Factors Associated With Contact Sexual Offending Among a Non-Forensic Sample of Women With Sexual Interest in Children - Results From an Anonymous Online Survey.

This study aimed at assessing the extent to which factors associated with male child sexual offending may also be applicable to women with a self-identified sexual interest in children. Participants (n = 42) took part in an anonymous online survey covering questions about general characteristics, general sexuality, sexual interest in children, and previously-perpetrated contact child sexual abuse. Group comparisons between women who reported committing contact child sexual abuse compared to those who had not were conducted in terms of sample characteristics. Furthermore, the two groups were compared regarding the factors of high sexual activity, use of child abuse material, indication of ICD-11 pedophilic disorder diagnosis, exclusivity of sexual interest in children, emotional congruence with children, and childhood maltreatment. Our results revealed that high sexual activity, indication of ICD-11 pedophilic disorder diagnosis, exclusivity of sexual interest in children, and emotional congruence with children were associated with previous contact child sexual abuse perpetration. We recommend further research on potential risk factors relating to child sexual abuse on the part of women.

"We Do Exist": The Experiences of Women Living with a Sexual Interest in Minors.

The current body of the literature studying minor-attracted persons (MAPs) predominantly focuses on the experiences of men who experience sexual attractions to children. To shed more light on the experiences of women within this population, we conducted anonymous semi-structured interviews with six self-identified female MAPs, who were recruited through online support forums for individuals with sexual attractions to children. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyze the interview transcripts. Two superordinate themes were identified from the dataset that highlighted the uniqueness of the experience of being a woman within the MAP community ("A minority within a minority") and themes of social isolation and the effects of this on identity ("A lonely secret existence"). The findings reported here highlight how the experiences of female MAPs both converge with and diverge from their male counterparts in important ways. We discuss the implications of these experiences in relation to more effective service provision for women who are sexually attracted to children.

Paraphilias among Roman Catholic priests: what we know, and do not know, about sexual clergy-abusers of minors. / Parafilie wsród ksiezy Kosciola rzymskokatolickiego: co wiemy, czego i nie wiemy, o duchownych wykorzystujacych seksualnie maloletnich.

The issue of sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church is widely discussed in the media. Nevertheless, the term ?priest-pedophile'has been used inaccurately to identify perpetrators. There is very little research directly dealing with this group of offenders among Catholic clergy, and we do not yet have any theory that would adequately explain this type of behavior. Attempts to psychologically characterize priests who sexually abuse minors have brought limited success so far. The purpose of this article is to present the most important issues and clinical dilemmas related to the diagnosis and treatment of paraphilias among Catholic clergy, signifying similarities and differences between clergy and other perpetrators of sexual offenses against minors, present typology of sexual offenders among priests, and discuss therelationship of victims' gender with sexual orientation and celibacy of perpetrators. The author demonstrates that using the term ?priest-pedophile' is not only misleading, but is sometimes used to deliberately mislead. On the one hand, to create a moral panic effect, suggesting that the Catholic clergy is at increased risk of this type of crime. On the other hand, indicating gender and age of the most of their victims, suggesting that people responsible for this kind of abuse among Catholic clergy are homosexual priests and thus select a scapegoat responsible for the problems of the Church institution.

Características del abuso sexual infantil por representantes de la Iglesia católica en España / Characteristics of Child Sexual Abuse by Representatives of the Catholic Church in Spain / Característiques de l'abús sexual infantil per representants de l'Església catòlica a Espanya

Este es el primer estudio nacional en España en el que se evalúan las características diferenciales de la victimización sexual contra niños, niñas y adolescentes por parte de representantes de la Iglesia católica. Participaron 38 adultos (25 varones y 13 mujeres), a quienes se llegó mediante muestreo no probabilístico de conveniencia y bola de nieve. Se evaluaron las características de la victimización sexual y del victimario, la revelación y notificación y la vivencia de otras formas de victimización por parte de personas no pertenecientes al clero. Los resultados sugieren que las organizaciones religiosas deberían adquirir el compromiso de colaborar en el proceso de superación de las graves experiencias de victimización infantojuvenil acontecidas en su seno por parte de aquellos niños, niñas y adolescentes más vulnerables y victimizados

