Sexual violence against women is known to be a crime which is grossly under-reported, and when perpetrators have been convicted, their characteristics appear to comprise a heterogeneous profile which has been poorly researched. This paper aims to collate and present the evidence base to date on sexual offenders with adult victims, including reference to background characteristics, typologies, risk assessment measures, treatment and personality functioning. A framework for community management decisions is described.
Abel, G.G. , M. Mittelman , J. Becker , J. Rathner & J. Rouleau (1988) ‘Predicting Child Molesters’ Response to Treatment’, in R.A. Prentky and V.L. Quinsey (eds) Annals of the New York Academy of Science, pp. 223-235. New York: New York Academy of Science .
2.
Alexander, M. (1999) ‘Sexual Offender Treatment Efficacy Revisited’ , Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment11: 101-116 .
3.
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn). Washington, DC: APA .
4.
Bard, L.A. , D.L. Carter , D.D. Cerce , R.A. Knight , R. Rosenberg & B. Schneider (1987) ‘A Descriptive Study of Child Molesters, Development, Clinical and Criminal Characteristics’ , Behavioral Sciences and the Law5: 203-220 .
5.
Beckett, R. , A. Beech , D. Fisher & A. Fordham (1994) Community-based Treatment for Sex Offenders: An Evaluation of Seven Treatment Programs. London: HMSO .
6.
Beech, A. , C. Friendship , M. Erikson & R. Hanson (2002) ‘The Relationship Between Static and Dynamic Risk Factors and Reconviction in a Sample of UK Child Abusers’ , Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment14: 155-167 .
7.
Brownmiller, S. (1975) Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. New York: Ballantine Books .
8.
Chaffin, M. (1992) ‘Factors Associated with Treatment Completion and Progress among Intrafamilial Sexual Abusers’ , Child Abuse & Neglect16: 251-274 .
9.
Clark, D. (2000) ‘The Use of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised to Predict Offending and Institutional Misconduct in the English Prison System’ , Prison Research & Development Bulletin9: 10-14 .
10.
Cooke, D.J. (1998) ‘Psychopathy across Cultures’, in D.J. Cooke , A.E. Forth and R.D. Hare (eds) Psychopathy: Theory, Research, and Implications for Society, pp. 13-45. Dordrecht: Kluwer .
11.
Craissati, J. & A. Beech (2001) ‘Attrition in a Community Treatment Program for Child Sexual Abusers’ , Journal of Interpersonal Violence16: 205-221 .
12.
Craissati, J. & A. Beech (2004) ‘The Characteristics of Convicted Rapists: Sexual Victimization and Compliance in Comparison to Child Molesters’ , Journal of Interpersonal Violence19 (3): 225-240 .
13.
Craissati, J. & A. Beech (2005) ‘Risk Prediction and Failure in a Complete Urban Sample of Sex Offenders’ , Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology16: 24-40 .
14.
Craissati, J. , L. Webb & S. Keen (2005) Personality Disordered Sex Offenders. Report of Research across the London Probation Area. Oxleas NHS Trust and Home Office .
15.
Dean, K. & N.M. Malamuth (1997) ‘Characteristics of Men who Aggress Sexually and of Men who Imagine Aggressing: Risk and Moderating Variables’ , Journal of Personality and Social Psychology72: 449-455 .
16.
Dhawan, S. & W.L. Marshall (1996) ‘Sexual Abuse Histories of Sexual Offenders’ , Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment8: 7-15 .
17.
Dworkin, A. (1979) Pornography - Men Possessing Women. New York: Perigee Books .
18.
Firestone, P. , J. Bradford , D. Greenberg & M. Larose (1998) ‘Homicidal Sex Offenders: Psychological, Phallometric and Diagnostic Features’ , Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law26: 537-552 .
19.
Forth, A. & D. Kroner (1995) The Factor Structure of the Revised Psychopathy Checklist with Incarcerated Rapists and Incest Offenders. Unpublished manuscript.
20.
Freund, K. , S. Chan & R. Coulthard (1979) ‘Phallometric Diagnosis with “Nonadmitters”’ , Behavior, Research and Therapy17: 451-457 .
21.
Furby, L. , M. Weinrott & L. Blackshaw (1989) ‘Sex Offender Recidivism: A Review’ , Psychological Bulletin105: 3-30 .
22.
