theoretically based hypotheses, suggesting that attachment theory may be useful in the conceptualization and treatment of child molesters.

Applying Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Adolescent Sexual Offenders: Attentional Bias as a Measure of Deviant Sexual Interest?

Crooks, V.L., Rostill-Brookes, H., Beech, A.R., Bickley, J.A. — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:14:46 PDT

Attentional bias toward child images is assessed among adolescent sexual offenders and nonsexual offenders using the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) method, which measures the effects of "attentional blink." Twenty adolescent sexual offenders against children and 26 nonsexual offenders are asked to identify a child or animal image and then a second image in streams of 10 images. A stronger attentional blink effect is expected for offenders against children after viewing child rather than animal images. However, the expected differences between offender groups are not found. It is questioned whether the RSVP images can elicit a response in adolescent sexual offenders indicative of DSI. The clinical utility of applying the RSVP assessment with adolescents rather than adults is also queried because (a) adolescents' cognitive abilities may not allow them to conceptualize and concentrate on the assessment in its present form and (b) deviant sexual interest may be evident to different degrees in adolescent sexual offenders.

Effects of Sex Offender Registration Policies on Juvenile Justice Decision Making

Letourneau, E. J., Bandyopadhyay, D., Sinha, D., Armstrong, K. — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:14:46 PDT

This study examines effects of sex offender registration policies on juvenile judicial decision making. Prosecutor decisions and disposition outcomes are examined across a 15-year period. Results indicate that prosecutors are significantly less likely to move forward on both serious sexual and assault offense charges after registration implementation, with the estimated effect nearly twice as large for sexual offenses. There also is increased likelihood of guilty findings for sexual and assault offenses over time. As new policies legislate harsher consequences for juvenile offenses, prosecutors become less likely to move forward on sexual and assault charges. This effect is especially strong for juvenile sexual offenders, who face reforms targeting both violent and sexual crimes. Results suggest that state and national policies requiring long-term public registration of juveniles might unintentionally decrease the likelihood of prosecution. If replicated, the results indicate a need to reform registration policies as applied to juveniles.

Implicit Measurement of Sexual Associations in Child Sex Abusers: Role of Victim Type and Denial

Brown, A. S., Gray, N. S., Snowden, R. J. — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:14:46 PDT

The Implicit Association Test was used to measure cognitive associations between children and sex in men convicted of child-sex offences. It was hypothesized that these cognitions would be different in pedophilic-type offenders (defined by having a victim aged less than 12 years) and hebephilic-type offenders (only victims aged 12 to 15 years) such that only the pedophilic-type offenders would have an implicit association between children and sex. This was confirmed. It was also hypothesized that this association between children and sex in the pedophilic-type offenders would be present irrespective of their denial of offence history. This was also confirmed. These results demonstrate differences in the cognitive associations between children and sex held by subgroups of child-sex abusers, and they help establish the Implicit Association Test as an indirect means to assess cognitive factors related to sexual offences.

The Relationship Between Sex Offender Registry Utilization and Awareness

Kernsmith, P. D., Comartin, E., Craun, S. W., Kernsmith, R. M. — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:14:46 PDT

Although registries of convicted sexual offenders are widely popular, little is known about the impact of the policies. The goal of this research was to measure one aspect of the impact of registry policies: patterns of usage of publicly available registries. Using a computer-assisted telephone survey, Michigan residents were questioned about their utilization of the sex offender registry and whether they believed any sex offenders lived in their community. The authors found that few respondents had looked at the registry. Reasons respondents provided for nonuse included lack of interest in the registry, living in a "safe" area, and not having children. Although it was found that registry use was related to awareness of offenders in the community, after viewing the registry, nearly half of the survey participants still believed no offenders lived in the community. Logistic regression was used to predict both registry use and awareness of offenders in the community.

Offense-Related Interpretative Bias in Female Child Molesters: A Preliminary Study

Gannon, T. A., Rose, M. R. — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:14:46 PDT

Although female child molesters are hypothesized to hold offense-supportive cognitions that facilitate their sexual offenses, there have been no implicit social-cognitive studies used to investigate this. Using an implicit memory recognition paradigm, it is shown that female child molesters—relative to female offender controls—are more likely to interpret ambiguous information about males in a threatening manner. These results suggest that female child molesters hold a series of beliefs about men's dangerousness and power. The authors discuss these results and explore the possibility that these beliefs about male dangerousness are related to a risk of abusing children.