This is the first national study in Spain in which the differential characteristics of sexual victimization against children and adolescents by representatives of the Catholic Church are evaluated. Thirty-eight adults (25 men and 13 women) reached by non-probabilistic sampling of convenience and snowball participated in the study. The characteristics of the sexual victimization and the perpetrator, the disclosure and notification and the experience of other forms of victimization by people not belonging to the clergy were evaluated. The results suggests that religious organizations should acquire the commitment to collaborate in the process of overcoming the serious experiences of victimization by those most vulnerable and victimized children and adolescents

Aquest és el primer estudi nacional a Espanya en el qual s'avaluen les característiques diferencials de la victimització sexual contra nens, nenes I adolescents per part de representants de l'Església catòlica. Van participar-hi 38 adults (25 homes I 13 dones), als qui es va arribar mitjançant mostreig no probabilístic de conveniència I bola de neu. Es van avaluar les característiques de la victimització sexual I del victimari, la revelació I notificació ila vivència d'altres formes de victimització per part de persones no pertanyents al clergat. Els resultats suggereixen que les organitzacions religioses haurien d'adquirir el compromís de col·laborar en el procés de superació de les greus experiències de victimització infantil I juvenil esdevingudes allà per part d'aquells nens, nenes I adolescents més vulnerables I victimitzats

Association between MMPI-2-RF SUB items/scale and interview-reported substance abuse history among forensic psychiatric inpatients.

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between substance use disclosure during the clinical interview and on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Substance Abuse Scale (SUB) among forensic inpatients. Of the 223 archival reports reviewed that had MMPI-2-RF data, 69% of the MMPI-2-RF protocols were valid based on standard validity criteria, resulting in a final sample of 154 patients (98 men, 56 women). We found that patients who endorsed alcohol or marijuana use during the clinical interview often concurrently denied substance use on the MMPI-2-RF SUB scale (the opposite was found for prescription drug abuse). We also found that the MMPI-2-RF SUB scale and other MMPI-2-RF externalizing scales were meaningfully associated with concurrent substance use variables from a record review form. Finally, we found that the MMPI-2-RF SUB scale demonstrated incremental validity over other MMPI-2-RF externalizing scales in the prediction of substance use problems. These results highlight the utility of SUB scale and other self-report instruments in assessing substance use problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Are There Early Risk Markers for Pedophilia? A Nationwide Case-Control Study of Child Sexual Exploitation Material Offenders.

Although prior research suggests associations between parental characteristics and later sexual offending in offspring, possible links between early pregnancy-related factors and sexual offending remain unclear. Early risk markers unique to sexual offending, however, may be more prominent among sexual offenders with atypical sexual interests, such as individuals involved with child sexual exploitation material (CSEM; also referred to as child pornography). We examined the prospective association between parental and pregnancy-related risk markers and a behavioral indicator of pedophilic interest, CSEM offending. All 655 men born in Sweden and convicted of CSEM offending between 1988 to 2009 were matched 1:5 on sex, birth year, and county of birth in Sweden to 3,928 controls without sexual or nonsexual violent convictions. Paternal age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.1, 1.7]), parental education (AOR = 0.8, 95% CI [0.6, 0.9]), parental violent criminality (AOR = 2.9, 95% CI [2.2, 3.8]), number of older brothers (AOR = 0.8, 95% CI [0.6, 0.9] per brother), and congenital malformations (AOR = 1.7, 95% CI [1.2, 2.4]) all independently predicted CSEM convictions. This large-scale, nationwide study suggests parental risk markers for CSEM offending. We did not, however, find convincing evidence for pregnancy-related risk markers, with the exception of congenital malformations and having fewer older brothers.

Reduction of Risk Factors for Pedophilic Sexual Offending.