Groth, A.N. , A.W. Burgess & L.L. Holmstrom (1977) ‘Rape: Power, Anger and Sexuality’ , American Journal of Psychiatry134: 1239-1243 .
23.
Haapasalo, J. & M. Kankkonen (1997) ‘Self-reported Childhood Abuse among Sex and Violent Offenders’ , Archives of Sexual Behavior26 (4): 421-431 .
24.
Hanson, R. & M. Bussiere (1998) ‘Predicting Relapse: A Meta-analysis of Sexual Offender Recidivism Studies’ , Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology86: 348-362 .
25.
Hanson, R. & A. Harris (2000) The Sex Offender Need Assessment Rating (SONAR): A Method for Measuring Change in Risk Levels. User Report 1998-01. Ontario: Department of the Solicitor General .
26.
Hanson, R.K. & A.J.R. Harris (2001) ‘A Structured Approach to Evaluating Change among Sexual Offenders’ , Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment13: 105-122 .
27.
Hanson, R. & D. Thornton (2000) ‘Improving Risk Assessments for Sex Offenders: A Comparison of Three Actuarial Scales’ , Law and Human Behavior24: 119-136 .
28.
Hare, R. (1991) Manual for the Revised Psychopathy Checklist. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems .
29.
Harris, J. & S. Grace (1999) A Question of Evidence? Investigating and Prosecuting Rape in the 1990s. Home Office Research Study 196. London: Home Office . www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/violencewomen.html
30.
Hudson, S. & T. Ward (1997) ‘Rape: Psychopathology and Theory’, in D.R. Laws and W. O’Donohue (eds) Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment, pp. 332-355. New York: Guilford Press .
31.
Kennedy, H. & D. Grubin (1992) ‘Patterns of Denial in Sex Offenders’ , Psychological Medicine22: 191-196 .
32.
Knight, R. & R. Prentky (1990) ‘Classifying Sexual Offenders: The Development and Corroboration of Taxonomic Models’, in H.E. Barbaree , W.L. Marshall and S.M Hudson (eds) The Juvenile Sex Offender, pp.45-83. New York: Guilford Press .
33.
Knight, R. & J. Sims-Knight (2002) ‘The Development Antecedents of Sexual Coercion against Women in Adolescents’, in R. Geffner and K. Franey (eds) Sex Offenders: Assessment and Treatment. New York: Haworth Press .
34.
Langevin, R. , M. Ben-Aaron , P. Wright , V. Marchese & L. Handy (1988) ‘The Sex Killer’ , Annals Sex Research1: 123-301 .
35.
Lewis, P. (1991) The Report of the Working Party on the Assessment and Treatment of Sex Offenders at Broadmoor Hospital, Internal Document.
36.
MacCullock, M.J. , P.R. Snowden , P.J. Wood & H.E. Mills (1983) ‘Sadistic Fantasy, Sadistic Behavior and Offending Behavior’ , British Journal of Psychiatry143: 20-29 .
37.
Malamuth, N.M. , C.L. Heavy & D. Linz (1993) ‘Predicting Men’s Antisocial Behavior against Women: The Interaction Model of Sexual Aggression’, in G.C.N. Hall , R. Hirschman , J.R. Graham and M.S. Zaragoza (eds) Sexual Aggression: Issues in Etiology, Assessment, and Treatment, pp. 63-97. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis .
38.
Maletzky, B. (1991) Treating the Sexual Offender. Newbury Park, CA: Sage .
39.
Marques, J.K. (1999) ‘How to Answer the Question “Does Sex Offender Treatment Work?”’ , Journal of Interpersonal Violence14: 437-451 .
40.
Marques, J. , D. Day , C. Nelson & M. West (1994) ‘Effects of Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment on Sex Offender Recidivism’ , Criminal Justice and Behavior21: 28-54 .
41.
Marshall, P. (1997) The Prevalence of Convictions for Sexual Offending (Number 55). London: Home Office .
42.
Marshall, W.L. (1993) ‘The Role of Attachments, Intimacy, and Loneliness in the Etiology and Maintenance of Sexual Offending’ , Sexual and Marital Therapy8: 109-121 .
43.
Marshall, W.L. , D. Anderson & Y. Fernandez (1999) Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of Sexual Offenders. Chichester: Wiley .
44.
Marshall, W.L. & P. Kennedy (2001) ‘Sexual Sadism in Sexual Offenders: An Elusive Diagnosis’ , Aggression and Violent Behavior7: 1-22 .
