Online child sexual offenders' language use in real-time chats

We analysed chat log communications between 38 adult males and children who were accessed by the men via social media for sexually exploitative purposes. Our goal was to understand how sexual offenders engage with children online and the dialogue they use to elicit compliance with sexual requests. Results revealed 72 discrete linguistic tactics, contained within eight overarching dialogue-based ‘moves’. Tactics were non-sequential (ie dynamic) and focused mainly on requests for sexual activity. Three distinct subgroup patterns of tactic use were evident. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

What Were They Thinking? An Experimental Investigation of Child Sexual Offenders' Beliefs.

<p>In the field of forensic psychology, child sexual offenders (CSOs) are often hypothesised to hold abnormal beliefs that facilitate the onset and maintenance of their offending. This idea has had considerable impact upon current CSO assessment and treatment practices. However, despite its intuitive appeal, empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis is unfortunately lacking. Information regarding the role that cognition plays in child sexual offending has been gathered almost exclusively using self report (i.e. interview and questionnaire) methods. In interview studies, CSOs talk at length about their offending and their statements are analysed for the presence of so-called cognitive distortions: utterances deemed to represent abnormal, offence-facilitating beliefs. In questionnaire studies CSOs and controls rate the veracity of listed cognitive distortion items and their answers are compared. In general, interview and questionnaire studies have tended to find that CSOs endorse cognitive distortions, which seemingly supports the notion that they hold offence-supportive beliefs. However, serious issues plague the use of these self-report methods because endorsement of cognitive distortions might reflect phenomena other than beliefs. The primary aim of this thesis was to examine the idea that CSOs hold offence-supportive beliefs using methods designed to side-step issues associated with self-report methods. Across three studies, three cognitive experimental techniques were for the first time applied to the study of CSO cognition. In Study One, CSOs and offender and community controls completed an experimental procedure called the lexical decision task. Against hypotheses, when compared to controls CSOs did not interpret offence-related sentences in line with distorted beliefs. A possible explanation for this finding was that CSOs' offence-supportive beliefs were insufficiently activated during testing. To investigate, in Study Two half the CSO and half the offender control participants were primed with images of scantily-clad children before commencing experimental testing. During testing, CSOs and offender controls read sentences describing children behaving in potentially sexualised ways. Participants were then given a surprise recognition test in which half the sentences were re-presented in an unambiguously sexual form, and half in an unambiguously nonsexual form. Contrary to hypotheses, neither primed nor control child sexual offenders showed memory biases for sexualised sentences, suggesting they did not interpret the original sentences in line with offence-supportive beliefs. Finally, in Study Three, CSOs' beliefs were examined using interview methods, and CSOs' and offender controls' beliefs were measured using a questionnaire as well as an experimental technique that used sentence reading times to implicitly measure beliefs. As hypothesised, CSOs showed evidence of holding offence-supportive beliefs according to the interview and questionnaire measures, but against predictions they demonstrated no experimental evidence of such beliefs. In fact, the three methods showed virtually no agreement regarding the belief-types each CSO was deemed to hold, raising important questions about the phenomena measured by each method. Overall, the results of this thesis did not support the stance that CSOs generally hold offence-supportive beliefs that set them apart from others. The implications of these findings for theory and treatment are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.</p>

What Were They Thinking? An Experimental Investigation of Child Sexual Offenders' Beliefs.