INTRODUCTION: Exploratory analysis of characteristics and reduction of risk factors for child sexual abuse (CSA) in a sample treated in the Prevention Projects Dunkelfeld Hannover and Regensburg. AIM: To evaluate a treatment program aimed at reducing dynamic risk factors (DRF) for CSA. METHODS: Using a psychometric test battery based on self-report questionnaires, intergroup analysis between treatment group (TG, n = 35), treatment refusers (TR, n = 51), and drop-out group (DO, n = 14) was conducted with pretreatment data. Intragroup analysis compared data of TG from pre- and posttreatment. The test battery included sociodemographic and sociosexual data, as well as questionnaires measuring DRF. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: This study investigated effects of treatment on pedophilic men who are at risk for offending and observed reductions in important risk factors for CSA. RESULTS: TG, TR (consisting of persons who were offered but refused therapy), and DO did not differ regarding sociodemographic and sociosexual variables before therapy. There were no significant differences in education, relationship status, living solitarily, and being a father/stepfather. TR and DO lived farther away from treatment site than TG. In the TG, a reduction in offense-supportive attitudes, coping self-efficacy deficits, and child identification were revealed at second assessment. In TG no participants started the consumption of child abuse content during the course of the study. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Future treatment concepts should focus on the reduction of empirically relevant risk factors for child sexual offending. STRENGTH & LIMITATIONS: The present article is the first that compares TG to TR and DO before assessment regarding DRF and sociosexual variables. Moreover, it is only the second study that investigated treatment effects on a population of pedophilic men who are at risk for offending. These preliminary findings are limited by moderate group size and a missing control group. CONCLUSION: A reduction in some but not all assessed risk factors for sexual offending against minors could be seen within the time frame of therapy. Findings are in line with results from a previous evaluation study. Engel J, Körner M, Schuhman P. Reduction of risk factors for pedophilic sexual offending. J Sex Med 2018;15:1629-1637.

Sexual Desire Among an Online Sample of Men Sexually Attracted to Children.

Sexual attraction to children occurs in roughly 3 to 9 percent of the population. However, most knowledge about such desires comes from forensic samples, and most studies fail to assess preferred sexual activity and sexual partner. A new multimodal assessment of sexual desire was used to investigate interest in consensual and nonconsensual sex with adults and children in an online sample of men sexually attracted to children (n = 101). Desires were compared across history of sex offending behavior and preferred gender of child victim. Men who have and have not acted on their sexual attractions to children reported similar levels of sexual desire. Men primarily attracted to girls reported greater desire for sex with adults than did men primarily attracted to boys. Results highlight the heterogeneity of men sexually attracted to children as well as possible distinctions across gender of children to whom they are primarily attracted.

Gray matter anomalies in pedophiles with and without a history of child sexual offending.

Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder that is inter-related with but distinct from child sexual offending (CSO). Neural alterations reportedly contribute to both pedophilia and CSO, but until now, no study has distinguished the brain structural anomalies associated with pedophilia from those specifically associated with CSO in pedophilic men. Using high-resolution T1-weighted brain images and voxel-based morphometry, we analyzed the gray matter (GM) volume of the following 219 men recruited at four acquisition sites in Germany: 58 pedophiles with a history of CSO, 60 pedophiles without any history of CSO and 101 non-pedophilic, non-offending controls to control for the effects of age, education level, verbal IQ, sexual orientation and the acquisition site. Although there were no differences in the relative GM volume of the brain specifically associated with pedophilia, statistical parametric maps revealed a highly significant and CSO-related pattern of above vs below the 'normal' GM volume in the right temporal pole, with non-offending pedophiles exhibiting larger volumes than offending pedophiles. Moreover, regression analysis revealed that the lower GM volume of the dorsomedial prefrontal or anterior cingulate cortex was associated with a higher risk of re-offending in pedophilic child molesters. We believe our data provide the first evidence that CSO in pedophilia rather than pedophilia alone is associated with GM anomalies and thus shed new light on the results of previous studies on this topic. These results indicate the need for new neurobehavioral theories on pedophilia and CSO and may be potentially useful for treatment or prevention approaches that aim to reduce the risk of (re)offending in pedophilia.

