Sexual Offending Flashcards
Week 3
According to the precondition model, what are the 4 factors that contribute to sexual offending against children?
1) sexual arousal by children (PEDOPHILIA)
2) Affinity for children. Feel more comfortable being sexual with a child than someone their age. They feel equal to the child (EMOTIONAL CONGRUENCE)
3) Unable to meet needs in appropriate relationships (BLOCKAGE)
4) Inhibitions overcome through attitudes, impulsiveness, alcohol (DISINHIBITION)
what is the Vulnerability Model?
it is a DEVELOPMENTAL model which explains pathway between childhood and later sex offending.
1) biological vulnerabilities + adverse childhood experiences (e.g., abuse)
2) impaired social skills and self-regulation
3) impaired relationships with peers - increases risk of sexual contact with kids or coercion
HOW ARE ADOLESCENT SEX OFFENDERS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER
ADOLESCENT OFFENDERS?
-higher rates of sexual deviance
- sexual abused is higher as they are 5x as likely to have been sexually abused
-higher rates of emotional dysregulation
-more socially isolated
-less antisocial
lower criminal involvement
-fewer antisocial peers
-less substance abuse
^ these are what make them unique from others
sex offenders and other offenders have no significant differences in
1) social incompetence
2) attitudes about women
3) belief about sexual offending
4) parent-child attachment
5) Intelligence (do not have lower intelligence on average
people who offend against children tend to be
less antisocial and are often driven by deviant sexual interests
people who offend against adults/peers have
more similar to general adult offenders and tend to have higher levels of anti-sociality
what is the probability (%) of sex offenders reoffending IN 5 YEARS in ADULTS? how many don’t recommit? how many of the crimes committed are nonsexual crimes?
14% within 5 years DO recommit
86% don’t recommit.
of the crimes, 36% of them are nonsexual offenses
what is the probability (%) of sex offenders reoffending IN 15 YEARS for ADULTS?
24%. Yet the public believes that 74% reoffend
what is the probability (%) of ADOLESCENT sex offenders reoffending IN 5 YEARS?
12%. rates similar to adults. and 86% don’t reoffend.
adolescent sex offenders are ____ as likely to commit nonsexual reoffenses than sexual
twice as likely. However reoffense rates are lower if they receive treatment
risk factors for sexual reoffending can be grouped into…
Domain 1: Deviant sexual interests
• Attractions to sexual acts that are illegal or harmful or unusual such as sex with children, rape,
fetishism
• Not all sex offenders have enduring deviant interests
Domain 2: antisocial orientation
-Antisocial lifestyle or traits such as history of rule violation, disregard for others, impulsivity
around ___ to ___ meet the criteria for pedophilia
50-60%
which of the following is a predictor of sexual reoffending? pick as many as you think.
• Anxiety & depression • Low self-esteem, loneliness • Denial • But these are common areas of focus in treatment
trick question. none are good predictors of sex offending
whats the problem with using the VRAG in risk assessment with sex offenders?
the 12 items didn’t include factors related to sexual offending
what tools could be used for doing risk assessments of sex offenders?
option 1: VRAG
option 2: STATIC-2002 - unfortunately more made for adults
option 3: ERASOR
what was the static-2002 developed for?
developed for adult sexual offenders
static-2002 has items that are relevant to…
sex offending
T/F: Sex-offense tools are more predictive of sex offending than general violence tools
and…which tool would be best to use then?
TRUE.
static-2002
how many items are on the static-2002 and static-99?
14 items
- Age at release?
- Prior sentence for sex offenses?
- Juvenile sex offense?
- Rate of sex offending?
- Non-contact sex offense?
- Male victim?
- Young, unrelated victim?
- Any unrelated victim?
- Any stranger victim?
- Any prior involvement with criminal
justice system? - Prior sentencing for anything?
- Community supervision violation?
- Years free prior to index sex
offense? - Any prior non-sex violence?
Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Recidivism (ERASOR) was developed for
Developed for adolescents who have sexually offended
ERASOR has items that are _________-relevant
developmentally-relevant (having a supportive or rejecting family)
what is the AUC of ERASOR for predicting sexual reoffending in adolescents?
.66
is ERASOR better at short term or long term predictions?
short term is better predicted, because adolescents change for long term
what are the 5 sections of ERASOR?