Examining Childhood Abuse Patterns and Sensitive Periods in Juvenile Sexual Offenders

Grabell, A. S., Knight, R. A. — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:14:46 PDT

Findings in the sexual aggression literature on the link between childhood sexual abuse and future sexual coercion have been inconsistent. In adult sexual offenders, studies have found that the relation of sexual abuse to sexual coercion is mediated by sexually related deviant cognitions, but this mediation is not found when replicated on juvenile sexual offenders. In this study it is hypothesized that this link will be found in juvenile sexual offenders when their sexual abuse history is stratified into discrete developmental epochs. It is further hypothesized that the age range of 3 to 7 years, when children rapidly acquire inhibition and cognitive flexibility skills, will be the most potent predictor. A sample of 193 juvenile sexual offenders is used to examine whether sexual abuse specifically in this discrete period, as opposed to other periods, predicts subsequent sexual fantasy. The results confirm that sexual abuse correlates with later adolescent sexual fantasy only during the 3- to 7-year epoch.

Heterogeneity in Antisocial Trajectories in Youth of Adult Sexual Aggressors of Women: An Examination of Initiation, Persistence, Escalation, and Aggravation

Cale, J., Lussier, P., Proulx, J. — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:14:46 PDT

Recent explanatory models of sexual aggression of women have emphasized the role of an antisocial tendency in explaining sexual aggression. If those models agree about the importance of an antisocial propensity, they disagree about the presence of a single or multiple pathways leading to sexual aggression. Currently, no empirical studies have examined within-individual changes of antisocial behavior in youth of sexual aggressors of women and whether those changes are related to the unfolding of the sexual and nonsexual criminal activity in adulthood. This study examines the presence of antisocial trajectories in childhood and adolescence using a sample of 209 convicted adult sexual aggressors of women. A dynamic classification procedure using cluster analyses yields five distinct antisocial trajectories, which are then compared using analysis of covariance on various parameters of criminal activity in adulthood. The results highlight the heterogeneity of antisocial development in youth of adult sexual aggressors of women. Patterns of initiation, persistence, and escalation in youth are related to the general, violent, and sexual offending in adulthood.

Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Performance Indicators for 2007

Barbaree, H., Cantor, J. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:15:16 PST

Treatment Experiences of Civilly Committed Sex Offenders: A Consumer Satisfaction Survey

Levenson, J. S., Prescott, D. S. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:15:16 PST

The purpose of the study was to elicit feedback from sex offenders about the components of treatment that they believed to be most helpful in preventing reoffense. A sample of civilly committed sex offenders from the Sand Ridge Civil Commitment Center in Wisconsin (n = 44) was surveyed about their perceptions of treatment, including content, process, therapists, rules, and completion requirements. Clients were asked to rate the importance of treatment components to their recovery and to rate their satisfaction with the treatment they received for each component. Participants expressed fairly positive sentiments about their treatment experiences, though specific concerns were noted. There was an overall positive correlation between importance of and satisfaction with treatment, but ratings of importance were consistently higher than ratings of satisfaction. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Psychometric Properties of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale With Adult Male Sexual Offenders

Tatman, A. W., Swogger, M. T., Love, K., Cook, M. D. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:15:16 PST

This research project investigates the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) when used with a sample of convicted, adult male sexual offenders. Results confirm the two-factor structure (Denial and Attribution) originally proposed by the authors (Study 1, n = 247). Results also reveal that the full-scale MCSDS has strong internal consistency estimates (Study 1), discriminant and convergent validity (Study 2, n = 91), and test-retest reliability over a 3-week period (Study 3, n = 74). Information is provided to aid evaluators' interpretation of MCSDS full-scale and factor scores when used with male adult sexual offenders.

