Sexual Abuse : a Journal of Research and Treatment

Post-Conviction Traumatic Stress (PCTS) describes the cognitive, psychological, and physiological symptoms of trauma that result from a range of experiences with the criminal justice system. This pilot study aimed to empirically validate the construct of PCTS utilizing the Post-Traumatic Checklist (PCL-5), an existing measure of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) according to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. Using mixed methods, the survey asked about the traumagenic impact of arrests, court proceedings, incarceration, probation/parole supervision, and sex offender registration requirements in a sample of people required to register as sexual offenders (RSOs; n = 290) and their family members ( n = 126)...

Although studies have been made of different subtypes of individuals who committed sexual homicides, the research into nonstranger and stranger sexual homicides remains limited. This study therefore aimed to examine whether those who sexually murder nonstrangers differ from those who kill strangers. Data derived from police records, court documents, and published case reports spanning a 31 year period (1988-2018) in mainland China were used to examine the modus operandi of 127 males who committed sexual homicides (45 nonstranger and 82 stranger cases)...

Experiencing erotic feelings towards a patient is a fairly common occurrence, not pathological per se, during phases of psychotherapy. This study aims to analyze associations between, on the one hand, the presence in therapists of romantic attraction (RA), sexual attraction (SA), or flirting behavior (FB) toward patients and, on the other hand, a series of characteristics of therapist, patient, and treatment. Between April and June 2022, 547 psychotherapists completed an online survey investigating their affective and behavioral responses toward their most recently treated patient...

OBJECTIVE: Prior research has rarely focused on sexual motives (e.g., motives for having sex) when studying sexual violence perpetration prevention. The current study examined the role of sexual motives alongside other risk factors like alcohol expectancies in predicting sexual violence. METHOD: We analyzed data from 205 male college students; 36% reported sexual perpetration of some type. Participants completed a series of questionnaires in a randomized order, including: measures of prior sexual perpetration, sexual motives, rape myth acceptance, alcohol expectancies, and a measure of social desirability...

Emotional congruence with children (ECWC) is a psychologically meaningful risk factor for sexual offending against children (SOC). Based on previous research and theory, three models have been proposed to explain ECWC: Blockage, Sexual Domain, and Psychological Immaturity. Using structural equation modelling in a routine correctional sample of men adjudicated for sexual offences ( n = 983), we found little support for all three of these models. Instead, we found that atypical sexual interests, alone, best explained ECWC, with a moderate relationship to ECWC...

Maltreatment is a risk factor for both sexual and non-sexual delinquency. Little is known about how specific forms of maltreatment relate to the distinct offending outcomes. Though trauma symptoms have been associated with maltreatment and delinquency, the intervening role of trauma symptoms in pathways from maltreatment to offending is not well understood. The goal of the current study was to test social learning and general strain theory explanations for sexual and non-sexual delinquency in adolescence, exploring trauma symptoms as a mediator between the four major types of maltreatment and offending outcomes...

The current study examined the self-reported working alliance of men attending a high intensity sexual offense treatment program and its associations with psychopathy, sexual violence risk, treatment change, and recidivism, in a Canadian sample of 317 incarcerated men followed up an average of approximately 10 years post release. Working Alliance Inventory (WAI; Horvath & Greenberg, 1989) self-reported total, Task, Bond, and Goal scores were positively correlated with treatment related changes in risk, and inversely associated with Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991; Wang & Hare, 2003) scores...

While there is a considerable body of literature on sexual aggression, we know much less about the violation of sexual boundaries within professional relationships. To address this knowledge gap, the characteristics of cases of sexual misconduct in the province of Quebec were extracted, based on a search of published disciplinary decisions between 1998 and 2020, using the legal databases CANLII and SOQUIJ. The search yielded 296 decisions including 249 male and 47 female members from 22 professional orders, and involving 470 victims...

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore clients' perceptions of sex-offending treatment. The sample included 291 people required to register as sex offenders in the U.S. who answered an open-ended question in an online survey asking them to describe their positive and negative experiences in mandated treatment. Using qualitative analysis, three overarching themes (with several subthemes) were identified: (1) positive and (2) negative treatment experiences and (3) the affiliation between the criminal justice system and clinical services...

Following a network perspective, risk of sexual reoffending can be understood as a construct that emerges from the interactions between risk factors. If these interrelationships are validly mapped out, this leads to an increased understanding of the risk and thus may contribute to more effective and/or more efficient interventions. This paper reports on personalized network modeling mapping the interrelationships of dynamic risk factors for an individual convicted of sexual offenses, using experience sampling (ESM) based on Stable-2007 items...

