Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Offense Trajectories, the Unfolding of Sexual and Non-Sexual Criminal Activity, and Sex Offense Characteristics of Adolescent Sex Offenders
The current study examines offending trajectories of adolescent sexual offenders (ASOs). Until recently, classification frameworks have not been designed to account for the heterogeneity of offending patterns in adolescence, how these are associated with the unfolding of sexual and non-sexual criminal activity, and whether and to what extent they are related to the characteristics of sex offenses in adolescence. The current study takes a longitudinal view of offending in adolescence by examining retrospective longitudinal data of 217 ASOs referred for treatment to a clinical service between 2001 and 2009 in Australia. Gene...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - November 8, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Cale, J., Smallbone, S., Rayment-McHugh, S., Dowling, C. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Collateral Consequences of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration and Notification: Results From a Survey of Treatment Providers
Among many in the research, policy, and practice communities, the application of sex offender registration and notification (SORN) to juveniles who sexually offend (JSO) has raised ongoing concerns regarding the potential collateral impacts on youths’ social, mental health, and academic adjustment. To date, however, no published research has systematically examined these types of collateral consequences of juvenile SORN. Based on a survey of a national sample of treatment providers in the United States, this study investigates the perceived impact of registration and notification on JSO across five key domains: menta...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - November 8, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Harris, A. J., Walfield, S. M., Shields, R. T., Letourneau, E. J. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Cognitional Impairment: Is There a Role for Cognitive Assessment in the Treatment of Individuals Civilly Committed Pursuant to the Sexually Violent Predator Act?
Sexually Violent Predator statutes allow the involuntary treatment of individuals who are found to pose a threat to public safety. Most sex offender treatment programs rely on cognitive interventions to reduce the risk of recidivism. The purpose of this study was to examine (a) whether individuals with paraphilia diagnoses have cognitive deficits compared with the general population; (b) whether individuals diagnosed with pedophilia differed on cognitive performance when compared with individuals diagnosed with paraphilia not otherwise specified (NOS), nonconsent; and (c) whether individuals with paraphilia plus antisocial...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - November 8, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Azizian, A., Hutton, S., Hughes, D., Sreenivasan, S. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

The Neuropsychology of Adolescent Sexual Offending: Testing an Executive Dysfunction Hypothesis
The objective of this study was to compare the executive functioning (EF) of adolescents with sexual offense convictions (ASOC) to that of non-sex-delinquents (NSD). A secondary goal was to assess the relationship among specific sexual offense characteristics (i.e., victim age), history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and EF. It was hypothesized that as a group, ASOC would present similar EF profiles as NSD. It was further hypothesized that ASOC with child victims would present significantly higher rates of CSA and more severe impairment of EF than ASOC with peer-aged or older victims and NSD. A total of 183 male adolesce...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - November 8, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Morais, H. B., Joyal, C. C., Alexander, A. A., Fix, R. L., Burkhart, B. R. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

The Adam Walsh Act: An Examination of Sex Offender Risk Classification Systems
This study was designed to compare the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) classification tiers with actuarial risk assessment instruments and existing state classification schemes in their respective abilities to identify sex offenders at high risk to re-offend. Data from 1,789 adult sex offenders released from prison in four states were collected (Minnesota, New Jersey, Florida, and South Carolina). On average, the sexual recidivism rate was approximately 5% at 5 years and 10% at 10 years. AWA Tier 2 offenders had higher Static-99R scores and higher recidivism rates than Tier 3 offenders, and in Florida, these inverse correlations were...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - November 8, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Zgoba, K. M., Miner, M., Levenson, J., Knight, R., Letourneau, E., Thornton, D. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Executive Dysfunction Predicts Delinquency But Not Characteristics of Sexual Aggression Among Adolescent Sexual Offenders
Our aim in this study was to evaluate executive function and its relationship to delinquency and sexual crime in adolescents incarcerated for sexual crimes. Based on self-report data, 196 male adolescent sexual offenders from a Midwest state reported high rates of executive dysfunction. Although such deficits did not relate to the number of victims of sexual abuse, severity, or degree of force used in commission of the sexual crimes, poor executive function was significantly predictive of both general delinquency and felony theft. In both measures of delinquent conduct, behavioral regulation dysfunction was predictive of t...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - November 8, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Burton, D., Demuynck, S., Yoder, J. R. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Acquaintance Rape: Applying Crime Scene Analysis to the Prediction of Sexual Recidivism
The aim of the current study was to enhance the assessment and predictive accuracy of risk assessments for sexual offenders by utilizing detailed crime scene analysis (CSA). CSA was conducted on a sample of 247 male acquaintance rapists from Berlin (Germany) using a nonmetric, multidimensional scaling (MDS) Behavioral Thematic Analysis (BTA) approach. The age of the offenders at the time of the index offense ranged from 14 to 64 years (M = 32.3; SD = 11.4). The BTA procedure revealed three behavioral themes of hostility, criminality, and pseudo-intimacy, consistent with previous CSA research on stranger rape. The construct...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - September 5, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Lehmann, R. J. B., Goodwill, A. M., Hanson, R. K., Dahle, K.-P. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Whats in a Name? Evaluating the Effects of the "Sex Offender" Label on Public Opinions and Beliefs
Particularly over the past two decades, the terms sex offender and juvenile sex offender (JSO) have attained increasingly common usage in media and public policy discourse. Although often applied as factual descriptors, the labels may evoke strong subconscious associations with a population commonly presumed to be compulsive, at high risk of re-offense, and resistant to rehabilitation. Such associations, in turn, may exert considerable impact on expressions of support for certain policies as well as public beliefs and opinions about adults and youth who have perpetrated sexual offenses. The current study systematically eva...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - September 5, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Harris, A. J., Socia, K. M. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Etiological Risk Factors for Sibling Incest: Data From an Anonymous Computer-Assisted Self-Interview
Retrospective data from 1,821 women and 1,064 men with one or more siblings, provided anonymously using a computer-assisted self-interview, were used to identify risk factors for sibling incest (SI); 137 were participants in SI. In order of decreasing predictive power, the risk factors identified by the multiple logistic regression analysis included ever having shared a bed for sleeping with a sibling, parent–child incest (PCI), family nudity, low levels of maternal affection, and ever having shared a tub bath with a sibling. The results were consistent with the idea that SI in many families was the cumulative result...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - September 5, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Griffee, K., Swindell, S., OKeefe, S. L., Stroebel, S. S., Beard, K. W., Kuo, S.-Y., Stroupe, W. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

