scholarly journals Fantasy-Driven Versus Contact-Driven Users of Child Sexual Exploitation Material: Offender Classification and Implications for Their Risk Assessment

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah L. Merdian ◽  
Nima Moghaddam ◽  
Douglas P. Boer ◽  
Nick Wilson ◽  
Jo Thakker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Sexual Interest ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Treatment Providers ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
A Minor

Since the advent of the Internet, convictions for the possession, display, trading, and distribution of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) have risen steadily, but little is known about their appropriate assessment and treatment, especially concerning their risk of reoffending. It has been suggested that a conceptual distinction of fantasy- versus contact-driven CSEM users might be of merit. Sixty-eight offenders recruited from sex offender treatment providers were assessed via an anonymous computer survey including a variety of clinical and risk-related variables; the findings showed differences in the psychological profiles between CSEM users and contact child sex offenders. Numerical and spatial methods of data analysis were used to identify subgroups of CSEM users; these confirmed the twofold distinction of fantasy- versus contact-driven offending. The spatial representation of participants identified three dimensions as crucial in the classification of these subgroups: direct sexual contact with a minor, possession of fantasy-generating material, and social contact with other users with a sexual interest in minors; potentially differentiating distinct offender subgroups with different risks and needs. The current study informed the development of an empirical model of CSEM users that could aid in the assessment of risk of reoffending and cross-over to contact sex offending.

scholarly journals Online child sexual exploitation material: A comparison from police data on men charged with child sexual exploitation material exclusively and men charged with contact child sexual abuse exclusively

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel J. Nicol ◽  
Danielle A. Harris ◽  
Mark R. Kebbell ◽  
James Ogilvie
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Community Supervision ◽  
Sexual Offences ◽  
Treatment Protocols ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Police Data

We do not know whether men who access Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) are contact child-sex offenders using technology - or a new and different type of child sex offender. This study compares men who were charged with Contact Child Sexual Abuse (CCSA) (n = 95) exclusively, and men who were charged with offences involving online CSEM (n = 99) exclusively. This is the first study of its kind in Australia, the first to divide participants into mutually exclusive offending type groups and to do this using police data. Logistic regression results indicated that CSEM offenders were significantly more likely to be older, more likely to be employed, have fewer criminal charges and supervision violations compared to CCSA offenders. The findings further highlighted the heterogeneity of those charged with child sexual offences based on offence typology. The identification of demographic, lifestyle and interpersonal characteristic differences between online CSEM and CCSA offenders’ questions the use of uniform approaches to community supervision and treatment protocols. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of an increased volume of people charged with CSEM offences.

scholarly journals Implicit Theories of Child Sexual Exploitation Material Offenders: Cross-Cultural Validation of Interview Findings

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Soldino ◽  
Hannah L. Merdian ◽  
Ross M. Bartels ◽  
Hannah K. Bradshaw
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Implicit Theories ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Distinct Type ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Conceptual Content ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Child Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Sexual Object

Offense-supportive cognitions are thought to result from underlying implicit theories (ITs). As child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) users are a distinct type of sex offender, Bartels and Merdian proposed that CSEM offenders hold five different ITs from those endorsed by contact sex offenders (i.e., Unhappy World, Self as Uncontrollable, Child as Sexual Object, Nature of Harm [CSEM variant], and Self as Collector), linked by an assumption about the Reinforcing Nature of the Internet. This article reports a conceptual content analysis of 23 interviews conducted with CSEM offenders in the United Kingdom and Spain. Support for all CSEM-specific ITs was found across both samples, providing an empirical validation of this conceptualization. Finally, four ITs originally identified for contact sex offenders were also identified, namely, Uncontrollability, Child as Sexual Being, Dangerous World, and Nature of Harm. Further validation of CSEM-related ITs is encouraged.

Maintaining Treatment Integrity with Sexual Abusers

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM D. PITHERS
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Professional Ethics ◽  
Treatment Integrity ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sex Offender Treatment ◽  
Treatment Providers ◽  
Do So

Most treatment providers who work with sex offenders do so with the belief that it may enable them to refrain from further victimizations. Generally, treatment of abusers is confrontative and challenging but demonstrates respect for the human dignity of individuals who have engaged in behavior that imposes enduring harm on others. However, among sex-offender treatment providers in North America, a tendency is growing to accept ever more intrusive measures as therapeutic. This article calls attention to, and discusses the implications of, one example of questionable sex-offender treatment. Readers are encouraged to make their own conclusions about the professional ethics and therapeutic propriety of the interventions described.

scholarly journals “Mr S, you do have sexual fantasies?” The Parole Hearing and Treatment of a Sex Offender at the Turn of the 21st Century

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dany Lacombe
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Treatment Program ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sex Offender Treatment ◽  
Sexual Fantasies ◽  
Parole Board ◽  
Clear Sign ◽  
Prevention Plan

How does the Parole Board decide a sex offender is rehabilitated and can be released into the community? This case study of a parole hearing reveals the significance the Parole Board gives to a sex offender’s management of his arousal as a clear sign of his rehabilitation. To explain the Board’s preoccupation with a sex offender’s sexual fantasies and arousal, I draw on a prison ethnography of a sex offender treatment program. Rehabilitation as risk management relies on the development of a crime cycle and relapse prevention plan designed to grasp the connection between fantasies, arousal and offending. I argue the parole hearing and treatment program exist in a symbiotic relationship that fabricates the sex offender into a species larger than life, one at risk of offending all the time. Key words: rehabilitation, sex offenders, parole, sexual fantasies, ethnography, prison.

