Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment最新文献

Research suggests that sexual offending is one of the more common forms of offending behaviour committed by autistic individuals. Despite this, very little research has investigated approaches to rehabilitation for autistic individuals who have sexually offended. The small body of literature that does exist suggests that interventions to address sexual offending may not be sufficiently adapted for this group. In this paper we present an exploratory qualitative study that (i) explores how prison-based interventions to address sexual offending are experienced by autistic individuals with sexual offense convictions and the staff who work with them, and (ii) identifies and explores the features of prison-based sexual offending interventions that may be challenging or beneficial for autistic individuals, from the perspective of those involved in treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 autistic men serving prison sentences for sexual convictions, and 13 members of prison staff. A multi-perspective phenomenologically-informed thematic (MPT) analysis identified three themes of 'Feeling overwhelmed', 'Out of the comfort zone', and '(Dis)connected to others'. These themes highlight some of the key issues relating to the format and delivery of interventions, as well as the impact of the broader prison context on rehabilitation.

Not much is known about the etiology, or development, of deviant sexual interests. The aim of this systematic review was to provide a broad overview of current theories on the etiology of sexual deviance. We conducted a systematic search of the databases PubMed and APA PsycInfo (EBSCO). Studies were included when they discussed a theory regarding the etiology or development of sexual deviance. Included studies were assessed on quality criteria for good theories. Common etiological themes were extracted using thematic analysis. We included 47 theories explaining sexual deviance in general as well as various specific deviant sexual interests, such as pedophilia and sadism/masochism. Few theories (k = 7) were of acceptable quality as suggested by our systematic assessment of quality criteria for good theories (QUACGOT). These theories indicated that deviant sexual interests may develop as the result of an interplay of various factors: excitation transfer between emotions and sexual arousal, conditioning, problems with "normative" sexuality, and social learning. Neurobiological findings could not be included as no acceptable quality neurobiological theories could be retrieved. The important roles of excitation transfer and conditioning designate that dynamic, changeable processes take part in the etiology of sexual deviance. These same processes could potentially be deployed to diminish unwanted deviant sexual interests.

Research has consistently found risk for sexual recidivism drops as men convicted of a sexual offense age. One question that remains, however, is whether this age-related reduction in risk applies to men who commit their sexual offenses at an older age. The current study examined this question in a sample of 939 men who were screened for civil management and released to the community (mean follow-up = 6.33 years, SD = 3.98 years), by comparing the sexual recidivism rates of (a) 238 men convicted of sexual offenses committed over the age of 60 (Over-60 Index group), and (b) 701 men who committed sexual offenses under the age of 60 but who were released to the community over the age of 60 (Under-60 Index group). Even though the Under-60 Index group was significantly higher risk at release, the Over-60 Index group sexually recidivated at a significantly higher rate, a difference largely driven by the small group of men who had committed sexual offenses both under and over the age of 60. The Static-99R was a strong predictor of sexual recidivism regardless of age at sexual offending (i.e., just under 60, just over 60, or both under and over 60). The 2021 Routine Samples norms significantly overpredicted sexual recidivism for the Under-60 Index group and significantly underpredicted sexual recidivism for the Over-60 Index group, indicating that the use of the 2016 High Risk/High Needs norms could be more appropriate for the Over-60 Index group, particularly those men who sexually offended under the age of 60 before sexually offending over the age of 60.

Understanding the difference between the proportion of sexual offenses that are officially detected versus the total number of sexual crimes that occur has been of interest to decision makers for some time. Previous studies have not considered possible racial differences. More aggressive responses by police and the criminal justice system as well as cultural differences in victim type/reporting rates may result in differences between detection rates of Black versus White men. In the current study (N = 190), we examined the difference between Black (n = 51) and White (n = 139) men committed to a forensic hospital as a Sexually Violent Person on factors that could impact the detected rate. Overall, we found that White men had significantly more total victims, undetected victims, undetected and detected child victims, total male victims, undetected male victims, undetected acquaintance victims, and total (detected and undetected) acquaintance victims than Black men. Black men had significantly more detected adult victims, but this difference did not remain when accounting for undetected victims. We explore reasons for these differences as well as provide recommendations for practice.

Problematic sexual behavior (PSBs) in children have been linked to difficulties or challenges within the family environment. Despite this association, few studies have examined how interpersonal boundary transgressions influence children's PSBs. Based on a sample of 112 parent-child dyads recruited before undergoing PSB-focused psychotherapy, this study first aims to explore the concept of sexual, physical, and emotional boundary transgressions within the current family environment in relation to reported levels of PSBs. The study further investigates the connections between parents' current boundary transgressions and their past and present family environments. Bivariate analyses revealed a positive correlation between heightened levels of interpersonal boundary transgressions and increased PBS, alongside elevated externalized behaviors. Two hierarchical linear regression models were employed: one to predict children's PSB scores with boundary transgressions as a predictor, and another to predict current boundary transgressions within the family environment. Results showed that current boundary transgressions within the family predicted the level of PSBs. However, once the child's externalized behaviors were considered, boundary transgressions ceased to be significant. Regarding the parents, transgression of interpersonal boundaries within the current family environment was associated with exposure to higher levels of interpersonal boundary transgressions during their childhood, current socioeconomic status, and a higher level of parental psychological distress. Keywords: problematic sexual behavior, PSBs, transgression of interpersonal boundaries, conceptual model, victimization experiences, intergenerational cycle.