"Identifying and Describing Emotions": Measuring the Effectiveness of a Brief, Alexithymia-Specific, Intervention for a Sex Offender Population
Certain individuals who sexually offend may have difficulty differentiating, identifying, and articulating emotions. These clients may prove challenging for therapists when engaging with them in treatment. Such clients may suffer from alexithymia. There has been a dearth of research regarding specific psychotherapeutic interventions for alexithymia in both the clinical and forensic fields. The present study provides results from a pilot study on the efficacy of a brief, four-session, alexithymia-specific intervention with adults who have sexually offended. The intervention also aimed to increase emotional awareness and psy...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - September 5, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Byrne, G., Bogue, J., Egan, R., Lonergan, E. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Risk Assessment in Child Sexual Abusers Working With Children
Child sexual abuse occurring in a child- or youth-serving institution or organization has attracted great public and scientific attention. In light of the particular personal and offense-related characteristics of men who have abused children within such an institution or organization, it is of special importance to evaluate the predictive performance of currently applied risk assessment instruments in this offender population. Therefore, the present study assessed the risk ratings and predictive performance of four risk assessment instruments and one instrument assessing protective factors concerning any, violent and sexu...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - July 18, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Turner, D., Rettenberger, M., Yoon, D., Klein, V., Eher, R., Briken, P. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

A Matter of Low Self-Control? Exploring Differences Between Child Pornography Possessors and Child Pornography Producers/Distributers Using Self-Control Theory
This study examined the demographic and background characteristic differences between those arrested for child pornography (CP) possession (only), or CP production/distribution, or an attempted or completed sexual exploitation of a minor (SEM) that involved the Internet in some capacity within the context of self-control theory using data from the second wave of the National Juvenile Online Victimization Study (N-JOV2). Results indicate few demographic similarities, which thereby suggest these are largely heterogeneous groupings of individuals. Results also indicate CP producers/distributers engaged in a greater number of ...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - July 18, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Clevenger, S. L., Navarro, J. N., Jasinski, J. L. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Cross-Validation of the JSORRAT-II in Iowa
The predictive validity of the Juvenile Sexual Offense Recidivism Risk Assessment Tool–II (JSORRAT-II) was evaluated using an exhaustive sample of 11- to 17-year-old male juveniles who offended sexually (JSOs) between 2000 and 2006 in Iowa (n = 529). The validity of the tool in predicting juvenile sexual recidivism was significant (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = .70, 99% confidence interval [CI] = [.60, .81], d = 0.70). Non-significant predictive validity coefficients were observed for the prediction of non-sexual forms of recidivism. Additional analyses were undertaken to test hypothe...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - July 18, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Ralston, C. A., Epperson, D. L., Edwards, S. R. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Is the Sexual Murderer a Unique Type of Offender? A Typology of Violent Sexual Offenders Using Crime Scene Behaviors
This study simultaneously explored the utility of the sexual murderer as a unique type of offender hypothesis and sexual homicide as a differential outcome of sexual assaults hypothesis. This study is based on a sample of 342 males who were convicted of committing a violent sexual offense, which resulted in either physical injury or death of the victim. A series of latent class analyses were performed using crime scene indicators in an attempt to identify discrete groups of sexual offenders. In addition, the effects of modus operandi, situational factors, and offender characteristics on each group were investigated. Result...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - July 18, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Healey, J., Beauregard, E., Beech, A., Vettor, S. Tags: Articles Source Type: research

Entrapment and Enmeshment Schemes Used by Sex Traffickers
Emerging research suggests that sex traffickers/pimps control the majority of trafficked girls in the United States. The youthfulness of these victims and their lack of psychosocial maturity severely diminish their ability to detect exploitative motives or withstand manipulation of traffickers. A review of 43 cases of sexually exploited girls involving non-relative traffickers and 10 semi-structured interviews with social service providers revealed numerous scripts and schemes used by sex traffickers to entrap and entangle victims including boyfriend/lover scripts, ruses involving debt bondage, friendship or faux-family sc...
Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment - July 18, 2016 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Reid, J. A. Tags: Articles Source Type: research