Relationships Between Treatment Delivery, Program Attrition, and Reoffending Outcomes in an Intensive Custodial Sex Offender Program

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark V. A. Howard ◽  
Abilio C. de Almeida Neto ◽  
Jennifer J. Galouzis
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Treatment Effectiveness ◽  
Potential Interaction ◽  
Program Completion ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Therapist Characteristics ◽  
Treatment Delivery ◽  
Program Adherence ◽  
Program Attrition

Retention of sex offenders to the completion of treatment is critical to program adherence to risk need responsivity (RNR) principles; however, it is also important to consider the potential interaction between attrition and treatment outcomes such as reoffending. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of changes to treatment delivery in a residential sex offender treatment program (SOTP), including introduction of rolling groups and systematic emphasis on positive therapist characteristics, on likelihood of program noncompletion ( n = 652). Pooled regression modeling indicated that these operational interventions were associated with a significantly increased likelihood of program completion. We also examined whether variance in rates of participant attrition was related to reoffending outcomes for program completers ( n = 494). Incidence of attrition within completing participants’ treatment cohorts had a significant negative association with hazard of sexual reoffending that was not accounted for by pretreatment risk. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for treatment delivery processes that aim to optimize both participant retention and treatment effectiveness.

The Use of Leuprolide Acetate in the Management of High-Risk Sex Offenders

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 930-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Gallo ◽  
Jeffrey Abracen ◽  
Jan Looman ◽  
Elizabeth Jeglic ◽  
Robert Dickey
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Dependent Measure ◽  
Leuprolide Acetate ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Term Outcome ◽  
Long Term Outcome

The present study investigates whether leuprolide acetate (Lupron) adds to the efficacy of traditional sex offender treatment. A group of sex offenders receiving both Lupron and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT; n = 25) were compared with a group of sex offenders receiving only CBT ( n = 22). Treated subjects were compared with norms available with reference to the Static-99R, as well as compared with a sample of untreated, nonsexual violent offenders ( n = 81), to provide baseline data regarding risk of violent recidivism. Results indicated that subjects receiving Lupron were at significantly higher risk of recidivism and significantly more likely to be diagnosed with a paraphilia than subjects receiving only CBT, a priori. Both treated groups of sexual offenders recidivated at substantially lower rates than predicted by the Static-99R. Currently, this study represents the only, long-term outcome study on Lupron administration using officially recorded recidivism as the primary dependent measure.

Prison-based sex offender treatment programs in the post sexual psychopath era

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia M. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Behavioral Treatment ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sex Offender Treatment ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Treatment Methods ◽  
State Prisons ◽  
New Generation

Throughout the 1980s sex offender treatment programs proliferated in state prisons in the wake of repealed sexual psychopath legislation, driven by much favorable publicity over novel cognitive and behavioral treatment methods. This article examines the scope and likely impact of the new generation of sex offender treatment programs and concludes that heightened optimism may be premature. The new programs embody the same defects that the repeal of psychopath legislation was intended to correct. The enterprise of sex offender treatment would benefit from participation of social scientists outside of the treatment field in research on sex offenders.

The Impact of Interpersonal Style on Ruptures and Repairs in the Therapeutic Alliance Between Offenders and Therapists in Sex Offender Treatment

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 709-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Watson ◽  
Stuart Thomas ◽  
Michael Daffern
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Therapeutic Alliance ◽  
Therapeutic Relationship ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Group Treatment ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Interpersonal Style ◽  
The Impact

The therapeutic relationship is a critical component of psychological treatment. Strain can occur in the relationship, particularly when working with offenders, and more specifically, those offenders with interpersonal difficulties; strain can lead to a rupture, which may affect treatment participation and performance. This study examined ruptures in the therapeutic relationship in sexual offenders participating in offense-focused group treatment. Fifty-four sex offenders rated the therapeutic alliance at the commencement and completion of treatment; at the completion of treatment, they also reported on the occurrence of ruptures and whether they believed these ruptures were repaired. Ruptures were separated by type, according to severity—Each relationship was therefore characterized as experiencing no rupture, a minor rupture, or a major rupture. Offender characteristics including interpersonal style (IPS) and psychopathy were assessed at the commencement of treatment; their relationship with ruptures was examined. Results revealed that more than half of the offenders (approximately 55%) experienced a rupture in the therapeutic alliance, with one in four of these ruptures remaining unresolved. Offenders who did not report a rupture rated the therapeutic alliance significantly higher at the end of treatment compared with those offenders who reported a rupture that was not repaired. Offenders who reported a major rupture in the therapeutic relationship were higher in interpersonal hostility and hostile-dominance. No interpersonal or offense-specific factors affected the likelihood of a rupture repair.

Sex Offender Risk Assessment and the Law

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip H. Witt ◽  
Joseph DelRusso ◽  
Jessica Oppenheim ◽  
Glenn Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Sexual Interest ◽  
Clinical Prediction ◽  
Current Application ◽  
Sex Offender Risk Assessment ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Sex Offender Recidivism ◽  
A Current

After discussing the historical, legal, and criminal justice context, the article reviews risk assessment principles for sex offenders. Issues of actuarial vs. clinical prediction, base-rate considerations, and duration of prediction are reviewed. The article next addresses specific factors found to predict sex offender recidivism, factors such as indicators of deviant sexual interest and an antisocial, psychopathic lifestyle. Finally, the article provides a current application in the form of New Jersey's Registrant Risk Assessment Scale to illustrate the risk assessment principles.

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