Child sex tourism - prevalence of and risk factors for its use in a German community sample.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the prevalence of child sex tourism (CST) in a large German community sample, and to compare those who made use of CST with other child sexual abusers regarding established characteristics and risk factors for child sexual abuse. METHODS: Adult German men were recruited through a German market research panel and questioned by means of an anonymous online survey. Group assignment was accomplished based on information on previous sexual contacts with children and previous use of CST. Characteristics and risk factors were compared between the groups using t- and Chi-square tests. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to predict CST. Data collection was conducted in 2013, data analysis in January 2015. RESULTS: Out of 8718 men, 36 (0.4%) reported CST use. The CST group differed from the nonCST group (n = 96; 1.1%) with regard to pedophilic sexual and antisocial behaviors as well as own experiences of sexual abuse. Social difficulties, pedophilic sexual interests, and hypersexuality were not distinct features in the CST group. Own experiences of sexual abuse, child prostitution use, and previous conviction for a violent offense predicted CST in a logistic regression model. CONCLUSIONS: This study is a first step to gain insight into the prevalence and characteristics of men using CST. Findings could help to augment prevention strategies against commercial forms of sexual abuse in developed as well as in developing countries by fostering the knowledge about the characteristics of perpetrators.

Autopedophilia.

The most salient dimension of men's sexual orientation is gender: attraction to males versus females. A second dimension is sexual maturity: attraction to children versus adults. A less appreciated dimension is location: attraction to other individuals versus the sexual fantasy of being one of those individuals. Men sexually aroused by the idea or fantasy of being the kinds of individuals to whom they are sexually attracted have an erotic-target identity inversion (ETII). We conducted an online survey to investigate the prevalence and phenomenology of ETIIs among 475 men sexually attracted to children. Autopedophilia, or sexual arousal by the idea of being a child, was common. Furthermore, autopedophilic men tended to be sexually aroused by imagining themselves as the kinds of children (with respect to gender and age) to whom they are sexually attracted. Results support the concept of ETIIs and exemplify the simultaneous importance of three dimensions of male sexual orientation.

An Internet study of men sexually attracted to children: Correlates of sexual offending against children.

We conducted an Internet survey of 1,102 men sexually attracted to children concerning their history of adjudicated offenses related to child pornography and sexual contact with children. Most of the men reported no offenses, but their rate of offenses was much higher than that expected for adult-attracted men. Correlates of offending are consistent with a strong role of the cumulative effects of temptation, especially age. Older men, men who had repeatedly worked in jobs with children, men who had repeatedly fallen in love with children, and men who had often struggled not to offend were especially likely to have offended. Attraction to male children, relative attraction to children versus adults, and childhood sexual abuse experiences were also strong predictors of offending. In contrast, permissive attitudes regarding child-adult sex and frequent indulgence in sexual fantasies about children were not significantly related to offending. Our findings represent the first large study of offending among men sexually attracted to children who were not recruited via contact with the legal system. Because of methodological limitations, our findings cannot be definitive. Reassuringly, however, results are generally consistent with those from the most pertinent existing studies, of recidivism among convicted sex offenders. (PsycINFO Database Record

An Internet study of men sexually attracted to children: Sexual attraction patterns.

To our knowledge, this is the first large study of the attractions of child-attracted men recruited in any manner other than their being charged with legal offenses. We recruited 1,189 men from websites for adults attracted to children. Men in our sample were highly attracted to children, and they were much less attracted to adults, especially to adult men. However, men varied with respect to which combination of gender and age they found most attractive. Men in our sample were especially attracted to pubescent boys and prepubescent girls. Their self-reported attraction patterns closely tracked the age/gender gradient of sexual arousal established in prior research. Consistent with the gradient, men most attracted to prepubescent children were especially likely to have bisexual attractions to children. Pedohebephilia-attraction to sexually immature children-is best considered a collection of related if distinct sexual orientations, which vary in the particular combination of gender and sexual maturity that elicits greatest sexual attraction. Finally, our study reveals the potential power and efficiency of studying highly cooperative child-attracted men recruited via the Internet. (PsycINFO Database Record

Polish project of a Sex Offenders Registry - a mental health professionals' perspective. / Polski projekt rejestru sprawców przestepstw na tle seksualnym - perspektywa specjalistów ds. zdrowia psychicznego.