Perceptions of Sex Offenders About Treatment: Satisfaction and Engagement in Group Therapy

Levenson, J. S., Macgowan, M. J., Morin, J. W., Cotter, L. P. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:15:16 PST

Surveying the views of sex offender clients can help ensure that treatment is relevant and responsive to client needs. The purpose of this exploratory study is to elicit sex offender clients' perceptions of their experiences in treatment in order to better understand the components of treatment perceived to be helpful in preventing reoffense. Samples (N = 338) of male sex offenders in outpatient group therapy are found to be generally satisfied with treatment services and have positive perceptions of treatment effectiveness. Offenders in treatment value the role of group therapy, and they find accountability, victim empathy, relapse prevention, and "good lives" concepts to be most helpful in managing their behavior. Their engagement in group therapy is assessed using the Group Engagement Measure, and a positive correlation is found between engagement and treatment satisfaction. Eliciting client opinions about the helpfulness of program content and process, and adjusting treatment protocols accordingly, is consistant with the principles of risk, need, and responsivity, a model recommended for therapeutic interventions with criminal offenders.

Assessing the Implicit Beliefs of Sexual Offenders Using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure: A First Study

Dawson, D. L., Barnes-Holmes, D., Gresswell, D. M., Hart, A. J., Gore, N. J. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:15:16 PST

Researchers have proposed that the cognitive distortions of sexual offenders are underpinned by a number of implicit cognitive processes termed implicit theories. Until recently, however, the implicit theory hypothesis has received little empirical support due to broader limitations with standard forensic assessment procedures. The current research aimed to determine whether a new assessment methodology, the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), could provide further evidence for Ward and Keenan's (1999) children as sexual beings implicit theory. The results indicated that the IRAP was significantly more effective at identifying core implicit differences between sexual offenders against children and nonoffenders than a cognitive distortion questionnaire. Furthermore, although both groups demonstrated an overall response bias towards adults as sexual and children as nonsexual, this bias was significantly impaired in the sexual offender group. The findings are discussed in relation to previous implicit theory research and recommendations for the development of implicit methodologies are made.

Psychological Profiles of Internet Sexual Offenders: Comparisons With Contact Sexual Offenders

Elliott, I. A., Beech, A. R., Mandeville-Norden, R., Hayes, E. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:15:16 PST

A sample of 505 Internet sex offenders and 526 contact sex offenders were compared on a range of psychological measures relating to offense-supportive beliefs, empathic concern, interpersonal functioning, and emotional management. Internet offenders could be successfully discriminated from contact offenders on 7 out of 15 measures. Contact offenders were found to have significantly more victim empathy distortions and cognitive distortions than Internet offenders. Internet offenders were found to have significantly higher identification with fictional characters than contact offenders. Further analysis indicated that an increase in scores on scales of fantasy, underassertiveness, and motor impulsivity were predictive of an Internet offense type. An increase in scores of scales of locus of control, perspective taking, empathic concern, overassertiveness, victim empathy distortions, cognitive distortions, and cognitive impulsivity were found to be predictive of a contact offense type. These findings are discussed in the context of the etiology of sexual offending.

Facial and Prosodic Affect Recognition Among Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Criminal Child Molesters

Suchy, Y., Whittaker, W. J., Strassberg, D. S., Eastvold, A. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:15:16 PST

The present study compared facial and prosodic affect recognition abilities among pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters and community-dwelling controls. Pedophilic child molesters are characterized by primary sexual interest in prepubescent children, whereas nonpedophilic child molesters are characterized by offending against children despite being primarily sexually attracted to adults. The results showed that nonpedophilic child molesters made more errors in recognizing both facial and prosodic affect, performing more poorly than both controls and pedophilic child molesters. These findings are consistent with greater psychopathic tendencies among nonpedophilic molesters as well as with prior findings of smaller amygdala volume among child molesters.

Individual Differences in the Propensity for Partner Sexual Coercion

Camilleri, J. A., Quinsey, V. L. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:15:16 PST

Lalumière, Harris, Quinsey, and Rice (2005) proposed a three-path model (psychopathy, young male syndrome, and competitive disadvantage) of the development of sexually coercive behavior, but none of these individual difference characteristics have been tested among partner rapists. Using a community sample in Study 1, the authors find that psychopathy is the only significant predictor of self-reported propensity for partner sexual coercion. This model is tested in Study 2 by comparing convicted partner rapists, nonsexual partner assaulters, and heterosexual child molesters. One third of partner rapists are psychopaths, and their psychopathy scores are no different from those found in correctional samples. Partner rapists have an average IQ, providing further evidence that competitive disadvantage is less characteristic of partner rapists. There is some indication that partner rapists desist with age. The authors discuss these findings in light of recent findings that implicate cuckoldry risk in partner sexual assault.