NCJ Number
174531
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 41 Issue: 1 Dated: March 1997 Pages: 36-44
Date Published
1997
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article explores differences in the psychosocial development of exhibitionists, extrafamilial child molesters, and incest offenders.
Abstract
Studies have shown that there are differences between how offenders who have committed different crimes perform in therapy. Eighty-one men completed the Measures of Psychosocial Development (MPD) at intake into an outpatient sex offender treatment program. Exhibitionists tended to have issues of trust, shame, and immediate gratification, which were similar to those experienced by extrafamilial child molesters. Incest offenders showed consistently higher levels of development than the other two groups. These findings have implications for the ability of offenders to develop therapeutic alliances, the intervention strategies that would be effective and the ultimate effects of those interventions, and the validity of the MPD. The fact that the three groups showed similar profiles on the positive subscales while showing different profiles on the negative subscales would indicate that the two ends of the continua are independent of one another, thus not continua at all. Tables, references