The paper discusses the governmental draft of the Act on counteracting threats of sexual offences. It assumes the creation of the Registry of Sex Offenders in a version with a limited access and a version available to the public. The registry is supplemented with a publically available map of sexual crime threats, which includes the places of sexual offences and the places of residence of offenders. Criticising the proposed solutions, the authors point out the lack of integration with other interventions conducted in Poland against sex offenders, noncompliance with the recommendations of the most important expert circles in the field, as well as the research results showing the lack of effectiveness of the planned measures to reduce sexual offences. Anumber of negative consequences of making the sex offenders'data available to the public was also highlighted in the form of a clear deterioration of social rehabilitation prognoses, additional stigmatisation, as well as social exclusion of the offenders themselves and the victims of sexual violence. The summary emphasises the need to counteract the problem of sexual offences in a systematic way and the need to diversify the interventions undertaken against the offenders, depending on the level of risk of sexual recidivism.

Characteristics of paraphilics in Turkey: A retrospective study-20years.

OBJECTIVE: This study is carried out to research the frequency of occurrence and the characteristics of paraphilic cases in Turkey and forensic aspects of them and to explain forensic psychiatric studies of people show paraphilic actions and assess them from legal aspects. METHOD: This research is done by studying a total of 101,208 cases who were sent to Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute (FMI) by the judicial organs of 4th Specialization Board between 1984 and 2004 to decide whether they show paraphilic actions or not. When choosing the cases of pedophilic actions, incest incidents were excluded and 307 incidents were taken into assessment. RESULTS: The male subjects are 97.4%, 39.7% of them are 19-29years old, 10% of them are over age 60, 59% of the subjects are single, 36.5% of them are unemployed, 71.7% of the incidents have no physical disorder. The subjects who were imprisoned before were 20.2% and 22.1% of them had undergone psychiatric treatment before the incident. Twenty separate diagnosis are determined by the FMI for the subjects. There were mental retardation, schizophrenia and various personality disorders on the top the diagnosis list. The paraphilia type of the incidents are pedophilia (60.3%), exhibitionism (8.1%), pedophilia and exhibitionism (7.5%) and fetishism (5.9%). It was determined that there were more than one paraphilia type in 40 incidents (13%). FMI decided that 54.7% of them have criminal responsibility, 25.1% of them have no criminal responsibility, and 20.2% of them have reduced criminal responsibility. CONCLUSION: There were 20 separate type of diagnosis for the incidents. It is understood that paraphilic incidents do not seek for help although they have the symptoms of disorder and they are exposed to psychiatric assessment only when they face a criminal inquiry. This suggests that there are more paraphilic incidents in the society than what we encounter.

Stability of Self-Reported Arousal to Sexual Fantasies Involving Children in a Clinical Sample of Pedophiles and Hebephiles.

