NCJ Number
204921
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 48 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2004 Pages: 175-188
Date Published
April 2004
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationships between paraphilias, sexual offending, and nonsexual offending among sexual offenders.
Abstract
The vast amount of research on criminal behavior places sexual offenders in a separate category based on the implicit assumption that sexual offenders are a distinct and special group of offenders. This view of sexual offenders as separate and unique offenders is increasingly being challenged by the research community. In fact, a great deal of criminal diversity has been noted among sexual offenders. In the current study, the authors were interested in discovering the extent of criminal diversity among a homogeneous and mainstream group of adult male offenders serving time for sexually assaulting children. It was hypothesized that there would be considerable criminal diversity among the sample, that there would be a positive association between sexual and nonsexual offense convictions, and a positive association between paraphilic interests and both sexual and nonsexual offense categories. Participants were 221 adult male offenders serving sentences in Australia for sexual offenses against children. Questionnaires were completed that elicited information about personal characteristics, psychosocial and psychosexual histories, pornography and Internet use, paraphilic activity, offenders networking, and modus operandi. Based on their answers, the group was divided into 98 intrafamilial offenders, 72 extrafamilial offenders, 37 mixed-type offenders, and 13 deniers. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, was used to determine the existence of paraphilias other than pedophilia within the sample. Results indicated considerable criminal diversity among this group of adult male sexual offenders. A full 86 percent of the offenders had previously been convicted for a nonsexual offense and 92 percent of the recidivist offenders had previously been convicted for at least one nonsexual offense. The prevalence of other paraphilias other than pedophilia was low, only 5 percent of the sample met formal diagnostic criteria for multiple paraphilias. Interestingly, paraphilic interests were not related to offenders’ sexual offense convictions, but were significantly related to their nonsexual offense convictions. The findings provide support for applying a general theory of crime to the explanation of sexual offending rather than applying the traditional clinical models that link sexual offenses specifically with sexual psychopathology. The authors suggest that an explicit recognition of sexual crime as a legal, not a psychiatric, phenomenon is needed. Tables, references