Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment

Research on phallometric assessment has accumulated in recent years. This research can inform and enhance the use of phallometric measures of sexual preferences among sexual offenders. In this short essay we suggest empirical answers to common clinical questions regarding the application of this technology.

Eighty-seven sex offenders being assessed pretrial and presentence or posttrial for probation/parole were administered a questionnaire inquiring about desire for treatment, acceptable types of treatment and the nature of any problems, as perceived by the offenders. Three groups were examined: sexual aggressors against adult females, incest perpetrators, and pedophilic offenders. In spite of their legal circumstances, only 49.4% of the sex offenders wanted treatment. The preferred therapies were individual psychotherapy, social skills training and group therapy. The most frequently used therapy for sex offenders, namely, aversion conditioning, was among the least acceptable, along with castration, sex drive reducing drug therapy, and, paradoxically, group therapy. Male therapists were preferred more than twice as often as female therapists. Sex offenders saw interpersonal relations and lack of social skills as their major problems. Many were concerned about coping with the sequelae of their crimes. Less than two in five considered their anomalous sexual behavior to be a problem for them. Results suggest that there is considerable disparity between therapists' application of treatment and the offenders' perceptions of their own needs. Improving congruence between therapist and offender-patient goals may enhance treatment compliance and therapy success for sex offenders generally.

Clinicians and researchers have noted the important role of maladaptive beliefs and distorted thinking in facilitating or justifying sexual offenses. There have been a number of attempts to describe the nature of these beliefs and to develop ways of measuring them but in the absence of any integrating theory. It is our belief that an understanding of the cognitive processes underlying the initiation, maintenance, and justification of sexual offending is a vital prerequisite to the development of successful treatment programs. The present paper proposes the use of a social cognition framework in considering cognitive processes that may be important contributing factors in the propensity of some men to commit sexual offenses. Pertinent research in the social cognition domain, covering information processing, mental control, and the impact of affective and motivational factors on cognitive processes, is described and related to the sexual offending literature. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are highlighted.

This paper was prepared by the Safer Society Foundation, Inc., regarding the issue of public notification of convicted sexual offenders' release to the community. It does not represent the views or opinions of any other organization or group, professional or otherwise. The Safer Society advocates for community safety, victim restitution and treatment, and quality comprehensive sexual offender treatment. While the Safer Society supports adult sexual offender registration laws in general, it is totally opposed to public notification laws. Presently, 47 states have sexual offender registration laws, 30 states have sexual offenderpublic notification laws, and 15 states have laws allowing indefinite civil commitment of sexual offenders to state mental institutions. This document is designed to assist states considering public notification, or states that have enacted such laws, and to explore related issues and the impact of public notification on the greater community, including citizens, families, victims, and offenders. Numbers preceding the following points do not indicate relative importance, but are used for ease of reference.

Societal and legal depictions of victims have historically been, and presently remain, constructed around the two poles of innocent maiden and designing woman. On the basis of these constructions it is determined who is eligible for protection under the law, who is punishable, who deserves social support and who should be scorned. These views permeate our society and effect not only the interested observers but also the behaviors and attitudes of the victims and offenders themselves. This article reviews the statements of victims and perpetrators of sexual assault and compares their descriptions of sexual assault and its aftermath with popular constructions.

This paper argues that the notion of harm reduction can provide a more useful framework for the management of sex offenders. In this model, any reduction in the frequency or intensity of sexual offending is construed as positive. The zero-tolerance position, implicit in the relapse prevention model, has been a conspicuous failure in areas such as drug addiction and alcoholism. One of the major limitations is the equating of relapse with treatment failure. Moreover, managing sex offenders, in the sense of striving to limit socially undesirable behaviors, is a perfectly legitimate aim within the goal of making society safer.

Ninety-one incest perpetrators were compared to 36 nonviolent nonsex offenders for the presence of neuropsychological impairment. The WAIS-R, Halstead-Reitan battery, and CT scans of the brain were used. The sex offenders were also examined for the presence of substance abuse, violence, pedophilia, and biological relationship to the victim. Incest offenders had significantly lower IQ scores than controls but generally were within normal limits. One in eight incest offenders was neuropsychologically impaired on the Reitan battery and one in four showed some CT abnormality, usually in the temporal lobe areas. Incest and offender control groups, however, did not differ significantly in this respect. Neuropsychological impairment among incest offenders was associated with violence and nonbiological relationship to the victim but not with substance abuse or pedophilia. Overall, 3 in 10 incest offenders showed some neuropsychological finding. Results suggest that neuropsychological assessment of incest offenders clinically is worthwhile.