Being sexually coerced can have long-lasting psychological impacts on victims; with perpetration strongly predicted by elevated psychopathic traits. Owing to recent legislative developments in the United Kingdom that criminalize coercive control under the Domestic Abuse Act (2021), this study offers a timely investigation into the mechanisms of sexual coercion in domestic abuse across sexual abuse and coercive control. We used moderation analysis (n = 405) to investigate whether sexual coercion proclivity was predicted by facets of atypical sexuality (non-clinical elevated levels of sex drive, sexual sadism, and sexual masochism), and whether this relationship was moderated by psychopathic personality traits specifically the factor one components, which encompasses interpersonal and affective characteristics. Psychopathic personality traits significantly moderated the positive association between sex drive and sexual coercion proclivity, and between sexual sadism and sexual coercion proclivity in males (but not females), but psychopathic personality traits had no such moderating effect in the sexual masochism model. Results are discussed in terms of identifying risk factors of sexual coercion within a general population sample and international application. Open data and a preprint of this paper are available at [https://osf.io/xkcah/?view_only=134ff9c93ad24ba286515b348ce79c0c].

The few existing typology studies on women who have sexually offended (WWSO) have largely been limited by small sample sizes, have not included scale scores from risk assessments, or used recidivism within their typology (instead of using typologies to predict recidivism). In our sample of 241 WWSO, we conducted a latent profile analysis and observed four, distinct profiles: "low-risk WWSO," characterized by fewer criminal history incidents and lower risk-assessment scores; "problem-endorsing WWSO," with higher probability of endorsing various life problems such as educational/employment and emotional/personal issues; "antisocial WWSO" with more criminal history incidents, alcohol/drug problems, and higher scores on psychopathy; and "combined WWSO" with characteristics of both the problem-endorsing and antisocial profiles. This last profile showed elevations in general and/or violent recidivism risk, but relatively low recidivism. There were no cases of sexual recidivism in our sample following an average 30-month follow-up period. Membership in the antisocial profile predicted general and/or violent recidivism and suggests that WWSO typologies may be useful in predicting non-sexual recidivism for this population.

Forensic psychiatric populations commonly contain a subset of persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) who have committed sex offenses. A comprehensive delineation of the features that distinguish persons with SSD who have committed sex offenses from persons with SSD who have committed violent non-sex offenses could be relevant to the development of differentiated risk assessment, risk management and treatment approaches. This analysis included the patient records of 296 men with SSD convicted of at least one sex and/or violent offense who were admitted to the Centre for Inpatient Forensic Therapy at the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich between 1982 and 2016. Using supervised machine learning, data on 461 variables retrospectively collected from the records were compared with respect to their relative importance in differentiating between men who had committed sex offenses and men who had committed violent non-sex offenses. The final machine learning model was able to differentiate between the two types of offenders with a balanced accuracy of 71.5% (95% CI = [60.7, 82.1]) and an AUC of .80 (95% CI = [.67, .93]). The main distinguishing features included sexual behaviours and interests, psychopathological symptoms and characteristics of the index offense. Results suggest that when assessing and treating persons with SSD who have committed sex offenses, it appears to be relevant to not only address the core symptoms of the disorder, but to also take into account general risk factors for sexual recidivism, such as atypical sexual interests and sexual preoccupation.

Despite the widespread public concern regarding abduction, research on this type of crime is scarce. This lack of research is even more pronounced when looking at cases that end with the death of the victim. In fact, all of the research looking at lethal outcomes in cases of abductions has focused exclusively on child victims and has failed to consider the interactions at the multivariate level between the factors related to the death of the victim. Therefore, the aim of the study is to identify offender and crime characteristics - as well as their interactions - associated with a lethal outcome in sexually-motivated abductions using a combination of logistic regression and neural network analyses on a sample of 281 cases (81 cases ending with a lethal outcome, random sample of 200 comparison cases). Findings show that sexually-motivated abductions ending with a lethal outcome are more likely to be characterized by an offender who is a loner, forensically aware, and who who uses a weapon and restraints, and who sexually penetrates and beats a known victim. The neural network analysis show that three different pathways lead to a lethal outcome in sexually-motivated abductions. Such findings are important for correctional practices.

The accurate assessment of pedophilic sexual interests is crucial for the treatment and management of individuals who have sexually offended children. This study aimed to validate the Revised Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI-2) in a Portuguese sample of 170 men convicted of sexual offenses against children, 104 serving sentences in the community, and 66 in prison. The findings indicated that SSPI-2 demonstrated good convergent validity, as evidenced by its significant and positive associations with the "sexual deviance" item of SVR-20, the number of previous convictions for sexual crimes against children, and having 3 or more child victims, which is associated with high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing men who show greater sexual arousal to children than to adults. Furthermore, the SSPI-2 exhibited good divergent validity, with no significant correlations observed with a self-report measure of psychopathy or with a nonsexual criminal history.