<p>In the field of forensic psychology, child sexual offenders (CSOs) are often hypothesised to hold abnormal beliefs that facilitate the onset and maintenance of their offending. This idea has had considerable impact upon current CSO assessment and treatment practices. However, despite its intuitive appeal, empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis is unfortunately lacking. Information regarding the role that cognition plays in child sexual offending has been gathered almost exclusively using self report (i.e. interview and questionnaire) methods. In interview studies, CSOs talk at length about their offending and their statements are analysed for the presence of so-called cognitive distortions: utterances deemed to represent abnormal, offence-facilitating beliefs. In questionnaire studies CSOs and controls rate the veracity of listed cognitive distortion items and their answers are compared. In general, interview and questionnaire studies have tended to find that CSOs endorse cognitive distortions, which seemingly supports the notion that they hold offence-supportive beliefs. However, serious issues plague the use of these self-report methods because endorsement of cognitive distortions might reflect phenomena other than beliefs. The primary aim of this thesis was to examine the idea that CSOs hold offence-supportive beliefs using methods designed to side-step issues associated with self-report methods. Across three studies, three cognitive experimental techniques were for the first time applied to the study of CSO cognition. In Study One, CSOs and offender and community controls completed an experimental procedure called the lexical decision task. Against hypotheses, when compared to controls CSOs did not interpret offence-related sentences in line with distorted beliefs. A possible explanation for this finding was that CSOs' offence-supportive beliefs were insufficiently activated during testing. To investigate, in Study Two half the CSO and half the offender control participants were primed with images of scantily-clad children before commencing experimental testing. During testing, CSOs and offender controls read sentences describing children behaving in potentially sexualised ways. Participants were then given a surprise recognition test in which half the sentences were re-presented in an unambiguously sexual form, and half in an unambiguously nonsexual form. Contrary to hypotheses, neither primed nor control child sexual offenders showed memory biases for sexualised sentences, suggesting they did not interpret the original sentences in line with offence-supportive beliefs. Finally, in Study Three, CSOs' beliefs were examined using interview methods, and CSOs' and offender controls' beliefs were measured using a questionnaire as well as an experimental technique that used sentence reading times to implicitly measure beliefs. As hypothesised, CSOs showed evidence of holding offence-supportive beliefs according to the interview and questionnaire measures, but against predictions they demonstrated no experimental evidence of such beliefs. In fact, the three methods showed virtually no agreement regarding the belief-types each CSO was deemed to hold, raising important questions about the phenomena measured by each method. Overall, the results of this thesis did not support the stance that CSOs generally hold offence-supportive beliefs that set them apart from others. The implications of these findings for theory and treatment are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.</p>

What Were They Thinking? An Experimental Investigation of Child Sexual Offenders' Beliefs.

<p>In the field of forensic psychology, child sexual offenders (CSOs) are often hypothesised to hold abnormal beliefs that facilitate the onset and maintenance of their offending. This idea has had considerable impact upon current CSO assessment and treatment practices. However, despite its intuitive appeal, empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis is unfortunately lacking. Information regarding the role that cognition plays in child sexual offending has been gathered almost exclusively using self report (i.e. interview and questionnaire) methods. In interview studies, CSOs talk at length about their offending and their statements are analysed for the presence of so-called cognitive distortions: utterances deemed to represent abnormal, offence-facilitating beliefs. In questionnaire studies CSOs and controls rate the veracity of listed cognitive distortion items and their answers are compared. In general, interview and questionnaire studies have tended to find that CSOs endorse cognitive distortions, which seemingly supports the notion that they hold offence-supportive beliefs. However, serious issues plague the use of these self-report methods because endorsement of cognitive distortions might reflect phenomena other than beliefs. The primary aim of this thesis was to examine the idea that CSOs hold offence-supportive beliefs using methods designed to side-step issues associated with self-report methods. Across three studies, three cognitive experimental techniques were for the first time applied to the study of CSO cognition. In Study One, CSOs and offender and community controls completed an experimental procedure called the lexical decision task. Against hypotheses, when compared to controls CSOs did not interpret offence-related sentences in line with distorted beliefs. A possible explanation for this finding was that CSOs' offence-supportive beliefs were insufficiently activated during testing. To investigate, in Study Two half the CSO and half the offender control participants were primed with images of scantily-clad children before commencing experimental testing. During testing, CSOs and offender controls read sentences describing children behaving in potentially sexualised ways. Participants were then given a surprise recognition test in which half the sentences were re-presented in an unambiguously sexual form, and half in an unambiguously nonsexual form. Contrary to hypotheses, neither primed nor control child sexual offenders showed memory biases for sexualised sentences, suggesting they did not interpret the original sentences in line with offence-supportive beliefs. Finally, in Study Three, CSOs' beliefs were examined using interview methods, and CSOs' and offender controls' beliefs were measured using a questionnaire as well as an experimental technique that used sentence reading times to implicitly measure beliefs. As hypothesised, CSOs showed evidence of holding offence-supportive beliefs according to the interview and questionnaire measures, but against predictions they demonstrated no experimental evidence of such beliefs. In fact, the three methods showed virtually no agreement regarding the belief-types each CSO was deemed to hold, raising important questions about the phenomena measured by each method. Overall, the results of this thesis did not support the stance that CSOs generally hold offence-supportive beliefs that set them apart from others. The implications of these findings for theory and treatment are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.</p>

What Were They Thinking? An Experimental Investigation of Child Sexual Offenders' Beliefs.

