NCJ Number
147090
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: special issue (March 1994) Pages: 115-132
Date Published
1994
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Abel Screen, which is a portable, noninvasive, brief screen for pedophilia that uses both psychophysiological and self-report data.
Abstract
Child molesters often position themselves in organizations to access children. Interviews of applicants for such positions, psychological tests, home visits to applicants' residences, criminal record checks for prior convictions, and letters of reference have all been used in an attempt to identify applicants with proclivities toward pedophilia, but none of these methodologies have been validated. The standard methods for reporting the effectiveness of screening tests are reviewed, with special emphasis on the sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency of such testing, within the context of the prevalence of various diseases being screened. Volumetric and circumferential phallometry have relatively high efficiencies, but their intrusiveness, cost, and the length of the assessment process preclude their use as a screening methodology for pedophiles within organizations. The efficiency of a new, less intrusive, screening methodology, the Abel Screen, compares favorably with phallometry in identifying those at risk for involvement with prepubescent and pubescent boys. The Abel Screen works by matching the arousal pattern and cognitions of men who have admitted to a pedophilia diagnosis against the arousal patterns and cognitions of men in the general population who deny such diagnoses. The risk of applicants accessing boys in institutional settings could be significantly reduced by using the Abel Screen in such settings. 1 table and 15 references