NCJ Number
208365
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2001 Pages: 234-246
Editor(s)
Jon R. Conte
Date Published
March 2001
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study was conducted in follow-up to a previous study assessing the relationship between psychopathy and deviant sexual arousal in a sample of incarcerated sexual offenders.
Abstract
In a study conducted in 1994, a significant positive correlation was found among sexual offenders between psychopathy and sexual deviance. This study was a follow-up to the 1994 study and the original 68 rapists and child molesters to determine (1) the overall rates of recidivism, (2) the predictive validity of psychopathy and sexual deviance, and (3) the degree of incremental predictive utility when defining groups according to combinations of psychopathy and sexual deviance. Of the 68 participants at risk to reoffend, 45.6 percent recidivated and 54.4 did not recidivate. Results indicated that recidivism rates were higher for rapists than child molesters. Even though a larger sample would have yielded better group distinctions, the findings confirmed the utility of differentiated risk management strategies for sexual offenders. The findings are in agreement with the basic risk/need principles suggesting that higher risk individuals need to be targeted more intensely than lower risk individuals and attending to treatment responsivity should increase treatment effectiveness. References