<p>In the field of forensic psychology, child sexual offenders (CSOs) are often hypothesised to hold abnormal beliefs that facilitate the onset and maintenance of their offending. This idea has had considerable impact upon current CSO assessment and treatment practices. However, despite its intuitive appeal, empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis is unfortunately lacking. Information regarding the role that cognition plays in child sexual offending has been gathered almost exclusively using self report (i.e. interview and questionnaire) methods. In interview studies, CSOs talk at length about their offending and their statements are analysed for the presence of so-called cognitive distortions: utterances deemed to represent abnormal, offence-facilitating beliefs. In questionnaire studies CSOs and controls rate the veracity of listed cognitive distortion items and their answers are compared. In general, interview and questionnaire studies have tended to find that CSOs endorse cognitive distortions, which seemingly supports the notion that they hold offence-supportive beliefs. However, serious issues plague the use of these self-report methods because endorsement of cognitive distortions might reflect phenomena other than beliefs. The primary aim of this thesis was to examine the idea that CSOs hold offence-supportive beliefs using methods designed to side-step issues associated with self-report methods. Across three studies, three cognitive experimental techniques were for the first time applied to the study of CSO cognition. In Study One, CSOs and offender and community controls completed an experimental procedure called the lexical decision task. Against hypotheses, when compared to controls CSOs did not interpret offence-related sentences in line with distorted beliefs. A possible explanation for this finding was that CSOs' offence-supportive beliefs were insufficiently activated during testing. To investigate, in Study Two half the CSO and half the offender control participants were primed with images of scantily-clad children before commencing experimental testing. During testing, CSOs and offender controls read sentences describing children behaving in potentially sexualised ways. Participants were then given a surprise recognition test in which half the sentences were re-presented in an unambiguously sexual form, and half in an unambiguously nonsexual form. Contrary to hypotheses, neither primed nor control child sexual offenders showed memory biases for sexualised sentences, suggesting they did not interpret the original sentences in line with offence-supportive beliefs. Finally, in Study Three, CSOs' beliefs were examined using interview methods, and CSOs' and offender controls' beliefs were measured using a questionnaire as well as an experimental technique that used sentence reading times to implicitly measure beliefs. As hypothesised, CSOs showed evidence of holding offence-supportive beliefs according to the interview and questionnaire measures, but against predictions they demonstrated no experimental evidence of such beliefs. In fact, the three methods showed virtually no agreement regarding the belief-types each CSO was deemed to hold, raising important questions about the phenomena measured by each method. Overall, the results of this thesis did not support the stance that CSOs generally hold offence-supportive beliefs that set them apart from others. The implications of these findings for theory and treatment are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.</p>

Patterns and predictors of reoffending among child sexual offenders: a rapid evidence assessment

A rapid evidence assessment was conducted to provide an updated review of reoffending research on child sexual offenders from January 2010 to March 2020. Thirty-three studies examining 55 independent samples of adult and juvenile child sexual offenders were reviewed. Across most studies, rates of sexual reoffending were 15 percent or less, and rates of general reoffending were between 20 and 54 percent. The evidence suggests that the cumulative likelihood of both general and sexual reoffending increases until about two to four years after contact with the criminal justice system, then stabilises. Escalation from non-contact to contact sexual offending is not common. Finally, the evidence suggests that juveniles are more likely to reoffend sexually and generally than adults.

Reoffending among child sexual offenders

This study examines reoffending among 1,092 male offenders proceeded against for a child sexual offence in New South Wales between 2004 and 2013, including 863 child sexual assault offenders, 196 child abuse material offenders and 33 procurement/ grooming offenders. Seven percent of child sexual offenders sexually reoffended within 10 years of their first police proceeding for a child sexual offence, while 42 percent non-sexually reoffended. Risk of sexual and non-sexual reoffending was highest in the first two years. Child sexual assault offenders were the most likely to reoffend non-sexually, while procurement/grooming offenders were the most likely to reoffend sexually. There was evidence of transition to other sexual offence types, but this varied between groups. Indigenous status, history of offending and the number of child sexual offences emerged as important predictors of reoffending, although risk profiles varied between offender types.