45.
Murray, G.T. , D. Briggs & C. Davies (1992) ‘Psychopathic Disordered/Mentally Ill, and Mentally Handicapped Sex Offenders: A Comparative Study’ , Medicine, Science and the Law32: 331-336 .
46.
Myhill, A. & J. Allen (2002) Rape and Sexual Assault of Women: Findings from the British Crime Survey. London: Home Office .
47.
Overholser, C. & S. Beck (1986) ‘Multimethod Assessment of Rapists, Child Molesters, and Three Control Groups on Behavioural and Psychological Measures’ , Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology54: 682-687 .
48.
Porter, S. , D. Fairweather , J. Drugge , H. Herve , A. Birt & D. Boer (2000) ‘Profiles of Psychopathy in Incarcerated Sexual Offenders’ , Criminal Justice and Behavior27: 216-233 .
49.
Prentky, R.A. , A. Lee , R. Knight & D. Cerce (1997) ‘Recidivism Rates among Child Molesters and Rapists: A Methodological Analysis’ , Law and Human Behavior21: 635-659 .
Quinsey, V.L. , M. Rice & G. Harris (1995a) ‘Predicting Sexual Offenses’, in J. Campbell (ed.) Assessing Dangerousness: Violence by Sexual Offenders, Batterers and Child Abusers, pp. 114-137. Newbury Park, CA: Sage .
52.
Quinsey, V.L. , M. Rice & G. Harris (1995b) ‘Actuarial Prediction of Sexual Recidivism’ , Journal of Interpersonal Violence10: 85-105 .
53.
Rice, M. & G. Harris (1997) ‘Cross-validation and Extension of the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide for Child Molesters and Rapists’ , Law and Human Behaviour21 (2): 231-241 .
54.
Sahota, K. & P. Chesterman (1998) ‘Sexual Offending in the Context of Mental Illness’ , Journal of Forensic Psychiatry9: 67-80 .
55.
Salekin, R. (2002) ‘Psychopathy and Therapeutic Pessimism: Clinical Lore or Clinical Reality?’ , Clinical Psychology Review22: 79-112 .
56.
Schlesinger, L. & E. Revitch (1999) ‘Sexual Burglaries and Sexual Homicide: Clinical, Forensic, and Investigative Considerations’ , Journal of American Academic Psychiatry Law27: 227-238 .
57.
Seghorn, T.K. & M. Cohen (1980) ‘The Psychology of the Rape Assailant’, in W.J. Curran , A.L. McGary and C.S. Petty (eds) Modern Legal Medicine, Psychiatry, and Forensic Science, pp. 533-555. Philadelphia, PA: Davis .
58.
Seto, M. & H. Barbaree (1999) ‘Psychopathy, Treatment Behavior, and Sex Offender Recidivism’ , Journal of Interpersonal Violence14 (12): 1235-1248 .
59.
Simmons, J. & colleagues (2002) Crime in England and Wales 2001/2002. Findings 7/02. London: Research, Development & Statistics Directorate . Website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm
60.
Smallbone, S.W. & M.R. Dadds (1998) ‘Childhood Attachment and Adult Attachment in Incarcerated Adult Male Sex Offenders’ , Journal of Interpersonal Violence13 (5): 555-573 .
61.
Thornton, D. (2002) ‘Constructing and Testing a Framework for Dynamic Risk Assessment’ , Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment14: 139-153 .
62.
Thornton, D. & K. Hanson (1996) ‘Do Sex Offenders Specialise in Particular Forms of Sexual Offence?’ , paper presented at the Symposium at the XXVIth International Conference of Psychology, Montreal.
63.
Thornton, D. , R. Mann , S. Webster , L. Blud , R. Travers , C. Friendship , & M. Erikson (2003) ‘Distinguishing and Combining Risks for Sexual and Violent Recidivism’ , Annals of the New York Academy of Science989: 225-235 .
64.
Ward, T. , S. Hudson & W. Marshall (1996) ‘Attachment Style in Sex Offenders: A Preliminary Study’ , Journal of Sex Research33: 17-26 .
65.
Ward, T. , J. McCormack , S. Hudson & D. Polaschek (1997) ‘Rape: Assessment and Treatment’, in D.R. Laws and W. O’Donohue (eds) Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment, pp. 356-385. New York: Guilford Press .
66.
World Health Organisation (1994) The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (10th edn). Geneva: WHO .
