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

Empathy is an aspect of social cognition which has gained much attention to explain sexual violence perpetration, with research resulting in mixed and contradictory findings. Another aspect of social cognition, which has been linked to, and even used synonymously with, cognitive empathy is Theory of Mind (ToM). However, research is severely lacking on the role which ToM may play in sexual violence. Hence, in order to elucidate such issues, following a theoretical discussion of these concepts, we propose an integrated Social Information Processing (SIP) framework to understand how empathy and ToM may be involved in sexual violence perpetration. This framework includes the steps laid out by Crick and Dodge's original SIP model, the emotional processes emphasised by Lemerise and Arsenio, the empathy stages identified by Marshall and colleagues, and our propositions concerning the role played by ToM. In this theoretical article, we argue that ToM and empathy are primarily involved in earlier SIP stages, but may have repercussions on subsequent stages as SIP is cyclical. Nonetheless, greater research is needed to conclusively identify where deficits lie. In terms of clinical implications, we recommend that empathy and ToM be targeted in interventions (primary, secondary and tertiary) using cognitive-behavioural therapy principles which are involved in, and affect, SIP.

Recent research has highlighted the importance of protective factors in preventing sexual offense recidivism and led to the development of a number of strengths-based approaches to the treatment of adult males who have been convicted of sexual offenses. However, these approaches have not been supported by structured methods to assess protective factors. The Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors against Sexual Offending (SAPROF-SO) was designed to bridge the gap between assessment and strengths-based treatment, and the current study contributes to the validation of that instrument. The SAPROF-SO was rated retrospectively for adult males released on supervised release from a secure treatment center in the US (N = 170). SAPROF-SO total scores predicted supervised release success as measured by revocation outcomes. In addition, results highlighted the utility of the SAPROF-SO Resilience subscale in predicting supervised release revocation for any reason and the Adaptive Sexuality subscale in predicting sexually related revocations. Notably, the SAPROF-SO demonstrated incremental validity over the Static-99R, which was not predictive of revocation outcomes. Implications for the management of sexual offense risk when planning and administering release from criminal justice contexts are discussed.

The number of reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) detected on online platforms has increased dramatically in the last decade. Research has suggested that some individuals engage in a progression from typical adult pornography to atypical adult pornography (e.g., bondage, discipline, sadism, and masochism (BDSM), bestiality) to CSAM. Examining the onset to adult pornography and CSAM can therefore help identify intervention points for prevention and disruption. To investigate first exposure to adult pornography and CSAM, we anonymously surveyed a community sample of 5512 adults in five different countries: 742 (13.5%) survey participants self-reported viewing CSAM; 77% were male, 19.5% were female and 3.5% identified as another gender/sex. Majorities of respondents who viewed CSAM (71.2%), BDSM adult pornography (66.6%), and bestiality adult pornography (62.4%) were first exposed to this material prior to age 18. Females were significantly more likely than males to view adult content at younger ages. Younger age of exposure to typical and atypical adult pornography predicted younger age of exposure to CSAM, and respondents aged under 40 years were significantly more likely to view CSAM at younger ages (p < .001). Self-reported CSAM viewers predominantly first discovered CSAM unintentionally (86.1%) and when alone (76%). The findings suggest a need for increased interventions that prevent exposure to CSAM and illegal adult content among adolescents.

Prisons in South Korea have implemented psychotherapy programs for people convicted of sexual offenses to reduce sexual crime recidivism post-release. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the treatment by analyzing data from 13,200 men convicted of sexual offenses released from 2015 to 2019. We estimated the latent change score (LCS) for rape myths acceptance (RMA) and child sexual assault supportive attitudes (CSA) utilizing the 2W-LCS model. We examined the relationship between the LCS and sexual crime recidivism. Additionally, we employed multigroup analysis to compare the results based on program completion status. The results showed that regardless of completion, the LCSs for both RMA and CSA were significant and negative, indicating a decrease in both levels of cognitive distortion after treatment. In addition, the absolute values of the LCSs for both RMA and CSA were larger in the fully-treated group than in the partially-treated group. The CSA LCSs exhibited a significant relationship with sexual crime recidivism only in the fully-treated group. Overall, the study supports the treatment's effectiveness and underscores the importance of treatment completion.

There is some evidence that testosterone-lowering medications (TLM) may be an effective treatment for men convicted of sexual offenses by attenuating paraphilic sexual fantasies and behaviors and reducing the recidivism risk. To date, however, only little is known about the effects of TLM stopping on risk-relevant aspects. Therefore, the current study aimed at examining the recidivism risk as measured by Stable-2007 as well as official records of reoffenses in 29 men having stopped TLM treatment as compared to 37 men with ongoing TLM treatment. The Stable-2007 was rated retrospectively at 4 time points: committal to forensic treatment (T1), starting (T2) and stopping of TLM treatment (T3), and at reporting date (T4). There was a significant decrease in Stable-2007 scores over time, but there were no significant group differences. Within the stopped-TLM group, there were no significant differences between T3 and T4, implying that the recidivism risk remained stable over an average observation period of 4.5 years after TLM stopping. In addition, there was no significant difference in actual reoffending rates between the groups. For sexual reoffending, the percentages were 17.2% for the stopped-TLM group and 10.8% for the ongoing-TLM group. However, although the current results suggest that there is at least no increase in risk assessment (i.e., Stable-2007) after having stopped TLM, the actual reoffending rates of both groups were higher than expected. This once again demonstrates that TLM stopping decisions remain very difficult to make. Further studies are urgently needed to draw clearer conclusions.