1) Sex Interests, Attitudes, Behaviours (e.g., interests in young children, violence, both)
2) Historical sexual assaults (e.g., 2 or more victims )
3) psychosocial functioning (e.g., antisocial orientation
4) family functioning
5) treatment (e.g., if youth lacks realistic treatment plans)
what is phallometry?
aka penile plethysmographs.
You measure deviance directly through biological measures. for example, vids or pics of child porn or violence and directly measuring penis circumference.
does phallometry work?
it is a valid indicator of pedophiliac interest (children) and hebephiliac interest (early adolescents age 11-14)
T/F • Phallometric scores significantly predicted reoffending
true
what is phallometry used with?
adult offenders
does phallometry still run with adolescents?
no. it was used with adolescents in BC until 2009, due to ethics issues, technician charged with sex offence
does phallometry still run with adolescents?
no. it was used with adolescents in BC until 2009, due to ethics issues, technician charged with sex offence
sex offenders get registered with the police so..
so that police can track sex offenders. this is a well accepted act
in some cases there is notification of public of a sex offenders so…
so that public can access info on where live, etc.
this is more of a controversial act
In police registration in BC, pollice collect ____ but its not ____. only if _____ _____
- Police collect info, but its not public
- Police notify public only if a high risk
- In British Columbia, risk assessment is done & sent to the police
- Police make the final decision
in the US, is the public notified of sex offenders?
YES. extensive public notification. The public notified of ALL sex offenders
In the US, you are put on the registry based on _______ not your risk level
the offence you committed
you can be on the public registry for minimum
15 years
explain the 3 tiers sex offenders get categorized into and how long they must remain in that registry?
tier 1: exhebitionism - mooning. (15 yrs)
tier 2: sexual contact w minor - sexting (25 yrs)
tier 3: aggravated sex assault (life)
DO PUBLIC REGISTRIES REDUCE SEXUAL OFFENDING?
- People search the online registries but it does NOT change their behavior
- Does not appear to reduce sexual recidivism in most cases
- But, according to one study, it might deter new sexual offenses in adults
have public registries found any public safety benefits?
nope.
publicly registered adolescents have more _____ ideation and increased ______ ______
Registered adolescents have more suicidal ideation and increased suicide attempts.
What proportion of sex offenders sexually reoffend in 4-6 years?
14%
the best approach to assess sex offending in adolescents is…
ERASOR
compared to adolescent non-sexual offenders, adolescent sex offenders are:
5x more likely to have been sexually abused
how was treatment of sex offenders viewed in the 1970’s?
offender treatment was considered ineffective.
how was treatment of sex offenders viewed in the 1990’s to now?
– identified approaches and treatments that work
• Even serious offenders can respond to certain treatments
• Depends on the treatment
T/F: OFFENDER TREATMENT IS AS EFFECTIVE AS OTHER THERAPY
AND MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS
TRUE
BUT DOES THERAPY WORK FOR SEX OFFENDERS?
yes, as treated sex offenders had 37% less sexual recidivism. BUT not all treatments worked
surgical castration
a treatment used against sex offenders.
cutting the dick and/or balls off
they do it in Florida
does not reduce sexual reoffending because sexual assaults aren’t always about being horny
chemical castration (hormonal medications)
legal in 8 states.
reduces your want to be horny
Dunkelfeld Prevention Project – Kein Täter Werden program means..
“don’t offend”
what was the Dunkelfeld Prevention Project?
• Program in Germany for people with sexual interests in children
• First step – media campaigns to reach self-identified pedophiles and hebephiles
• Then, invite people to come it for an assessment to see if meet criteria
• If yes, then attend group cognitive-behavioral therapy program (e.g., relapse prevention),
medications
DOES THE DUNKELFELD PROJECT ENABLE PEOPLE TO SEEK
PROFESSIONAL HELP? what was the successes?
• Decrease in attitudes supportive of child sexual assault • Decreases in empathy deficits • Decrease in problem coping • Decreased sexual preoccupation - masturbation to fantasies with children
what was the downside of the DUNKELFELD PROJECT?
• None in either group were arrested • No significant differences between treatment and control groups • 20% reported child sexual assault behavior after treatment (e.g., voyeurism, sexual discussions with children) • 91% examined child abusive images after treatment