In forensic research, there is a controversial discussion concerning the changeability or stability of pedophilia. Seto (2012) conceptualized pedophilia as a sexual age orientation characterized by an early onset, correlations with sexual and romantic behavior, and stability over time. However, empirical data are sparse and are mostly based on samples of detected offenders. The present study examined self-reported arousal to sexual fantasies involving children in a clinical sample of pedo-/hebephiles. In Study 1, retrospective self-reports on the age of onset and duration of sexual interest in minors were examined. In Study 2, the stability and variability of self-reported arousal to sexual fantasies involving children were evaluated prospectively. Non-prosecuted self-identifying pedo-/hebephilic men seeking professional help were recruited within the Berlin Prevention Project Dunkelfeld. Between 2005 and 2013, 494 participants completed the intake assessment. Self-reported data were collected via questionnaire focusing on sexual arousal to fantasies during masturbation involving prepubescent and/or early pubescent minors. Subsequent assessments of sexual arousal were obtained for 121 of the participants. The average time between the first and last assessment was approximately 29 months. Spearman's correlation coefficients examined the between-group rank-order and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests examined the within-individual mean-level stability. The majority of subjects reported an early onset of their pedo-/hebephilic sexual arousal. The rank-order stability was medium to high. Over the investigated period, the majority of subjects showed no or only minimal decrease or increase of self-reported sexual arousal. These results suggested that sexual arousal to fantasies involving prepubescent and/or early pubescent children is stable. Furthermore, the results support the conceptualization of pedo-/hebephilia as a sexual age orientation in men.

The Earlier, the Worse? Age of Onset of Sexual Interest in Children.

AIM: Investigating the variability of the age of onset (AOO) of sexual interest in children (SIC) and the interrelations of important measures in individuals having a SIC, especially the role of the AOO. METHODS: A sample of 75 individuals from different contexts having a SIC was examined within an online survey. We explored the relations between AOO and other characteristics of the sample using correlation coefficients. The main outcome measures were self-reported AOO of the SIC, its exclusiveness, its flexibility over time, participants' motivation to change it, and their self-efficacy for modifying it. RESULTS: Results displayed that the AOO ranges from 6 to 44, and has a mean value of 17 and a median of 15 years. AOO correlates only with the flexibility, indicating that the earlier participants recognized their SIC, the less change they have experienced over time. CONCLUSION: AOO of SIC may be broadly distributed and related to its flexibility. Further studies should clarify the relevance of these preliminary results and their possible implications for clinical practice.

Two clusters of child molesters based on impulsiveness

Objective: High impulsiveness is a general problem that affects most criminal offenders and is associated with greater recidivism risk. A cluster analysis of impulsiveness measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale - Version 11 (BIS-11) was performed on a sample of hands-on child molesters. Methods: The sample consisted of 208 child molesters enrolled in two different sectional studies carried out in São Paulo, Brazil. Using three factors from the BIS-11, a k-means cluster analysis was performed using the average silhouette width to determine cluster number. Direct logistic regression was performed to analyze the association of criminological and clinical features with the resulting clusters. Results: Two clusters were delineated. The cluster characterized by higher impulsiveness showed higher scores on the Sexual Screening for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI), Static-99, and Sexual Addiction Screening Test. Conclusions: Given that child molesters are an extremely heterogeneous population, the “number of victims” item of the SSPI should call attention to those offenders with the highest motor, attentional, and non-planning impulsiveness. Our findings could have implications in terms of differences in therapeutic management for these two groups, with the most impulsive cluster benefitting from psychosocial strategies combined with pharmacological interventions. .

Two clusters of child molesters based on impulsiveness.

OBJECTIVE: High impulsiveness is a general problem that affects most criminal offenders and is associated with greater recidivism risk. A cluster analysis of impulsiveness measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale - Version 11 (BIS-11) was performed on a sample of hands-on child molesters. METHODS: The sample consisted of 208 child molesters enrolled in two different sectional studies carried out in São Paulo, Brazil. Using three factors from the BIS-11, a k-means cluster analysis was performed using the average silhouette width to determine cluster number. Direct logistic regression was performed to analyze the association of criminological and clinical features with the resulting clusters. RESULTS: Two clusters were delineated. The cluster characterized by higher impulsiveness showed higher scores on the Sexual Screening for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI), Static-99, and Sexual Addiction Screening Test. CONCLUSIONS: Given that child molesters are an extremely heterogeneous population, the "number of victims" item of the SSPI should call attention to those offenders with the highest motor, attentional, and non-planning impulsiveness. Our findings could have implications in terms of differences in therapeutic management for these two groups, with the most impulsive cluster benefitting from psychosocial strategies combined with pharmacological interventions.