Over the last 50 years, there has been a plethora of research exploring sexual offending with a recent focus on online offending. However, little research has focused on voyeurism despite convictions and media awareness growing rapidly. Currently, there is sparse theoretical or empirical literature to guide research and practice for individuals engaging in voyeuristic behaviors. As such, 17 incarcerated men with a conviction of voyeurism in the UK were interviewed on the cognitive, affective, behavioral, and contextual factors leading up to and surrounding their offense(s)...

This study seeks to add to the existing knowledge and available literature on schema therapy elements in forensic inpatient samples. Early maladaptive schemas and emotional states were assessed in Dutch individuals with sexual convictions and compared to individuals with nonsexual violent convictions. Self-ratings of the Young Schema Questionnaire and the Schema Mode Inventory of 95 patients with either convictions for child sexual abuse ( N = 30), sexual violence against adults ( N = 34), and nonsexual violent convictions ( N = 31) were examined using one-way multivariate ANOVAs...

The present meta-analysis is an update of the meta-analysis by Schmucker and Lösel [Campbell Syst. Rev. 2017; 13: 1-75], which synthesized evidence on sexual recidivism as an indicator of treatment effectiveness in persons with sexual offense histories. The updated meta-analysis includes 37 samples comprising a total of 30,394 individuals with sexual offense histories, which is nearly three times the sample size reported by Schmucker and Lösel (2017: 28 samples, N = 9781). In line with Schmucker and Lösel (2017), the mean treatment effect was small with an odds ratio of 1...

This study aimed at assessing the extent to which factors associated with male child sexual offending may also be applicable to women with a self-identified sexual interest in children. Participants ( n = 42) took part in an anonymous online survey covering questions about general characteristics, general sexuality, sexual interest in children, and previously-perpetrated contact child sexual abuse. Group comparisons between women who reported committing contact child sexual abuse compared to those who had not were conducted in terms of sample characteristics...

Non-offending partners of individuals who have committed sexual offenses often choose to end their relationship given the many negative consequences they face as a result of their partner's offending behavior. Despite a focus on relationships in rehabilitation frameworks and the importance of the relationship for the individual who has offended and their partner, research has thus far failed to examine the process underlying why non-offending partners decide to stay in or leave their relationship following an offense...

A person convicted of sex offences (PCSO) is confronted with several challenges upon re-entry to the community, often facing difficulties accessing housing and employment, and experiencing stigmatisation, hostility and harassment from community members. Given the importance of community support for successful reintegration, we examined differences in public ( N = 117) attitudes toward a PCSO against a child (PCSO-C) with mental illness or intellectual disability compared to a neurotypical PCSO-C in an online survey...

This pre-registered study evaluated an intervention designed to reduce sexual aggression perpetration and victimization by changing risky scripts for consensual sexual interactions and corresponding risky sexual behavior, and by improving sexual self-esteem, refusal assertiveness, and initiation assertiveness. In a four-wave longitudinal study covering 23 months, 1181 university students in Germany (762 female) were randomly assigned to an intervention and a no-intervention control group. The intervention group completed six weekly modules addressing the targeted theory-based risk and vulnerability factors of sexual aggression perpetration and victimization...

The predominant approach to understand dynamic risk factors of sexual reoffending has been referred to as the Propensities Model (Thornton, 2016). According to this model, dynamic risk factors can be conceptualized as latent constructs whose change alters the risk of sexual reoffending. Despite its strengths and contributions to research, this model does not offer answers to the question of how dynamic risk factors contribute to the risk of sexual reoffending, or of how sustained change in risk might take place...

The Revised Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI-2) is a five-item measure that assesses for pedohebephilia (sexual attraction to prepubescent and pubescent children) based on child victim characteristics. We aimed to replicate findings by Seto, Sandler et al. (2017) by examining the predictive validity of the SSPI-2 in an independent sample of 626 men referred for a sexological assessment because of sexual offending against children. SSPI-2 scores were associated with an increased likelihood of sexual recidivism but were not significantly associated with non-sexually violent or non-violent recidivism...

There are multiple ways to report risk scale results. Varela et al. (2014) found that Static-99R results were interpreted differently by prospective jurors based on risk level (high vs low) and an interaction between risk level and risk communication format (categorical, absolute estimate, and risk ratio). We adapted and extended Varela et al.'s (2014) study using updated Static-99R norms, recruiting a population-wide sample ( n = 166), and adding variables assessing the personality factors 'cognitive motivation' (i...