Recidivism among individuals who have sexually offended poses a significant public health and safety concern. It is crucial to assess the predictive validity of traditional risk factors in individuals engaged in online child exploitation. This study examines recidivism rates and risk factors among individuals involved in online child sexual exploitation, analyzing data from a sample of 228 adult males who had committed sexual and nonsexual offenses at their index crime. The findings suggest that offense-supportive cognitions (Harrell's C = .73-.75) and emotional congruence with children (Harrell's C = .77) serve as predictors for contact sexual recidivism. Consumption of child sexual exploitation material and bestiality pornography are linked to online sexual recidivism (.69 and .75, respectively) and negatively related to sexual recidivism (.29 and .32, respectively). Overall, this research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of recidivism patterns and risk factors among individuals engaged in online sexual offenses against children, emphasizing the need for tailored intervention strategies in this population.

Stigma-related stress may contribute to increased risk in individuals who are sexually attracted to children. Further, certain subgroups of people attracted to children may be more stigmatized than others; this has important implications for prevention programs. We conducted a vignette study to examine whether public stigma toward people attracted to children differed based on the person's gender (man/woman), the gender of the child to whom the person is attracted (boy/girl), and preferentiality (non-preferentially/preferentially attracted to children). A sample of 385 participants (M_age = 41; 66% White; 52% male; 57% US residents) were recruited through Prolific. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight vignettes presenting a non-offending individual attracted to children. Vignettes varied on the person's gender, the gender of the child to whom they were attracted, and whether they were preferentially or non-preferentially attracted to children. Participants were asked to rate their perception of risk for the person to commit a child sexual offense (and give their reasoning) as well as fill out a measure of stigma regarding the person in the vignette. The only characteristic associated with perception of risk and stigma was preferentiality; participants rated preferentially attracted persons as being a higher risk to offend and endorsed higher stigma regarding that individual. Open-ended responses indicated that in rating risk to offend, participants were concerned with the role of attraction to children, characteristics of the attraction, loss of control and opportunism, lack of offense history, and lifestyle factors.

Recidivism risk assessment is crucial for effective case management of men convicted of sex offending. The use of empirical actuarial risk tools has become routine in the field. However, the development of actuarial risk scales for assessing general, violent and/or sexual recidivism in these men is ongoing: The Static-99 led to the Static-99R and the Static-2002R, and the BARR-2002R emerged to assess violent recidivism risk. A study was undertaken to evaluate and compare the inter-rater and predictive validity of the Static-99R, the Static-2002R, and the BARR-2002R in a sample of 328 men convicted of sex offending released from prison in French Belgium. When the instruments were considered integrally, the two versions of the Static-the Static-99R and the Static-2002R-proved better at predicting sexual recidivism and the BARR-2002R was better at predicting violent recidivism. And, the predictive and incremental predictive validity of the factor structure identified by Brouillette-Alarie et al. (2016) was examined. Results proved consistent in that the Youthful stranger aggression and General criminality factors were better at predicting general recidivism and violent non-sexual recidivism while the Persistence/paraphilia factor was better at predicting sexual recidivism.

Thirty-two forensic persons who have committed sexual offenses against children (FP-SOC), 26 non-forensic persons of whom most have committed sexual offenses against children (NFP-SOC), 14 forensic persons who have not committed sexual offenses against children but have committed other offenses (FP-NSOC), and 53 non-forensic persons who have not committed sexual offenses against children (NFP-NSOC) were instructed to solve a cognitive task, while sexual distractors were presented simultaneously. Behavioral performance and eye movements were measured. FP-SOC and NFP-SOC exhibit same age preference patterns for children and adults, but both groups differ significantly with respect to sexual attentional control. Moderate discrimination accuracy and moderate effect sizes resulted for sexual interest, and good discrimination accuracy and large effect sizes were found for attentional control. Good attentional control in the NFP-SOC, probably reflecting superior sexual self-control and self-regulation abilities, might contribute to a better recognition and control of environmental factors in sexual risk situations, preventing them from being detected and convicted. Otherwise, strong cognitive distortions might serve for them as offense justification. We conclude that those non-forensic persons with sexual offense histories against children (NFP-SOC) with sexual interest in children, good attentional self-control and strong cognitive distortions represent a problematic group which should receive more attention regarding further research but also therapy. Future studies should include more suitable and larger control groups, appropriate instruments to measure independent variables, and investigate whether different classifications of pedophilic interest would be better suited to describe the eye movement patterns of our study participants.